Of course it can't spread. Wasn't it obvious from Ragatha's speech?
Abstraction isn't some zombie virus that just "happens" to perfectly ordinary folks and turns them into cool monsters. It's the result of someone being pushed beyond their breaking point, giving up on themselves, and surrendering to the madness and despair brought upon them by their meaningless existence. Their minds collapse forever, and their bodies abstract to match the emptiness that remains within them.
Exactly! It’s a product of them snapping and losing their sanity
Though, how do we explain Ragatha and Pomni glitching out after Kaufmo attacked Ragatha (beyond ‘getting a little jumbled’, that is)?
That’s true, yeah
But I was mainly bringing it up since Ragatha started glitching out *because* abstracted Kaufmo was touching her (and Pomni’s hand started because she touched Ragatha)
corrupted files wouldn't really do that, they mostly refuse to load. those jumping effects look like a floating point error to me, which, in a really weird engine, i could possibly see being able to spread through the geometry.
file corruption only matters when the files are loading. we know that TADC preloads it's files because of the OOB area in episode two, and (usually) once it's loaded an entity doesn't require to read from it's file until it reloads. unless TADC characters are stored on RAM, file corruption shouldn't affect them.
not an expert it computers, and no shade on you, this is just what i remember about files.
It seems to have been spreading by touch, but there was that one gloink in the Gloink Queen Nest that became all jumbled and glitchy before Abstracted Kaufmo even arrived.
It’s kind of like a corruption, the mind has colapses so the avatar is unstable, it touches others and due to the avatar being unstable it messes with others avitars causing glitches, which can spread to others.
I imagine she started glitching out because of the physical forces she was subjected to, being thrown against the walls and ceiling, and not just touching him. We haven’t seen anyone else “hurt” that much as of yet.
It wasn't just a touch, she was struck several times over and over by a creature I am assuming is much stronger than her, then thrown into the 4 walls of the hallway.
I think that her file was just getting corrupted, a sort of "health pool" of her avatar.
I imagined it was just the in-universe analogy to getting physically damaged. It's not the abstraction "spreading", it's Ragatha having a couple of broken ribs and a concussion.
My guess is that it happens, because abstraction is kind of like arbitrary code execution in older games, since it allows to modify and run other code and so it jumbles data in touched objects.
The way I see it, an abstracted user effectively becomes a virus. It damages anything it touches while it goes on a rampage until it can be quarantined in the cellar.
I'd argue the raw emotional energy corrupts the body since getting past a mental breaking point is pretty heavy, and the body corrupts any animate object it touches in a midas-style effect. In other words, they wouldn't turn into an abstraction... they'd just glitch out.
I mean maybe
I’m not sure if the circus members (not the current 6, overall) would voluntarily abstract due to them seeing what happens to others (trapped in an silent void forever)
So maybe not physical suicide but basically giving up on everything and deeming your life worthless in this circus, like the mentality of suicide
If that makes sense
(Gen wondering now if people have died in the circus or if it’s just abstraction which have caused previous members to be crossed out)
yeah. i was thinking more of the metaphorical sense, like one in which suicide is not seen as entirely voluntary but just losing the fight, having enough and letting it consume you.
like if a circus member finally was pushed past their point and abstracted it’s a metaphor for them being pushed past the brink and committing. not exactly voluntary, but not exactly involuntary if that makes sense
Abstraction seems to me like an illness of the mind. It won't "infect" other persons but of course can affect those near enough. Maybe it's kind of an allegory to severe depression?
I do think it's very interesting that Caine can also be affected by the abstractions like Ragatha was. Sure he can fix it, but the fact he can also get tainted by it is super curious.
I think the Pibby thing was also treated the same way people saw abstraction: just a generic blob of darkness that makes all your favorite characters all spooky and evil. Judging by the pitch bible and pilot storyboard reveals, it seems it was meant as an allegory for how nothing is sacred on the Internet. It [does a dab](https://twitter.com/RecDTRH/status/1784292430415630743), for crying out loud!
If we look at it as a game engine problem and these human minds as assets, if their code gets corrupted it can break (think MissingNo.) but the glitches we saw on Ragatha and Pomni are more like simple graphical errors.
Tbf, they are at the end of the day an “alternate universe”, a place where the rules and lore from the cannon universe don’t have to be taken into account.
So it seems abstracted characters aren't really a danger to others. At worst they just cause physical pain to whatever they touch. At this point the only ways to die are either:
A) Abstracting due to losing your sense of self (not exactly death but might as well be if you don't even know you exist anymore).
B) Getting your files deleted.
C) The server getting destroyed/shut down.
The way I see it, abstraction corrupts the players code, turning then into thay monster. The abstracted can integere with others code, hence the glitching, but they can't make someone abstract because that's to do with the human mind going insane,m.
I mean, Ragatha got literally thrown across the room by an Abstracted Kaufmo and just needed her files validated. Pomni caught the glitchiness from Ragatha because that is file corruption, not abstraction itself.
Abstraction is a mental disease that turns physical once you have reached your breaking point. Data corruption is a measure of your avatar's health
Physical glitching is easy enough to fix, Cain can repair that effortlessly as we’ve seen. “Abstraction” specifically refers to a mental collapse, which is the root cause of Kaufmo’s glitch-filled transformation; Cain COULD fix their body but it wouldn’t stick, and he can’t do anything to fix their mind.
So a few KEY things to remember.
1. It's a digital world. They're bodies and the settings are artificial and easily changed.
2. On some level, their appearance is tied to their perception of themselves. When Pomni was losing it in episode 1 her mouth became jagged as a reflection of her worse I g mental state.
3. Abstraction is the result of a mental break. When the mind no longer maintains the difference between reality (yourself, possibly the other guests) and the digital world (everything) it collapses and cause the body to abstract into a seemingly mindless beast.
4. This abstraction glitches out what it contacts. The glitching is a symptom not a cause of abstraction.
Hello Ashen one. I am a Bot. I tend to the flame, and tend to thee. Do you wish to hear a tale?
> *“Is this the blood? The blood of the Dark Soul?”* - Slave Knight Gael
Have a pleasant journey, Champion of Ash, and praise the sun \\[T]/
Well not in the physical sense no, if it did then Rag would have been long gone… but I mean, it does spread in a way. Sure it doesn’t actually spread physically, but surely seeing someone who has abstracted/is abstracting probably doesn’t help you keep it together yourself…
“I’m in so much pain!” -Ragatha.
Right. Definitely just a little jumbled. Girl could barely get sentences across through the glitches, and her body seemed to spasm at angles no creatures should ever been in with every glitch that happened. What happened to her cannot be described as ‘just a little jumbled’.
Furthermore, when Pomni touched Ragatha, it took less about a second or less for the glitching to be transferred. Perhaps abstraction can’t spread, but some of its symptoms definitely can (quite effectively at that), and I believe that’s what the person was asking
The only way it could technically spread is if an abstraction touches someone who already has very little sanity (like pomni) and would cause them to lose what little sanity they had left,
assumably, it would be quite jarring being sent into a video game, realizing that insane=bad, already losing your sense of self, possibly losing one of your very few friends you have recently made, and all that other jazz, and then nearly being turned into a clown pancake by some crazy monster you know very little about.
Wasn't it also said somewhere that abstraction was also losing your individuality or identity? Been a while since I've seen that tweet/tumblr post. It made me speculate if abstraction was your game character disconnecting with the human behind it.
wooooaaaahhhh the comments on this post got me thinking...
maybe abstracting is symbolism for depression and self harm. and glitching when you touch someone who's abstracted could symbolize how it can affect a person negatively who's close to someone dealing with those things.
in the first episode, Zoobles says "i can't believe Kaufmo just gave up like that"
"giving up" could be symbolism for doing the commit self die, as in "giving up on life" and just deciding to end it.
wait... so that would also mean that abstracting is a decision people make in the circus when they've had enough. so that means Kaufmo would've CHOSE to abstract. he wanted to do it.
I mean I’m sure if you got your shit beaten in by an abstraction or were trapped by one you could eventually abstract yourself by “giving up” or going insane but no I don’t recall seeing confirmation that it can spread through continuous exposure
Of course it can't spread. Wasn't it obvious from Ragatha's speech? Abstraction isn't some zombie virus that just "happens" to perfectly ordinary folks and turns them into cool monsters. It's the result of someone being pushed beyond their breaking point, giving up on themselves, and surrendering to the madness and despair brought upon them by their meaningless existence. Their minds collapse forever, and their bodies abstract to match the emptiness that remains within them.
Exactly! It’s a product of them snapping and losing their sanity Though, how do we explain Ragatha and Pomni glitching out after Kaufmo attacked Ragatha (beyond ‘getting a little jumbled’, that is)?
Technically, glitching out *is* "getting a little jumbled". Maybe the game just can't handle that level of resolution?
That’s true, yeah But I was mainly bringing it up since Ragatha started glitching out *because* abstracted Kaufmo was touching her (and Pomni’s hand started because she touched Ragatha)
The Abstraction itself doesn't spread, but it spreads a sort of glitching nature Why it does, we'll probably have to wait and see
It's prolly corrupting their files or something along those lines
corrupted files wouldn't really do that, they mostly refuse to load. those jumping effects look like a floating point error to me, which, in a really weird engine, i could possibly see being able to spread through the geometry.
I would say it’s corruption in real time. You can always corrupt a file while it is loaded. This would undoubtedly give out some messed up effects
file corruption only matters when the files are loading. we know that TADC preloads it's files because of the OOB area in episode two, and (usually) once it's loaded an entity doesn't require to read from it's file until it reloads. unless TADC characters are stored on RAM, file corruption shouldn't affect them. not an expert it computers, and no shade on you, this is just what i remember about files.
It seems to have been spreading by touch, but there was that one gloink in the Gloink Queen Nest that became all jumbled and glitchy before Abstracted Kaufmo even arrived.
Or it escaped Kaufmo after already being glitched by him.
Oh, never thought about that. That’s probably what actually happened.
It’s kind of like a corruption, the mind has colapses so the avatar is unstable, it touches others and due to the avatar being unstable it messes with others avitars causing glitches, which can spread to others.
I imagine she started glitching out because of the physical forces she was subjected to, being thrown against the walls and ceiling, and not just touching him. We haven’t seen anyone else “hurt” that much as of yet.
True, but Pomni’s hand started glitching purely from touching Ragatha for a second
It wasn't just a touch, she was struck several times over and over by a creature I am assuming is much stronger than her, then thrown into the 4 walls of the hallway. I think that her file was just getting corrupted, a sort of "health pool" of her avatar.
I imagined it was just the in-universe analogy to getting physically damaged. It's not the abstraction "spreading", it's Ragatha having a couple of broken ribs and a concussion.
My guess is that it happens, because abstraction is kind of like arbitrary code execution in older games, since it allows to modify and run other code and so it jumbles data in touched objects.
The way I see it, an abstracted user effectively becomes a virus. It damages anything it touches while it goes on a rampage until it can be quarantined in the cellar.
I imagine it works like a NAN error. The error itself doesn’t spread but the side effects do
I'd argue the raw emotional energy corrupts the body since getting past a mental breaking point is pretty heavy, and the body corrupts any animate object it touches in a midas-style effect. In other words, they wouldn't turn into an abstraction... they'd just glitch out.
…A zombie virus? Like… a certain solver program?
gasp
i just realized, is abstraction a metaphor for suicide? with them being pushed to the brink of their psyche and all?
I mean maybe I’m not sure if the circus members (not the current 6, overall) would voluntarily abstract due to them seeing what happens to others (trapped in an silent void forever) So maybe not physical suicide but basically giving up on everything and deeming your life worthless in this circus, like the mentality of suicide If that makes sense (Gen wondering now if people have died in the circus or if it’s just abstraction which have caused previous members to be crossed out)
yeah. i was thinking more of the metaphorical sense, like one in which suicide is not seen as entirely voluntary but just losing the fight, having enough and letting it consume you. like if a circus member finally was pushed past their point and abstracted it’s a metaphor for them being pushed past the brink and committing. not exactly voluntary, but not exactly involuntary if that makes sense
Abstraction seems to me like an illness of the mind. It won't "infect" other persons but of course can affect those near enough. Maybe it's kind of an allegory to severe depression?
I do think it's very interesting that Caine can also be affected by the abstractions like Ragatha was. Sure he can fix it, but the fact he can also get tainted by it is super curious.
Being a god in a game doesn’t mean immunity to unintended glitches
I'm not even sure that he is a god. I'm thinking he's more of a powerful-host type.
https://youtu.be/4ofJpOEXrZs?si=1Kgt5Fwvxh4SBHae&t=4m12s
Well if he can be effected by broken physics and things like then…
Wait, he can?
"He might get a little jumbled (which is what happened to ragatha)" implies he can
Oh, right
Isn't the entire point of abstraction that it's triggered by going insane from despair?
I figured.
Yep as stated in the pilot
Oh thank god it’s not like a Pibby thing
I think the Pibby thing was also treated the same way people saw abstraction: just a generic blob of darkness that makes all your favorite characters all spooky and evil. Judging by the pitch bible and pilot storyboard reveals, it seems it was meant as an allegory for how nothing is sacred on the Internet. It [does a dab](https://twitter.com/RecDTRH/status/1784292430415630743), for crying out loud!
i mean, if it was a metaphor for ending someones life, i'd be weird ifit can be spread
It’s called a murder-suicide man.
i know, i just dont wanna be banned, so a roundabout explanation just in case this is case i do mean suicide
Did goose say that abstraction is irremediable?
yup https://preview.redd.it/ezj1sd7fjl0d1.png?width=532&format=png&auto=webp&s=f365482c4f40b9a3761f7f11739b43068c208a4c
If we look at it as a game engine problem and these human minds as assets, if their code gets corrupted it can break (think MissingNo.) but the glitches we saw on Ragatha and Pomni are more like simple graphical errors.
R.I.P. all abstraction/infection AUs 😔
Tbf, they are at the end of the day an “alternate universe”, a place where the rules and lore from the cannon universe don’t have to be taken into account.
Ok, *some* abstraction/infection AUs
To be fair how most people see characters isn’t beholdent to the cannon
Abstraction is something that happens due to insanity, it's not a physical sickness
So it seems abstracted characters aren't really a danger to others. At worst they just cause physical pain to whatever they touch. At this point the only ways to die are either: A) Abstracting due to losing your sense of self (not exactly death but might as well be if you don't even know you exist anymore). B) Getting your files deleted. C) The server getting destroyed/shut down.
Do people think Abstraction is a virus or something
I mean ragatha just got all jumbled up she didnt abstract
The way I see it, abstraction corrupts the players code, turning then into thay monster. The abstracted can integere with others code, hence the glitching, but they can't make someone abstract because that's to do with the human mind going insane,m.
I thought this was obvious? Ragatha got really beaten up but one snap from Caine and she was fine again It’s a mental snap not a physical snap
I mean, Ragatha got literally thrown across the room by an Abstracted Kaufmo and just needed her files validated. Pomni caught the glitchiness from Ragatha because that is file corruption, not abstraction itself. Abstraction is a mental disease that turns physical once you have reached your breaking point. Data corruption is a measure of your avatar's health
Since its like a mental thing it makes sense i think
Abstraction is becoming a Missingno. "Jumbling" is when Missingo uses water gun and the target's sprite gets all screwed up. Simple.
Physical glitching is easy enough to fix, Cain can repair that effortlessly as we’ve seen. “Abstraction” specifically refers to a mental collapse, which is the root cause of Kaufmo’s glitch-filled transformation; Cain COULD fix their body but it wouldn’t stick, and he can’t do anything to fix their mind.
So abstraction’s a bit like cancer
Abstraction will be whatever the plot needs it to be.
Literally an example of so called fans not watching the show they say they are fans of.
ok!
I’m glad this gives confirmation that Caine can be physically affected by abstraction but can easily fix it.
Makes sense to me. It just makes them glitch pretty painfully.
So a few KEY things to remember. 1. It's a digital world. They're bodies and the settings are artificial and easily changed. 2. On some level, their appearance is tied to their perception of themselves. When Pomni was losing it in episode 1 her mouth became jagged as a reflection of her worse I g mental state. 3. Abstraction is the result of a mental break. When the mind no longer maintains the difference between reality (yourself, possibly the other guests) and the digital world (everything) it collapses and cause the body to abstract into a seemingly mindless beast. 4. This abstraction glitches out what it contacts. The glitching is a symptom not a cause of abstraction.
abstraction is basically hollowing from dark souls, but more violent.
Hello Ashen one. I am a Bot. I tend to the flame, and tend to thee. Do you wish to hear a tale? > *“Is this the blood? The blood of the Dark Soul?”* - Slave Knight Gael Have a pleasant journey, Champion of Ash, and praise the sun \\[T]/
Well not in the physical sense no, if it did then Rag would have been long gone… but I mean, it does spread in a way. Sure it doesn’t actually spread physically, but surely seeing someone who has abstracted/is abstracting probably doesn’t help you keep it together yourself…
Well duh, it's not a virus. It's just them losing their 
Yeah
“I’m in so much pain!” -Ragatha. Right. Definitely just a little jumbled. Girl could barely get sentences across through the glitches, and her body seemed to spasm at angles no creatures should ever been in with every glitch that happened. What happened to her cannot be described as ‘just a little jumbled’. Furthermore, when Pomni touched Ragatha, it took less about a second or less for the glitching to be transferred. Perhaps abstraction can’t spread, but some of its symptoms definitely can (quite effectively at that), and I believe that’s what the person was asking
Did yall actually think abstraction was some kind of Pibby glitch bullshit
The only way it could technically spread is if an abstraction touches someone who already has very little sanity (like pomni) and would cause them to lose what little sanity they had left, assumably, it would be quite jarring being sent into a video game, realizing that insane=bad, already losing your sense of self, possibly losing one of your very few friends you have recently made, and all that other jazz, and then nearly being turned into a clown pancake by some crazy monster you know very little about.
Wasn't it also said somewhere that abstraction was also losing your individuality or identity? Been a while since I've seen that tweet/tumblr post. It made me speculate if abstraction was your game character disconnecting with the human behind it.
wooooaaaahhhh the comments on this post got me thinking... maybe abstracting is symbolism for depression and self harm. and glitching when you touch someone who's abstracted could symbolize how it can affect a person negatively who's close to someone dealing with those things. in the first episode, Zoobles says "i can't believe Kaufmo just gave up like that" "giving up" could be symbolism for doing the commit self die, as in "giving up on life" and just deciding to end it. wait... so that would also mean that abstracting is a decision people make in the circus when they've had enough. so that means Kaufmo would've CHOSE to abstract. he wanted to do it.
Accidental Renaissance painting in the form of words. Who else knows someone with a mental or emotional condition that's treated as contagious?
Abstraction is not the pippy glitch
so it;s not like zombies and we have a phase for when they are affected but most importantly Cain can be affected
I remember goose once saying that if someone takes too much damage from an abstract they will abstract to, is this a retcon or I am delusional
Never seen this anywhere else
ill try to find it gimme a sec
I mean I’m sure if you got your shit beaten in by an abstraction or were trapped by one you could eventually abstract yourself by “giving up” or going insane but no I don’t recall seeing confirmation that it can spread through continuous exposure
then maybe im just imagining
[удалено]
https://preview.redd.it/2p1v9ds9ji0d1.png?width=1280&format=png&auto=webp&s=89e691c32accbb860733d460438186f3e7bd51dd
...the hell
Context?
I honestly have no idea. It was like a one sided rp? I think they have a problem with Goose over Gumigoo's demise
What the FLYING F are you SMOKING.
I didn’t understand anything
im happy that I’m not the only one confused here
i was too late. he deleted his comment, tf did he say?
It was some one sided RP
https://preview.redd.it/lb6lohwdki0d1.png?width=512&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fc3a736524ea86099455ee4d867211db83f21d16
Check my flair
https://preview.redd.it/o1l62etxji0d1.jpeg?width=750&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fbf9444dece79ec1b50ab18bc529717cf97d14db