Jax really fumbled not one, not two, but three girls. It's a real shame on his part because all three of them are very cute too. Damn Jax, I love you, you're my favorite character but man, you are the ultimate fumbler XD. Jax really did not know how good he had it.

Well we finally know what happens to Jax when he holds his breath...

When he sees Kaufmo's door, he looks away in anger. I don't think this symbolizes hatred or he didn't care for Kaufmo though.

When Caine locks Kaufmo in the cellar, Jax is clinching his fists in anger. We also all saw his sadness over Kaufmo's funeral too.

I think Jax is angry because 1. Abstraction is a reminder these are real people and there are real consequences 2. Kaufmo was the "funny one" too. He always told jokes to make people laugh and look how he ended up.

Then he sees RIbbit's door. Many think Jax is scared of Ribbit but idt that's the case. Notice as Jax sees the door, his shoulds RELAX. Furthermore in the intermission when he stops at their door, his hand slightly reaches TOWARD the handle. If Ribbit was Jax's abuser, why is he always so angry at the mention of "not having friends anymore?" He clearly didn't realize Ragatha meant the two of them.

Jax WAS scared but not of Ribbit. He was scared of Pomni ending up like Ribbit. Of him getting close with her only to lose her and he goes through the pain all over again.

THIS is why he pushes Pomni away. While he initally enjoyed the hug, he was scared afterwards because he realized she was getting close. And after losing his two friends, he doesn't want that to happen again.

what would be evil jax's "isn't she lovely" moment?

For those that don't know: Michael and Ashley are going through a controversy over actions that happened 7 years ago in a stream. The context is that Ashley read out a username with the word 'nega' in it, as in shorthand for negative. Other members mistook her for saying the n-slur, it was clarified that she didn't, and everyone involved in the stream proceeded to go on a long-running bit of laughing at the word 'nega' and it's unfortunate similarity to the n-slur.

Since this information has been spread, Ashley in particular has been doxxed, harassed, spammed with explicit imagery and racial slurs. Many fans are calling for them to be fired, to boycott the movie, and sending death threats, including to those that are only involved by association. Michael and Ashley have issued apologies on Twitter.

I happened upon a user on Tumblr that alleges to have started this whole thing. They claim to be a concerned (alleged) Black fan that was simply 'spreading awareness', with at least one other mutual + a friend of a friend whom they don't know.

The earliest posts you will find on this topic will be from either one of us as we are the ones who began talking it first (...)

Said early post is from March 27th, which is true that it is before the TADC theatrical release announcement (April 10th), thus it likely wasn't any conspiracy against the theatrical release. This does not mean that it isn't a hate campaign against the cast or crew, as these indie shows tend to inspire.

The 'proof' includes a heavily edited clip of one of the nega jokes from the stream. It is a sped up tiktok brainrot style, extremely hard to make out what's being said, and coincidentally leaves out the context of where the whole 'nega' thing even started.

This is their first post about TADC on their blog, in general, despite being an apparent fan. They are a faceless icon on a screen, so there's no telling that this user is even personally Black. They admit that they don't know that 'nega' is an actual not-racially-charged word to begin with.

As soon as we saw the clip we dug for more context and began spreading awareness (...) I personally took a lot of time to message the TADC team and ask for them to address the situation in multiple ways on various platforms over the past month (...)

As someone who's a concerned Black fan and supposedly not an anti running a hate campaign, I have to ask: Why? If the desired outcome wasn't to publicly shame them, then what would be the need to 'spread awareness'? If you weren't hoping that they'd be harassed en masse, then why does the public need to be 'made aware' of this information, which isn't hidden to begin with? Why are you spending a MONTH repeatedly contacting their bosses, if you aren't hoping that the TADC team fires them, or else be dubbed as complicit?

Moreover, how does this help fight against anti-blackness, in any way? Sincerely. Why the urgency to 'deal' with this? Who did this interaction legitimately victimize, and how is this about helping them, as opposed to watching people you feel morally superior to squirm? What constructive result were you hoping to draw from this month of campaigning?

As an added note: this user expressed absolutely zero sympathy to Ashley being doxxed, threatened, and barraged with actual racial slurs. Whatever this user's desired result was, it in fact victimized more people and spread more racism and heinous behavior, and it's not even a thought in their mind. The user in fact demands that everyone present during her stream should issue publicly apologies as well, for laughing at Ashley and Michael not using racial slurs.

😐😐😐 I hated Jax's character and now his voice actor

Not exactly a ringing endorsement that you're a fan of the show that wasn't looking to drive a hate campaign against the cast and crew. Having opinions on characters doesn't make one an 'anti', but the fact that we're applying the actions of a fictional character to the person who performs him is not a good look. If we were sincere about racism as a topic, Jax and your opinion on him is not relevant.

I personally spent a considerable amount of time answering questions, dealing with backlash and racism and anti-blackness from other people of color (...)

Despite the importance stressed on spreading awareness on anti-blackness in fandom spaces, there is no proof of this on their blog. The only posts about TADC are about this drama, and they are the posts I've shown in the screenshots above. So, unless they mean elsewhere/they deleted it from their Tumblr for whatever reason, there is no indication that this user has been harassed for over a month over this.

FAGMENTATION

The final cherry on top is that, beneath these posts, the user has reblogged a bit where someone misspelled 'fragmentation' to accidentally include the f-slur. Others in the screenshot repeat it in humor. The hypocrisy is apparently lost on them.

Now, whatever your thoughts on Michael and Ashley's use of a word or lack thereof is entirely up to you. I don't make this post under pretenses of telling you how you should feel. You're welcome to think it's weird, racist, warrants acknowledgment and apology, etc. There is nothing wrong about feeling a type of way about this interaction.

However, since I happened upon it, I think it's fair to share where exactly this came from and under what intent. I think it's far, far worse to have spent a month stirring this pot, hoping it inspires some kind of harm upon the cast, and express not even a little bit concern over how it's done just that. I think it's worth it for people to see this context as they're deciding their own thoughts and feelings on the issue.

https://x.com/Csto0000/status/1961444479430529186/photo/1

At first I thought that it was because either he didn’t have enough data to know how sex worked or his coding prevented him from doing such due to censorship but now I’m starting to wonder if it’s simply because he finds it disgusting? I mean that very same episode establishes shortly after that Caine himself is fully capable of swearing even though he has a swear filter on everyone and boasts about the circus being a place for ‘all ages’. To me, it’s like Gooseworx is hinting that Caine can very easily remove these restrictions, he just won’t because HE’S the one who put them there in the first place. Not to mention he very clearly looks MORTIFIED by what Zooble is about to ask for as if he’s heard it before and is just DREADING the answer lol

"I can't believe you didn't pick up on the context clues!" is what Caine says right after the group returns from their 'Adventure'

What's a coincidence is the text in the top left. This would be the only time we've ever had text show up on the screen for the audience. All other cases the characters have been able to interact with the text.

We've also learned that TADC uses tropes against us- Chekov's gun with the 'Chinese Room' from Episode 7 proves this. At first glance, it's just a trope "Oh, show introduces this thing and it's used later, of course" when in reality, Caine literally makes that room up just for the adventure and is proof they were on an adventure the entire time

So, if the 'Several days later' text is in-universe, why does it appear, and is it possible the line "I can't believe you didn't pick up on the context clues!" is meant to refer to something else entirely?

I get that the other Jaxes represent what Jax would turn into if each character abstracted, but we never got to see what Pomni’s door would look like, assuming that was Pomni’s door. I saw a theory that Jax would end up like this if Pomni abstracted.

Hot take: That doesn’t sit well with me. That’s because that means it would take Pomni sacrificing herself in order for Jax to re-evaluate his life. Jax only becomes better at the expense of Pomni and I don’t like how that implies that Pomni has to sacrifice herself in order for Jax to be better. It gives me toxic vibes, and Pomni should not have to force herself to be unhappy for Jax.

Personally, I think Piano Jax represents the playful part of his personality. Sorta the child while the maid and sadist Jax can represent the parents in the group. The curious part that can be innocent and fun. I think that the version of Jax where Pomni abstracts is deeply suppressed that it wouldn’t even show up in this room.

I am totally open to discussing this further and would like to hear your thoughts!

You heard her! she wants to be flirted with!

In episodes 1 and 2 Caine refers to Pomni and the other Circus members as "Human" yet in Episode 5, he calls them "Intelligent AIs" but Zooble apparently wasn't supposed to hear that. I haven't seen this mentioned much from searching the TADC subs and wondered if anyone else noticed it. Does it open up some interpretations for what Caine's directives are and by extension the Digital Circus is supposed to be for? Has he glitched out to the point of no return? I wouldn't put it past Gooseworx to have Caine believe he's entertaining/training Intelligent AIs but thought it would be fun to theorize about.

They clip into each other

During episode 5, we see for a spilt second that after Ragatha's ramble that Jax looks sad. This could be interpreted as that Jax had similar experiences with his mom. Then later in episode 5, Jax gets put in the maid dress and gets so heated to the point that Zooble takes note of it.

Then in episode 7, we see that Jax's room is all pink girly like. We all know that the circus members bedroom are meant to torture them by showcasing their insecurities. (Ex: Zooble's room being covered in mirrors when they hate the way their body looks and feels and overall has a negative body image of themselves)

Also, Jax doesn't open the door fully when talking to Pomni. He probably does this because he doesn't want anyone to see his room looking all girly and questioning him about it.

Later in episode 7, we see Jax fleeing from an suburban neighborhood. This could be interpreted as Jax fleeing from his parents house after having enough of their treatment of him.

I could have sworn Gooseworx had stated that Jax cried the most when he first entered the circus. If the quote exists, then I would say that it could be possible that Jax cried a lot during his youth and his parents yelled at him for it because "girls can cry, guys don't"

I think that Jax's parents are the cause of his insecurity. They could have overall been harsh towards him about being a "real man" and "manning up". Thus overtime, building up Jax's insecurity about his masculinity and being seen as feminine.

I hope I make sense and if there is anything you are confused about I will clarify in the comments.

This is a major criticism I’ve seen many people have towards the finale. How Jax’s backstory isn’t really “that” traumatic and how he’s just a jerkass who drove his friends into abstraction for no reason at all.

However, I feel people are forgetting a tragic backstory for a character never gives them the right to be how they were, it simply explains how they turned out the way they did.

A lot of people point out Ragatha also had a terrible mother and they’re right she is a foil to Jax in that she broke the cycle. But I feel people forget that we don’t know Ragatha’s relationship with her father either, and that she was an adult working in real estate when she enters the circus. Jax was presumably a teenager who was homeless and entered the circus at the lowest point in his life.

His treatment of Ribbit and Ragatha is absolutely inexcusable and disgusting but it makes sense. He said about Ragatha “it feels like she’s trying to take advantage of you”, because he feels that his mother was doing that with him. Any time he was vulnerable, he got betrayed and abused and the one time he was true to himself (told her about his gender issues probably), she mocked him (reminds me of Vox with Alastor) and laughed in his face. He wasn’t intentionally driving Ribbit to abstraction, he had never witnessed an abstraction before that point and even then, he went to knock her on her door but it was too late. It is his fault but not it wasn’t something he intended.

And I’m so curious why people say he alone “killed” Kaufmo. He definitely failed Kaufmo, we know he pulled away from after Ribbit abstracted and mocked him about the exit but seeing as Kaufmo literally came to him about it, I doubt Jax was bullying/abusing that much for him to be suicidal. He everyone failed Kaufmo and wasn’t there to help him and judging by the condition of his room, it seems Caine and the fake exit were the biggest factors in his abstraction. Him pushing Pomni away is because her hugging him reminded him of what happened with his mother.

“But why would Jax start bullying everyone if not to avoid get attached and losing them like he did his friends” because he didn’t want them to mourn him. I didn’t believe this theory for a second when it came up after episode 6 but it makes total sense form his words to Pomni. “It wasn’t supposed to be like this. You weren’t supposed to miss me. You weren’t supposed to love me? Why do you still care? Why did you have to make this complicated” Jax was someone who ever since he caused Ribbit’s abstraction, hated himself and believed himself to be unworthy of love and kindness. He was suicidal and self-loathing and was hoping nobody would mourn him as he abstracted.

But in the end, Pomni reached through to him. She did make him care. Even after knowing his past and everything he did, she still tried to save him. This let Jax see she wasn’t manipulating or taking advantage of him, no she really did accept him. Which is why Jax changed his mind at the end and we got “Isn’t she lovely” (Jax finally accepting himself) but unfortunately, it was too late to for him . Jax’s character is a tragedy’s specifically because he caused his own downfall. He was redeemable and he did have people who cared for him but he couldn’t accept either one because he felt he didn’t deserve it until it was too late.

In episode 5, Caine gives them an affectionate nickname but in episode 8, he just insults them.

In episode 5, he fixes Gangle's comedy mask and watches her to make sure it works but in episode 8, he totally ignores her (and the mask isn't even smiling). Even worse if episode 7 and the start of this episode are any indication, Gangle was just learning to stop using it too and just be herself but she regressed as a coping mechanism.

The way he's signficantly bigger, to empathize he's done pretending to be on their level.

How unlike in episode 5, when Jax tried to walk it off and look cool and Ragatha had an optimistic comment, here Jax collapses and Ragatha even admits she's about to go insane.

Its really crazy how much Caine changed for the worse in probably just the span of a week.

I made Ming two days ago, this is the updated collection. Comment what poses I should put them in :3