Making Something out of Nothing is a series of The Amazing Digital Circus fanfics, written by skimmingthesurface
. It can be found here.
The series focuses on the burgeoning relationship between Gangle and Zooble, and its development over time. The series currently consists of two installments: We Sowed our Seeds in the Soil of Volcanic Fire and We Tied Ourselves Together with Strips of Satin and Plastic Promises. The former is a prequel set prior to the series about the tentative beginnings of their friendship, while the latter is set midway through the series and centers on their friendship finally becoming a romance.
This series contains examples of:
- Adaptational Jerkass: A retroactive example. Ribbit and Kaufmo are depicted as callous bullies, though they treat Gangle slightly better than Jax. The actual series, when it finally had the two Posthumous Characters make appearances in the flesh, showed them both to be quite kind and personable. It's also a justified trope; the two didn't have much in the way of hard characterization at the time, and a common interpretation of both (moreso Ribbit) was to portray them as a Toxic Friend Influence on Jax.
- Adaptation Relationship Overhaul: In the series proper, Gangle and Kaufmo are implied to have been friends, if distant ones, and Gangle never actually knew Ribbit. Here, both are portrayed as having bullied her alongside Jax.
- Bittersweet Ending: The end of the first fic. Gangle successfully saves Zooble from the volcano, but accidentally falls into the lava and burns to a crisp. Since Death Is Cheap in the Amazing Digital Circus, Gangle is revived with her pride wounded, and Zooble and Gangle have become Fire-Forged Friends from the experience, giving them both a much needed lifeline. On a more bitter note, Gangle is still being abused by Jax, and the cracks in Jax and Ribbit's relationship that will lead to the latter's abstraction have formed irreparably.
- Bystander Syndrome: Gangle resents the way that everyone in the circus allows her to be bullied, particularly by Jax, without doing anything to stop it.
- Determinator: One of the first things that Gangle admires about Zooble is their determination.They didn't ask anyone for help. They didn't ask for a cane or for any breaks on the journey. They had their sights set on the finish line so they could get the heck out of this place and barricade themselves in their room until the next adventure inevitably beckoned.
It was… admirable. - Does This Remind You of Anything?: Zooble's plastic parts are portrayed as incredibly reminiscent of being disabled here with how it interferes with their day-to-day life.
- Everyone Has Standards: Ribbit and Kaufmo are fine bullying Gangle, but call Jax out when he goes too far with his abuse of her. Though, as Gangle resentfully notes, they never do anything to stop him either.Sometimes Ribbit would smack him if he was being too mean and sometimes Kaufmo would tell him that maybe he was taking things a little too far. After all, it wasn't a joke anymore if Jax was the only one laughing, right?
- Fictional Disability: Zooble's plastic body is portrayed as a disability and impairs their ability to move and interact with the circus.They only had one proper "foot," encased in a cartoonish shoe attached to a rubberhose leg, while the other leg was made up of two separate pieces that connected at what was maybe supposed to be a knee. The foot part on that leg was just a stick that curled at the end and not exactly built for balance. Because of that, Zooble tended to favor that leg and hobbled around with a half-limp that they powered through on pure stubbornness and pride.
- Stepford Smiler: Gangle hesitates to call Ragatha a friend both because she can tell Ragatha is one of these and being disingenuous with her positivity, and because Gangle's own neuroses means she's perpetually terrified it will mean Ragatha will turn on her some day.Which, speaking of Ragatha… she was maybe the closest person Gangle had to calling a friend. At least that was what she thought at first, when she called her "new stuff" and went out of her way to make sure Gangle felt included and wasn't left behind on adventures. To save her a seat at the table and check on her in the middle of the night and ask Caine to make sure to fix her comedy mask whenever it broke. To always look on the bright side of things and cheer her on even when Gangle was an absolute failure. Offering kind words that often felt more like they belonged in greeting cards than a person's mouth. They never quite reached Ragatha's eye.
- What You Are in the Dark: Despite being scared shitless about doing so, Gangle ventures into the volcano after Jax chucks Zooble's head into it to help them out, because she knows in Zooble's position, being so helpless would frighten her.
- You Are Better Than You Think You Are: When Gangle arrives to rescue Zooble, she apologizes for not having helped them through their arrival.Gangle: But I didn't do anything to…help. I haven't tried to help you at all the whole time you've been here.
Zooble: Yeah, well… you're helping me now, aren't you? That's not nothing.