The Horrors of Abstraction- A Digital Death Sentence

What you possibly fear in a kooky digital world of adventures and games? Where you can get hurt, but not seriously, and are fixed in a second? Well, there is one thing you can't be fixed from. The ever-present threat looming over the the colorful cartoon world, Abstraction. Many have been abstracted and eventually someone else will join them.
But what is abstraction? Let's find out!
Music:
Henry's Theme - Dayshift at Freddy's
Frightmare - Jimena Contreras
Sloppy Clav - Godmode
Landing - Godmode
In the Garden - Godmode
0:00 The Abstracted Concept
0:30 Who was Kaufmo the Clown?
1:24 Kaufmo's Confirmed Personality (Toxic Clown)
2:22 His Relationships with Others (Pomni, Jax, Kinger)
3:21 Kaufmo's Room and Kiddie Toys (Enrichment)
5:00 Kaufmo's Disturbing (& revealing) Paintings
5:40 The Decline of Kaufmo's Mental State
6:10 Kaufmo the Clown did not show up today
7:00 What is Abstraction?
8:16 The Abstraction Painting (It was always waiting)
9:15 Abstraction as "Giving Up"
9:54 The Many Other Abstractions in the Circus
10:25 How the Abstraction Spreads through Glitches
11:44 What is "Computer Abstraction"?
12:27 Is Abstraction Weeding out the Unusable Performers?
14:02 Could it be Caine? (Caine the Lying AI)
16:21 Is Abstraction caused by a Computer Program?
17:29 Did Kaufmo Actually Escape?
17:42 Kaufmo was Abstracted to hide the Truth
17:50 Kaufmo's Assets were Reused for Pomni
18:25 We (might) have a Mystery on our hands!

[@PK-Radio]

Y’all ever just get a little too into shenanigans and accidentally transform into an abstract concept

[@soonahero]

That’s why I watch this channel. Keeps me grounded and my mind healthfully stimulated

[@lookstothetroon]

every tuesday

[@itstheblandman8734]

Used to all the time, had to stop though cause the doctor said it was bad on the ol posture

[@Stolas_s_Cu3_slut]

Time to time

[@MidStar_gamer95]

I abstracted while trying to beat 45 animatronics in ucn on mobile Edit: the farthest I got was 5am

[@digitalkaizoku]

Jax wasn't planning on grabbing the bowling ball. It was an ad-lib excuse for Jax to get outta there when he saw Kaufmo.

[@kipechawolfeortiz8791]

Yup, Jax being grade A Dick Juice 💀

[@bitterman213]

The characters are minds separated from their bodies, the lack of sleep and hunger senses would destroy any sense of routine and make it harder to keep good track of, say, what you did in the last week versus months ago. With integral memories about their past removed, as time goes on it would be harder and harder for them to maintain a consistent idea of who they are. When Kaufmo could no longer make people laugh, he couldn’t convince himself he was a clown anymore, and could no longer even form a mental picture of who he was anymore.

[@Random-persononyoutube]

I like that theory.

[@Hex.A.Decimal]

^This. I have undergone "isolation therapy" and you forget how to be human.

[@thescarredsinner895]

Really adds to the fact he abstracted, before he had a clear picture of who he was, a clown, but the more and more he lost his mind the more messed up his self image became with his self portraits reflecting this, and it gets to the point his art goes from “normal” to more abstracted art

[@BelBelle468]

That also makes sense for what abstraction is as a term. Abstract art Vs more realistic art. Abstract representing a concept, but often lacks details or realism. Since the characters are already given new bodies, their forms have already been altered to fit a new idea. Hence losing that form for something more conceptual and less of a physical/understood form would be like abstraction.

[@bitterman213]

Addendum: this sits well with Caine not being an AI. I think he is a human mind with some kind of elevated execution privilege. I can’t say for certain, but I think he is being heavy handed in his interactions with the other characters rather than totally oblivious to their concerns. Whether he donned the headset knowingly or not is unknowable right now.

[@thomasdevlin5825]

I think Zooble comparing abstraction to "giving up" is the key. If abstraction is removing all the unnecessary data from a computer program to focus on one specific thing, and Kaufmo had the word "exit" written all over his walls, maybe he became so obsessed with the exit that he let go all the other aspects of his personality, either accidentally due to insanity, or, as Zooble said, he simply gave up and let himself abstract. Ragatha emphasizes the importance of staying mentally stimulated by going on Caine's adventures when the episode started, but Kaufmo was alone, isolated from his friends and presumably angry at them for not laughing at his jokes, so if he had become obsessed to the point of madness with finding an exit, sitting alone in his room with nothing but his thoughts and hyperfixating on the exit door might have caused him to slowly forget all the things that made him Kaufmo, until eventually there wasn't any Kaufmo left in him

[@John-mp4qc]

That last line hits hard when you consider that the abstracted characters lose there individuality

[@Isla-eq9qh]

Note the second comment as well a combination of both I think this might be the answer

[@John-mp4qc]

@@Isla-eq9qh also what if the room of an abstracted character is deleted after well, they abstracted

[@Isla-eq9qh]

@@John-mp4qc sounds plausible yeah

[@John-mp4qc]

@@Isla-eq9qh that kinda makes sense, since first the character is literally in the cellar as just a messy black creature with eyes, and 2nd why would there room stay there when they don’t need and are crossed out.

[@gabriel_cooper]

gooseworx confirmed on tumblr that ragatha was simply being hopefully optimistic when she said that ''maybe it's not too late", she clarified that characters who abstract can't ever go back.

[@nikkistudio...]

The whole thing about computer abstraction really makes a lot of sense. Considering Caine wouldn't be able to 'fix' the mind of someone who's already gone insane, it makes sense that they would just be abstracted instead so they can be easily disposed of and recycle some of their assets for other characters. This could also explain why Kaufmo and Pomni are similar with their themes (clown-jester)

[@Fbih2o]

Ooh this is a good point

[@seistoYT]

this makes sense, there was a sort of "queener" looking character who presumably got abstracted

[@Riley-vy5qm]

​@@seistoYTHer name is Queenie!

[@VeeFerns]

as someone who's taken computer science, that definition of abstraction is referring to a human doing that when programming to make better code. by filtering out irrelevant information to make things work more efficiently, but it's never a function of a program, that just wouldn't make sense.

[@artemiskearney8019]

I mean, we might start to see LLMs become capable of abstraction in code generation before too long

[@ReddwarfIV]

@@artemiskearney8019 Especially if you can make an AI as apparently advanced as Caine.

[@wazzupyuwu]

"kaufmo could have stood in place forever and never abstracted, but that made his world nothing more than a spotlight's worth of safety." i hope you know this line gave me actual chills

[@waggieentertainment9387]

I love characters that don’t even appear but become fan favorites. Glamrock Bonnie, Kaufmo, plushie Geno they’re great

[@Yourlocalmess24]

Um, technically, we meet Bonnie pretty functioningly in the RUIN DLC 🤓🤓

[@waggieentertainment9387]

@@Yourlocalmess24 shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

[@Yourlocalmess24]

@@waggieentertainment9387 never XD

[@notrealnamenotatall2476]

Umm... Define functionally. *Looks down at remains*

[@amberthegoofy]

@@notrealnamenotatall2476shhh just go along with it

[@zokerovextis6768]

I think it's an interesting detail that when they first see that Kaufmo is abstracted, Ragatha's exact words are "He's been abstracted" He's BEEN abstracted. Thought I should point that out

[@gachanimestudios8348]

No offense, but what does that mean????

[@zokerovextis6768]

@@gachanimestudios8348 *The phrasing implies that it was done to him, as in it was caused an outside influence*

[@clan741]

My theory why Jax might be upset at losing Kaufmo is because they are both jokers. Maybe he was the only person Jax could relay jokes with, since the others don’t seem to be in a jokey mood as much as him.

[@EternalFireseal]

So, programmer here. "Abstraction", as I know it, doesn't involve _removing_ elements, but providing an access path that _obscures_ elements . You would do this if you wanted to slot something into a system that only needed certain functionality, or if you wanted to protect certain parts of the structure from outside access. You can have "abstract" classes which basically just serve as a filter for accessing "real" objects. A good example might be, say, characters in a game. A character might have some special internal mechanics that the game engine doesn't need to know about, and you definitely want to protect important parts of the character form being messed with by outside actors. In the Circus, this kind of abstraction might be a protective measure that ended up having negative effects, like how protecting the players' minds from external access prevents Caine from helping them recover their memories (or even understanding what's actually wrong).

[@EternalFireseal]

Incidentally, there is something that removes parts of an object, called "slicing". It happens when you accidentally convert something into one of its underlying parts, and usually only happens when the coder is not being careful. Which, yeah, I don't think the devs of the Circus were particularly cautious people.

[@RaspbrylZ]

You put it way better than I did but yes basically this.

[@randomrabbit3161]

If there is another AI, maybe they'll be called Able. C&A could be referring to the two AI running the world. Instead of Cain and Abel, it's Caine and Able. Front end and back end. Perhaps Able manages system resources and causes humans to abstract once they no longer fulfill their intended role. Kaufmo abstracted not because his mind broke, but because he stopped playing the game. He refused to leave his room and wasn't *able* to appear in the show opening so Able removed the necessary resources for Kaufmo's character to function.

[@generalmituna7042]

Abstraction kinda reminds me of Corruption from Steven Universe where you'll lose your mind from trauma and become more wild and beastly in appearance.

[@BelBelle468]

For corruption tho, it’s reversible and the corrupted gems maintain some level of higher level of thinking. Seems like Kaufmo didn’t.

[@BelBelle468]

10:52 I think she mentions Caine “taking care” of Kaufmo as sending him to the cellar, but also she alludes to it being more of a last resort. The fact she tries talking and considers it as “fixing” implies that there could be a way to either reverse it or stop the transformation before it becomes permanent. But Kaufmo was too far gone and that’s why Caine was called in.

[@IncoisaRadio87]

I feel like the idea that Caine's bizarre obliviousness is suspicious and that Caine is not directly responsible aren't mutually exclusive. As mentioned in the video, while Caine has been known to lie through his oversized teeth, he's also presumably highly aware of basically *everything* the circus has to offer. While perhaps he's not omnipotent, his watch certainly implies that he has ways of knowing. Unless... perhaps he doesn't. He is an NPC, not a player character, and therefore even though he can think for himself, he can still be directed around. Perhaps Caine does know what abstraction really is, or even when and where it happens, maybe he doesn't. If the process is a "natural" part of the circus, it's not impossible that it's a process that is concealed to Caine, or even just one he's programmed to not think about. It's kinda highly unlikely Caine is somehow responsible, or even just "in on it," as it's very clear the abstracted are physically causing harm, turning violent and running rampant around the circus. For him to turn a blind eye to that would be a little uncharacteristically villainous, especially when he could've just chucked them in the cellar to begin with, as opposed to just waiting for some unlucky bastard to stumble on them. Abstraction is also most definitely, whatever it is, a process initiated not just by "madness," but specifically by stepping too far out of the "show." When one's obsession with leaving reaches a peak, they might even abandon the show, or "give up" on it. But what happens to them specifically, whether it be deliberate developer intervention as the name would imply, or the abstractee somehow genuinely escaping the digital world and their no longer useful data getting corrupted by being left, or perhaps some middle ground where a player is deliberately removed from the system by an administrator and anything left behind turning into the abstraction, that I'm... less confident about. Pomni is going mad, and Kinger went mad a while ago, but Kinger never got the incentive to try and escape, as that would be putting himself at risk, and Pomni..? Well, either she hasn't truly become a part of the show yet, or the fact that the "Exit" she found was one of Caine's constructs means she never really left the show to begin with.

[@W454B1]

I think caine is less an Administrator, and more a Moderator, within the system. so while he's the ringleader and "in control", he's as much a prisoner as everyone else

[@cacaumassipanoficial6203]

If Kofmo didn't go to the opening because he didn't want to then the computer system may have seen this as a sign that he was no longer useful since he refused to participate, and then abstracted him a few seconds later and brought Pomini to take his place

[@fishnewt1331]

Oooh, I wonder if Bubble is the other AI. They were there with Caine when the watch went off, conversing with Caine casually while Pomni was off on her adventure.

[@koboldfan3238]

Lets hope this show does not 'Mystery Box' the rest of the episodes by just giving more questions instead of some answers.

[@Hex.A.Decimal]

Gooseworx has a clear plan. She will hide it behind memes and sarcasm, but the plot will show up when the time comes.

[@kipechawolfeortiz8791]

LOOKING AT YOU, SCOTT CAWTHON. 😂

[@sexygirlmax2019]

Literally Petscop

[@BellyThatProductions]

I'm not sure if this is anything about Kaufmo's assets becoming Pomni's or something along those lines, but.... Kaufmo is a clown. Pomni is a Jester. Clowns usually tell jokes or make themselves the joke. Laughing at their own expense through wacky hijinks. Jesters or Fools make fun of others. Usually someone in authority, or roasting comedy. Idk, it's just a thought I had that didn't go anywhere.

[@darthvaderreviews6926]

The example I always use as a way to describe abstraction in programming is terrain. For almost all purposes, you never need to simulate all of the dirt/stone that makes up terrain. The surface of the terrain is all that actually matters, hence why getting under the terrain in a videogame has you fall into a void, there's no need for an actual underground to exist. Our Digital Circus friends would be the same way, they're all hollow inside. I don't _think_ that kind of culling is what's being shown in Digital Circus though. While you can dismiss the eye sludge as just artistic license under that interpretation, I don't see why it would corrupt other textures or why everyone characters would associate it with madness. _(surely you'd have someone who abstracted without going insane at some stage)_ I also don't think the program (currently) has a central focus it could decide to cull assets for not contributing towards, as Caine's adventures don't seem like any kind of performance. IMO the abstraction is essentially caused by thinking too much, too quickly. Every thought these characters have is essentially an input, getting too wrapped up in them would eventually overwhelm the program, and then the rest of its simulations of you would start to fail as well and your mind would be rendered corrupted, mangled mush

[@Hex.A.Decimal]

Oh, I like this interpretation! Literally short circuiting the connection between the mind and digital mind. We can handle so much more RAM than a supercomputer, too.

[@jamiew9289]

I feel like we are eventually going to see a character we know abstract and that will be hard to watch

[@BelBelle468]

If the characters can abstract, it would mean convincing the computer they’re no longer necessary (or they need to be moved someplace else). With the ending oneself idea, it would be being so depressed they don’t want to be there anymore and making the computer think they need to be removed. It would also work with the idea of identity, since they’re no longer “serving” a purpose with their current position cuz they want to erase their own identity (worsened by the effects of the Digital Circus). Maybe it means they can be saved? Or maybe that move is literally to the cellar lol

[@gav1233]

This is an awesome theory, the best one I've heard yet. To add to it, I noticed something else. In the beginning, Caine asked Pomni, "do you like adventure, activity, wonder, danger, horror, pain, suffering, agony, death, disease, death, angel food cake?" Caine said "death" twice for some reason. I interpreted to mean that maybe when a character abstracts, they die in real-life, kind of like they die twice.

[@cacaumassipanoficial6203]

Could abstraction have anything to do with suicid* at least as a metaphor? I thought of this because is what people might do when they reach their limit, and Kofmo locked his door too.

[@MemoryLaneCentral]

Not to mention the fact that Zooble actually comments: “I can’t believe Kaufmo gave up like that.” I think you’re onto something.

[@jc_art_]

Given that they physically cant die otherwise, its more likely just a parallel for death in general, and perhaps kaufmos death specifically is seen as a suicid* parallel in zoobles eyes

[@snakesbakecookies]

yeah i 100% agree im pretty sure that abstraction is the show's stand in for sewer slide

[@Hex.A.Decimal]

The scene of them walking into his room felt like walking in on someone who had unalived themselves. I had to pause and hold my breath for a minute, I had expected them to walk in on a hanged clown.

[@BelBelle468]

@@jc_art_ it could be worse than death. Cuz if they’re still “trapped” within their own minds in this computer, they’re not even allowed to “die”.

[@KILLRAIN42]

In regards to pomni getting close to a breakdown and showing nothing close to abstraction, there is a really quick moment where shes grabbing at her face and laughing/crying in desperation in the office and right as she rips open the next door her teeth shift from being her normal teeth to sharp pointy shark teeth. They're back to normal the next time we see them and it could be nothing, but its something that stood out to me on further rewatches.

[@EasyEighty-Eight]

Personally, I do interpret abstraction as the equivalent of digital suicide, considering the whole show is a metaphor for existential crises. Mostly due to the 'giving up' line, but some circumstantial evidence, like Kaufmo's violence could represent the harm suicide brings to those other than the victim. I do find it interesting, however, that Ragitha says that maybe there was time to "fix" him before they find Caine, implying that it is possible to save someone from abstraction, and that Caine apparently thinks there is no solution to it.

[@gavinjames645]

Maybe for each person in the digital circus their abstraction is different and unique, like maybe each person has a different form and dangerous dark abilities.

[@jitterclick3392]

I like that idea, if only we didn’t see other Abstracted characters in the cellar/basement that looked exactly like the Abstracted Kaufmo

[@strawberryshortpup3655]

Goose has said that all abstractions look the same, as it is when you lose all individuality.

[@evagarcia865]

@@jitterclick3392to be fair, the basement is entirely black, and so are the abstracted’s bodies. We don’t get to see if they have a different shape, just that they are dark creatures with lots of eyes

[@erinbathie-moore8478]

Kaufmo is the perfect representation of "haunting the narative", and so far, I'm liking where they're going with it

[@Crying.Cherub]

I genuinely feel so bad for the abstracted characters beautiful they wanted to leave a place they are ( most likely) uncomfortable/ unfamiliar place just to turn aggressive huge monster and to be shunned into a dark place under the one place they where going crazy about..... * mic drop *

[@IbrahimButTwice]

Hello, I’m studying in computer science now so maybe I can offer some more context to what abstraction is within computer science. Generally abstraction is just taking a part of code that doesn’t need to be in the main part of your code. The code doesn’t get deleted and actually still gets used! I normally will abstract a part of code if I want to clean up the main part of my code. So maybe within the context of the story they get sent to a B team of sorts? And because their actual code gets moved somewhere(potentially including the part where their “souls” reside) what is left over is just some corrupted form of their mind. I do agree with your interpretation though. They creators could just be using the idea of abstraction as a metaphor and not as literally as used in computer science.

[@BelBelle468]

It’s likely used somewhat if they’re going to use that term while they exist within a computer. Perhaps them thinking they want to exit so badly makes the computer thing they’re unnecessary code and is moved elsewhere. So then what’s leftover is that corrupted form. This could also mean there’s a chance to save them if they can find where the code has been moved.

[@eessppeenn001]

Maybe you get abstracted when you go through the OTHER exit door? There's the red one that vaporizes at the start right in front of Pomni, and in the middle that Pomni went through. But there's also a different exit door. The one Pomni sees while Caine gives her a tour. A brown one.

[@TheRealSuperKirby]

Very good and interesting analysis. 3 things to add to this: When Ragitha first sees abstracted kaufmo she says "kaufmo's BEEN abstracted" which would imply the work of an outside force. Gooseworx said that kaufmo was originally gonna be a full character before she decided that he just wasnt as good as the others and was removed to make room for all the better ones, this adds more credibility to the algorithm theory and even adds a meta narrative of sorts to the show. In a promo image it shows a screen shot from the amazing digital circus in it's in universe game form telling you to select your character with the heads of the different characters, likely what they saw before getting dropped in, but there is no selection for the crossed out characters, giving more credit to the idea that parts of old ones are recycled into new ones and removed, or im looking way to deep into a throw away teaser image.

[@blitz_zz]

abstraction kind of reminds me of when gems in Steven Universe would get corrupted, except the method of how they get corrupted is different from being abstracted.

[@Swirl_of_StarFire]

Abstraction could be named after the computer science term, but it's also used in art where it means to break a figure down into its base shapes. There was a whole Abstractionist art movement in the 1900s with artists like Picasso representing objects with just squares, triangles, circles and the like. If Abstraction in the show is named after the art term, it could simply be referring to how an Abstracted character looks, since the thing that Kaufmo turned into would easily pass as abstract art if it was a painting

[@childofanolddeadgod1278]

There's something that people have been missing when looking at the Gooseworks q&a, specifically on Tumblr (idk if there is one anywhere else).Though I think I only saw one person allude to this. Someone asked "is the moon and ai like Caine" And Goose corrected "she's an ai like Bubble". Caine isn't an ai! He acts weird and out of touch but he isn't an ai.

[@notrealnamenotatall2476]

I'm pretty sure she said somewhere that Caine was an ai though, but maybe I'm mistaken. I assumed the clarification was that Moon and Bubble aren't the same as Caine.

[@childofanolddeadgod1278]

@@notrealnamenotatall2476 aah. Could be. Though I saw a theory somewhere that C&A stood for Caine and Abel. I don't remember who it was that theorized about it though, but they implied Caine and Abel were the founders of the tech company. Just someone else's theory but Caine is a pretty specific name lol. Whatever the truth is it'll be cool to see later on!

[@Hex.A.Decimal]

I have no basis for this, but I get the impression Bubble and Moon are set AI and Caine is learning. Caine seems to be attempting to take into account the human's feelings.

[@somdudewillson]

Caine is an AI, it's probably just that Bubble/the Moon are "simpler" or less sentient or something.

[@BelBelle468]

Goose saying “she’s an AI like Bubble” just means there’s 2 different types of AI. This doesn’t mean that Caine isn’t an AI.

[@ImmortalAbsol]

I think the abstracted have to lose all sense of self, corrupting their own code. I don't think viewership comes into the equation, it's a video game set at a circus, not an automated show.

[@sdmedia1323]

Theory: Jax was mentioned multiple times in the video, and so was the computer, and that put the idea in my head that Jax found the exit, found the computer, started messing around with it, and may or may not have corrupted a few "files". Given that he looks surprised when he sees Kaufmo, I don't think he knew what he'd done. He might never realise.

[@sdmedia1323]

Quick reply since I can't edit the comment for some reason, the whole assets theory kinda makes sense, considering when Pomni threw up, it was all black. Kaufmo is now a black mess. What if that's what the characters are made of from the inside? He was stripped of his assets, and whatever it is in there now has free room to grow and attack.

[@smollmoth6376]

Idk if where I heard this wasn't from gooseworx but I remember them specifically saying that they are a jester, not a clown. Idk why they would make it so distinct but maybe they're trying to tell us that she didn't replace kofmo.

[@notrealnamenotatall2476]

That is a weird distinction since clowns and jesters are technically one in the same. That is, different variants of the same concept. Who knows! Maybe because the way culture views the two are vastly different. I read up a lot on jesters before I wrote my book and there's definitely a more positive pull towards them while clowns are considered creepier.

[@morphississ]

Idk why, and this is probably just me overthinking. But the part where you say "When an animal's in a zoo or sanctuary they give them toys to help them keep them entertained and happy" over the image of Caine playing/studying a doll version of Ragatha has got me...Theorizing, but only just a little. X3

[@infernofiregamer7026]

The fact the NotrealName even made a legit theory about this show, is just incredible to me. And it makes complete sense too! this youtuber deserves to have a million+ subscribers! Anyone with me?

[@strawberryshortpup3655]

You may be onto something with the programming definition of abstraction. Goose said that when you abstract you lose all sense of individuality (they said this after confirming all abstractions look the same) so that could tie into the "removing unnecessary parts to make code run better" thing.

[@John-mp4qc]

Man I thought the more you became insane the bigger the abstracted monster is (Oh by the way I understand/read the comment )

[@RedGunDSL]

Damn that laugh at 1:33 was so cute i wasn'tready for that. I love when she mispronounce something and keep on the video.

[@notrealnamenotatall2476]

😊

[@soonahero]

My headcannon is that you can abstract because your mind of the only thing kane cannot control is

[@eduardoaguero1220]

I kinda hope they go with Abstraction actually being the true escape and Kafmo being absorbed and spread out across the game files, it feels like an interesting existensial horror take, Can't wait for a full show

[@trinketsphinx3212]

I'm reminded of cinemasins inside out episode. "Riley's inner concept of Joy and Sadness are currently lost in her abstract thought. And I just lost the battle with my own existentialism."

[@PossumsAreNice]

I think I’ve seen a take where Kaufmo is literally a child, which explains the kiddie toys

[@pageclayton6850]

It also explains the seemingly bad joke (neither Gangle nor Ragatha laughed at his jokes on at least one occasion) and him getting unreasonably angry when people don't laugh

[@9fanatic]

The way my jaw started dropping as you made the gears in my head turn. Dude! By this theory it means Zooble could be next!! ...and now I'm wondering if Kaufmo HAD gone through the Exit door once before. At least once. He knows the corridors, he has the fog (the void). I just, I have to go brainstorm!!❤

[@blanktester]

I wonder what the abstraction process looks like, and if more comes, who is next. Anyway, another good video!

[@ZynetESLD]

I'd say ragatha is the one who will abstract.

[@blanktester]

@@ZynetESLD Not Kinger or Gangle?

[@Marie-sn7ci]

​@@blanktestergoose said on tumblr the next person to abstract will be unexpected so not kinger

[@user-AADZ]

Always having a cast of six but with one being replaced each episode sounds like a scary concept

[@encryptkitsune341]

I remember one thing you said was that caine was inspired by the AI in 'I have no mouth and must scream', an AI that changed the personalities of the last remaining humans into charactures of themselves for it's only ammusement. Maybe if you are right with the abstraction thing, then whoever or whatever is causing the abstraction phenonmenon is doing the same thing except for an audience instead of itself.

[@j.a.m.m]

Good call, making the link betwseen the abstraction in the Digital Circus and real life-computer abstraction! Technically if it's about weeding out what is unusable, Kaufmo being abstracted to make room for Pomni would make sense, but only if Pomni's "role" in the circus is going to be the same as Kaufmo's was. In that case, would that mean that there's only a set number of performers that can be in it (6, in that case)? Also in that case, that still doesn't exist why Pomni's hand healed itself without Caine doing anything. Oh well, we'll just have to wait and see! Great video as always!

[@anthonysaylor8120]

You know, I was thinking about how Caine was worried about someone getting "spoiled" regarding being in the Void without him But I was thinking more about 90s era videogames, and remembered the PS1 Spyro games. You know how going between portals to the levels, Spyro would fly for a little bit through an empty skybox until he passed to the next level? What if the Void as shown by Caine was like if you Boundary Break, and noclip around to look at a skybox? As in, you get to be in that relative nothingness _without triggering the flag teleporting you to another level?_ Doors in videogames tend to hide loading zones. Resident Evil is a classic example, functioning like the Spyro one. If we assume Caine made the office area, and he doesn't like people seeing his "unfinished work," Pomni triggering the Void as a loading zone would alert him that someone was on the verge of entering his ACTUAL unfinished workspace.

[@wafagdplqs4421]

Very interesting analysis of Kaufmo character and abstraction as a whole ! The show will for sure dive deeper into the true nature of abstraction.

[@Little-Buster]

I think Pomni is more related to Kaufmo then we think. Like, the moment she came into existence, she started touching her face and wondering where she is. Then she saw the exit door and went straight for it without hesitation, but the door vanished. These two things is not something a brand new character would do. A brand new character would be curious where they were and would want to explore the place as well as get to know the other residents of the circus.

[@hollowlynx3965]

Love the video! there is one thing I do want to point out about the Kaufmo theory of him escaping and his left behind body abstracting. If abstraction happens when somebody leaves the digital circus then that means all those other characters must have left as well and just didn’t tell the other characters. And that Caine either doesn’t know they left or is blatantly lying about a true exit.

[@IsleofPigsStudios]

Well then. Time to put in the detective hats and play detective music. We have a case to solve

[@RaspbrylZ]

When talking about abstraction in computer science we're usually not actually talking about taking things away but rather... grouping them up into a single package to make things easier to use. imagine you're trying to get a program to play a sound well you could write all the code to manipulate the speaker ... or you could just have your program send a single command to the operating system. The operating system and the sound chip on the motherboard do all the work to from there. You don't need to think about all the hardware stuff that needs to happen just play your sound in the abstract and trust the OS and sound chip to do the rest for you. Like how the internet is always depicted as a little cloud in most diagrams because all those interconnected switches and datacenters and cables aren't important to understand things locally. You take "The internet" as an abstract. All those complex things are still there but we present you with an oversimplified version you don't really need to think about. Think about someone taking a very complex hard to use/build thing many people need wrapping it in bubble wrap and the passing copies around so people can use it more easily and don't have to build their own.

[@mattheworozco5929]

This may be a bit of an out there theory but hear me out. Caine is known for making things spawn at will, but never do we see things despawn by his hands. What if bubble does the cleanup of the tent? What if he is the task manager or disc cleanup program to Caine’s executable file? For this theory, I correlated the true meaning of abstraction with another computer term that relates to bubble specifically, computer scrubbing. Computer scrubbing is an optimization process in which any unnecessary data is removed or isolated for maximum computer efficiency. To correlate with abstraction, bubble would see something that would muck up the performance of the show and the program as a whole, be it the defiant actions of a resident or their deteriorating mind, and deem them a mess to be cleaned up. So he would devour them, isolate their code, and rip out anything that would hinder the show, such as their mind and their textures, then recycling what worked and putting it into another character before discarding what didn’t work. This, of course isn’t perfect, because it leaves behind the unstable mess of an abstraction. Granted, this is but a theory that came in my head a little while after you mentioned the true meaning of abstraction.

[@arandomthingintheabyss2062]

i wonder if we will ever get a flashback episode so we can see pre abstraction kaufmo

[@littlemoth4956]

I can't help but be reminded of going hollow in Dark Souls. All of the characters talk excessively about going hollow, specifically emphasizing how difficult your journey is or how many times you've died. However, they all miss the point, and the community has long come to the conclusion that going hollow means giving up as a player, but more generally it means losing hope that you can complete your goal, or losing your purpose. Lordran and the Circus do somewhat resemble each other, in that it's a kind of giant zoo for people who can't truly die, and simply exist on and on without needs or wants.

[@confettiveda2460]

I always thought that the computer program knew that Kaufmo Abstracted and therefore brought in a new clown character to restore the cast's balance.

[@Quaxophone]

The thought that having two clown type characters did cross my mind but it never occurred to me that something or someone could’ve taken assets from Kaufmo to create Pomni's digital counterpart, it makes me think about what could be responsible for this phenomenon. I don’t think this is directly due to an individual’s actions, as what would anyone gain from putting these characters at risk of being harmed by an abstracted Eldrich being? Couldn’t they put the abstracted victim manually into the void or even a temporary containment system themselves? Then again theoretically someone could program the digital circus to dispose of abstractions automatically so perhaps this is something or someone at work with nefarious purposes then… man I did a complete 180 on my hot take lol Great video!

[@Cynadyde]

Ooo that's an insightful approach! Abstraction is when you remove the concrete implementation, keeping only the rules for how it should work. e.g. Abstract classes have no instances/state/particularity. If you apply this to the show, it means the dark blob of eyes is the "unbounded" base from which each "bounded" character inherits from.

[@tiredtoastlol5]

I would also like to add that pomni and kaufmo share a color pallette, meaning they could be related somehow. Also in kaufmos drawing of caine he has his tounge out, which is thr same goofy face he does when kaufmo abstracts, adding onto the theory that kaufmo knew.

[@magicmyah2291]

Trapped as a clown in a freak show, constantly being watched and poked and prodded at. Forgetting life before, memory of your past life wiped away, no family, no friends but the ones trapped with you. Never safe, never able to slip up in fear of abstraction. Not alive, not dead your mind in an unconscious state overpowered by the un-humanising dread of what your life has become, forced to walk the plains of the dungeons not as yourself, but as a horrifying monster made to live an immortal nightmare - the amazing digital circus 🎪

[@midnightgamer2088]

It’s cool to see another TADC video from you!

[@JosRocks410]

very interesting idea! IMO it seems like abstraction is a specific mental state someone would have to have, or to conciously "give up" as zooble says, it could be possible that they're able to tell if it's in the process, and as Ragatha says, and it's most likely reversible until fully abstracted, assuming Ragatha is a reliable source of information. I like to think it starts out like the glitching of other characters, then as it gets worse it becomes full on abstraction. If this is true it makes things sadder considering Kaufmo literally locked themself in their room the entire time

[@telefeeb1]

Couple thoughts from this. If the abstraction is “removing distracting elements of code” that may be why the person’s real name is always the first thing to go. “As your mind transitions to the digital plane” Having any separate sense of identity is extra baggage when it comes to engaging with the program. And what’s the point in having 2 names anyways, right? Second, this reinforces a bit of a theory I’ve had on Jax with his attitude. His “I don’t care, I just want to watch funny things happen to people” on the surface sounds like a detachment from others problems, but his reaction to kaufmo suggests he actually cares a lot. So I think a big part of his antics is that he is constantly jabbing and bullying the others to keep THEM stimulated and engaged! (Funny things happening IS performance at a circus) Kinger and gangle were the “most capable and mentally stable” not ironically but rather they were best suited to engage with the adventure without distraction. And he would supervise pomni and ragatha and try to stir up kaufmo… but bailed since kaufmo became a direct threat to his safety. What I’m saying is Jax is a cheeky asshole BECAUSE HE CARES LOL

[@cheatsykoopa98]

loved the video. my opinion is abstraction is more akin to AM's punishing methods in I have no mouth and I must scream. Ted become a blob that is basically stripped of humanity, and I think that can be what the abstracted forms are meant to be I just know caine is lying when he acts surprised that kaufmo abstracted, so I think he might have been the one to do it to him, for doing something forbidden such as trying to leave. I don't think caine is allowed to let anyone leave, even if he still wants to keep everyone entertained. so hes in an impass, on one hand he wants to keep everyone happy and entertained, so he makes up adventures, puts fake exits in some places, makes food, gives everyone a room to sleep, but at the same time, since he doesnt understand how humans work and how they will be unhappy to do the same thing over and over forever, he is confused I think caine might have abstracted kaufmo himself because "the show must go on" or something like that also, remember that in IHNMAIMS, Ted sacrificed himself so the others could "escape" though death. not sure if this will be mirrored by him or pomni abstracting, since she is our protagonist, but I do think him talking about an exit will be important for everyone to escape eventually

[@masterenactor1796]

This is certainly the kind of mystery Sleuthor (my OC) would be in on for a long time! The questions he would ask! The people he would scrutinize! Sleuthor is the kind of guy who just will not shut up no matter how many times he's asked to!

[@Iwuznothere]

If the Soma Theory is correct IE these characters are actually digital brain scan copies of people that put on the VR headset and thus they can't leave because they're just program duplicates and not the original person; then Abstraction could just be the loss of that belief or hope that they're people, thus the avatar they inhabit glitches out like a digital cancer as they become useless fragmented code for the show. No way to really prove this, but all Digital Circus has is speculation and a hunger for more at this point.

[@marissazupancic7227]

i love that kaufmo barely appears in the pilot but he’s my favorite character in this whole series.

[@gailasprey7787]

Kaufmo seems like he wanted to find the exit because he didn’t want to abstract.

[@improvwithlions4173]

One of the things I find interesting about Caine is that he was seemingly unaware of or inattentive to what was going on until Pomni made it to the void. On the surface maybe that seems careless, but I find it hard to imagine that he couldn't be constantly monitoring the characters if he wanted to. I think not constantly watching the cast members is a courtesy. Can you imagine if at every stumbling block or if someone just looked a little bummed out, went wandering, or had trouble fake sleeping, Caine pops out of nowhere and tried to smooth things over? It seems like a courtesy, honestly. (Though given that he does things like using a cast members pieces as a game objective stretches my charitability. I can only assume they had the ability to reform, and went along with it for the sake of welcoming Pomni). Or maybe he's a sadist who just wants to keep everyone on the brink for as long as possible, but like I said, I'm charitable, especially towards AI characters.

[@sagacious03]

Interesting analysis video! Thanks for uploading! The look at Kaufmo's room was nice, too! I recall that it was said that abstraction removes one's individuality, too, which seems relevant.

[@noodle932]

super crazy hot take but........ ever time u post my day gets a little bit better (also i binge watch ur vids ever once in awhile)

[@notrealnamenotatall2476]

That's wonderful to hear! I'm glad to brighten your day!

[@Yipper64]

2:57 it feels like a kind of anger trying to hide sadness. At least given the character of Jax.

[@ShnobbsReal]

I feel like Ragatha is next to be abstracted.

[@whyso_salty9365]

I had a theory I might be reaching but I think abstraction could be reversed since it has to deal with one’s mind if they were able to get in touch with their humanity again somehow they could go back to normal

[@shumanakazawa]

Weird question but which character do you think should get a plushie next? I personally think a kinger plush should be next.

[@notrealnamenotatall2476]

I would LOVE a Ragatha plush. She's my favorite. 🥺

[@shumanakazawa]

@@notrealnamenotatall2476 That would be awesome, but I think it should be a doll, considering that she is one

[@DansBLACKFLAG]

​@@notrealnamenotatall2476Mine too!

[@sophieamandaleitontoomey9343]

Personally I would love a Ragatha plush.

[@John-mp4qc]

For me zooble should be a mix and match figure

[@BaggedRanchGirl]

This was very interesting. You made this a lot less ABSTRACT than it was originally

[@goober112]

Yay! My favorite creator posted again! Hope you're well & can't wait for more videos!!! 😊

[@clayb.9766]

Love to see you creatively engaging with this series!

[@charathedemon5939]

15:31 I was watching your video and it reminded me of a quote Cain said. "One of the things I don't have control over is your minds." So I doubt that he's in control of abstraction.

[@rikkuwolf4166]

Cane admits that he saw how everyone wanted an exit so he tried to make one to make them happy.

[@proffent4899]

Another digital circus video? Thank you, NotRealName Not At All!

[@SUTTYEA]

Now that I’ve finally watched TADC (and ur fire vid on it) I really loved it. Such an intriguing universe that I wanna see where it goes.

[@elizabethhuntley6056]

Fun fact: Kaufy was meant to be in the main cast, but Gooseworx thought that there were to many characters, she still liked his design though and made him the sacrificial lamb. Makes you wonder how many of the crossed out performers were actually considered to be part of the cast.

[@mrblakeboy1420]

you can see the abstraction in the painting asking “WHY” to him, maybe it is actually giving up

[@Secretrider459]

I’ve always been of the opinion that Kinger isn’t the first person to enter the Digital Circus. With the way Caine speaks, acts, and moderates the players, he acts more like an Admin gone insane. He also mentions he doesn’t know what to put on the other side of the exit door and how venturing beyond the void can result in getting spoiled. Perhaps it means he doesn’t know how to end the game. Perhaps the idea many people get that the company responsible is Cain and Able is more literal than we may think, that Caine betrayed Able somehow and has been karmically punished with an eternity in a game he does not know how to end.

[@EvilTerrabyte]

Your videos are incredibly entertaining! I get excited whenever I see a new vid from you, keep it up NotReal you make great content 🎉🎉🎉🎉

[@drewthedweeeb]

I think you're right on the money with computer abstraction!

[@juliovictormanuelschaeffer8370]

13:10: that scene is so cursed, I love it.

[@tonberry2670]

Second so far Just watched your other video and this wound up on my recommended. The abstract monsters seem very similar to the Witches from Madoka Magica

[@brycewinton5618]

Maybe abstraction was created by whoever the Mabel ai is as a way to scare players into not going insane simply to get players to continue playing and to give up on trying to leave and whoever Mabel is she Likely reprogrammed Caine to always be in the dark/unable to detect abstraction but kept his anti boundary breaking programming in case players ever tried the true exit that’s likely a hidden away in the void cut asset like how plenty of cut content in actual video games tend to be hidden in the boundary’s or “void”

[@daniellejackson6543]

13:33 this would also explain the canon statement(I forgot the source) that a character will abstract at each episode. It can happen potentially much quicker than simple insanity.

[@ThePoeticPoet420]

Beautiful day for an upload!

[@matti.8465]

Caine says he has no control over the minds of players, he can fix glitching (a physical issue) but not abstraction, implying it's tied to the mind. Maybe the avatars are direct reflections of the minds of those players, so when said minds break, their physical form breaks too, turning it into a corrupted mess of polygons.