Now that the finale is out I can say it again: CAINE WAS TOTALLY FUMBLED His un-deletion wasn’t explained, his self-inflicted redemption arc was easy and boring, ntm once he comes back he seems to suddenly be capable of reading the room (something we see him fail to do countless times, including when other cast members abstracted). (The blue ai thing is also weird since it should be the red one who has abandonment issues).
He seems completely “normal” and appears to be accepted in the final montage, and that brings up my LEAST favorite point: the cast’s misunderstanding of Caine is NEVER addressed. They hardly treated him like a person, more like a non-human obstacle (evidenced by ep 8’s dialogue). They don’t try to communicate, they come at him with anger because they expect him to get that what he did in ep 7 was wrong. They treat him like just a machine, AND they expect him to have a human understanding of morality and empathy, they don’t get to understand that he simply doesn’t get it, and that getting mad at him isn’t going to explain it. This would all be fine and dandy and a great setup, except they NEVER CONCLUDE IT. Everyone goes back to normal almost immediately, so what are they thinking about all this??? “Oh I guess the robot is inexplicably fixed now :)”
Again, they acted like he’s just a machine, so do they ever figure out that he’s incredibly human and has human emotions and human abandonment issues? Should this have been a plot point that matters and could’ve been a parallel with the cast grappling with the fact that they’re not exactly humans now?? Of course it should’ve, but Jax being sad and Caine aura farming was more important than having your characters actually interact or consider their situations and humanity outside of a montage.
“Nobody communicates: the show”
“It happened off-screen: the show”
Like maybe they had a conversation, maybe they learned about Caine and how he just didn’t understand before and has inexplicably gained emotional intelligence now but only off-screen. The way things ended it feels like Caine is their subservient little ChatGPT buddy who they don’t really see as a person, the only evidence they do is some little interactions in the montage, but again, they don’t give us any sort of communication or acknowledgement of any understanding. Without that communication the ending just feels so fake, Caine feels like a piece of cardboard at the end to me.
The autism lobotomy must’ve been off-screen too LOOK IM NOT SAYING IT WAS INTENTIONAL- but when you love him and can relate to him, and then instead of anyone explaining what he did wrong he figures it out on his own, and he seems completely normal and accepted now, idk it just sucks.
I’m sure it wasn’t intentional, it was probably just for Jax’s sake. Caine’s initial deletion must’ve been so Jax could get all angsty and abstract, and Caine’s rushed character arc happened so Jax could get enough screen-time. /hj
Disclaimer: I have a bunch of art of Caine, obviously I love him, and I appreciate what his character was in episodes 1-7, (Yeah I have some issues with ep 8 too) I especially appreciate Alex Rochon’s talent, and the amazing animators who utilized his design so well.
I can't find the og post, but I don't really get the sentiment of "Digital Circus' biggest mistake was that it was written as a niche show" like... Shouldn't that mean that it should have a really, REALLY good narrative nonetheless? So that it's a piece of hidden gem that you should share with your friends because it's THAT good?
Hate to break it to ya, but TADC being written as a "niche show that went mainstream accidentally" won't save it from the amount of plot holes, character assassinations, and messaging inconsistencies it has.
Maybe this could've been prevented if Goose kept her mouth shut about answering certain parts of the cast, but still. The finale ruined every episode with a meaningful message in it, and I'll list it down:
"The worst thing you can do in this world is make anyone feel unwanted or unloved", and "I don't want anyone to feel that way"
Caine was made to feel this way by Pomni and friends and wasn't given an apology (double empathy problemmmmm)
" Accept the good and bad parts of you"
Caine ripped out the bad part of himself
"Relationships are a two-way street"
apparently not because Jax still had Pomni and friends.
Not to mention, there's no effort of understanding Caine by the humans' end.
Ragatha barely gets any form of comfort either, before it shifts to another person. Ragatha ALWAYS has to be the one to comfort someone
"Caine is an AI who does not understand humans"
He was torturing them willingly and not willingly at the same time? And welp, guess he just needed the internet and to rip out the blue AI, in order to be perfectly capable of understanding them
The humans are very hypocritical and do not get to change their ways. The circus remains the way it is, the only one who truly changed is Caine. This isn't "finding meaning in a stagnant life", this is "compromising until you've stripped away half of what you are in order to make people accept you"
God, I look like I'm glazing Caine so much, even though I'm trying so hard not to. But everything this show tried to do with Jax, worked a lot better with Caine because of how Goose set the character narrative up to be-- but even with Caine's redemption, it's so lackluster and unsatisfying.
There are so many contradictory moments in this show that it ends up being a clusterfuck of a narrative conclusion that didn't have enough time and effort to properly straighten out the kinks of what potential contradictions the messaging may have
WOW! 😮 THAT WAS JUST AS BAD AS YOU GUYS SAID IT WAS! MAYBE EVEN WORSE?
Spoiler review below👇 in bullet points
Okay! Let's start with the positives.
• This sequence was very pretty/well choreographed. The emotion/loss felt meaningful.
• I liked the cartoony sequence with Jax and Zooble (in Jax's mind palace). TADC doesn't do abstract/surreal sequences often enough, but when it does, it lands pretty well (except for the Jax abstraction floating in ep.7. I didn't like the visuals there). Seeing how Jax's twisted worldview affects his perception of people and his own actions was pretty well expressed in the looney-tune visual language and dialogue. It really, really makes me wish this approach was used with the adventures.
Similar to Gangle's episode, every adventure should've been an exploration of the characters and their worldviews, with surreal elements and unique visual languages. Caine tries to extract data and learn about humanity in the form of 'adventures'. Unfortunately, the show never went down this route.
• When the music wasn't over-the-top corny, it was good. Mostly. Sometimes. (there was like, a dubstep-like remix at some point? Pretty goofy).
• I really like the POV camera-perspective with Jax's memories. It was shot like the Blair Witch Project - pretty good choice, imo. It puts us in the character's shoes a lot more effectively because we *experience* what it feels like to be stuck in the 'VR' world of TADC. The uh...live action segments weren't staged very well. But the circus POV camera was inspired. I honestly think all of the flashbacks should've been shot this way. Imagine if we got to experience some of Ragatha's memories in this claustrophobic camera-style, seeing through her eyes. Sigh...if only.
Now on to the negatives! My god.
I don't even know if I can remember them all. What a clusterfuck.
Pomni
• Nothing. We got nothing. Moving on!
Kinger
• Kinger does not face any repercussions for (partially) creating the Circus. Nothing. Zilch. Nada. He got off SCOT FREE. Even worse, Caine and Kinger do NOT get a scene together. That's right. You heard me - no conversations. No confrontations, no anger, no fear, regret, guilt, disgust, anguish? Pride?
Nothing.
Absolutely nothing.
Fucking what??? Kinger helped MAKE Caine! Caine is a creation of humanity! A monumental and potentially dangerous technological innovation! Are we seriously NOT going to talk about this??? This is Frankenstein and his monster!
I have read dozens...maybe even a hundred fan-made confrontations between Kinger and Caine. And all of them - yes ALL of them put more thought and care into their dynamic than TADC ever did. Enough said.
But hey. At least we got another soppy comfort scene between Kinger and Pomni, right? Don't be sad guyyys. Imprisonment? The looming threat of madness? Your loss of humanity? Everything's gonna be okaaaaay. Oh, brother. 🙄
Ragatha
• There is a scene where Ragatha...cries. And she says she...wishes that she abstracted instead of Jax.
This happens, of course, not long after Jax hurls his usual abuse at Ragatha and insults her by telling her she's pathetic for still living with her abusive mother.
Look - what else is there for me to say? Not only is Ragatha left with a pitiful amount of screentime, but almost all of it is devoted to Jax, and how Ragatha feels about Jax, and Jax, and Jax Jax JAX. Ragatha gets a schmaltzy, rushed resolution with Pomni and then they walk away and have the most awkward scene in the show. Their smiles look painfully unnatural. They don't even walk off together - they walk AWAY from each other, like two ex-high school classmates pretending not to know each other. Not to mention, Pomni calls Ragatha her best friend - completely unprompted and unearned. What makes Pomni feel this way about Ragatha??? They don't even have ONE bonding scene together.
Absolutely pathetic. I thought TADC was sexist before but wow. This really takes the cake.
Gangle
• Like Ragatha, Zooble and Kinger, Gangle gets very little screentime.
Most of Gangle's screentime is spent with her mourning her abuser and wishing she could cry.
Gangle wants to cry for the man who made her life a living hell.
I have no words.
Ribbit and Kaufmo
• I'm pairing these two together because these characters aren't really treated like people. They're just bullet points in someone else's sob-story.
Ribbit came from a Mormon family, before cutting ties with them. Interesting!
That's it. That's all we learn about her. Ribbit only exists to create more sadness and trauma around Jax. Ribbit does not have a dynamic with any of the other humans, or Caine. Ribbit doesn't have flaws or virtues. She is nothing. She came from nothing, and she returns to nothing.
Similar to Ribbit, we don't learn much about Kaufmo beyond what we already knew about him. Uhh, Kaufmo tried to tell Jax his conspiracy theory about the exit, and Jax pushing Kaufmo away means he's partly responsible for his abstraction. I'm probably going to be saying this a lot but FUCK JAX. It's actually comical how disgusting and irredeemable of a person Jax becomes in this episode. It's gross that the audience is expected to sympathise with and mourn Jax when he is such a shitty person. It is *undeniable* that Jax makes the circus a worse place to live in, but the show is never going to address the implications.
Zooble
• Zooble's character was the perfect gateway for exploring the more human, raw parts of real life. Zooble was the only human who had the guts to talk about sex, and how it's a vital part of (most) people's lives and wellbeing. The only human willing to talk to Caine, who tried to explain body dysmorphia to a person who never had a "real body". The only human who challenged the circus and was not willing to play along with the sanitised, child friendly philosophy that the circus represents.
The finale Is more sanitised and immature than all of the episodes combined. When building a 'new life', there is no mention of bringing the real world back to the humans (no, the 3 second reference in the credits doesn't count). Sex, swearing, aging, growth, decay - natural life is completely absent here. The circus is just as artificial and timeless as it's ever been. The illusion of change, basically. Jesus, even the most amateur fanfiction is better than this.
What's this got to do with Zooble? Well, as I've said, Zooble has always represented realism, in all its flawed, mismatched glory. But uh, yeah.
We get nothing. Zooble gets nothing. Nobody gives a fuck about Zooble.
Moving on!
EDIT: Forgot to mention that Jax makes fun of Zooble's queerness/non binary identity after their FUNERAL (in the mind palace scenes). Thanks Jax! Fucking fantastic! He will receive no consequences for this!
Jax
I'm going to have to summarise here, because otherwise we're going to be here all day. And I really don't want to think anymore about Jax than I have to. I'm sick of him.
• Yes, Jax ate almost all the screentime. Welcome to the Jax show.
• Maid Jax makes a baffling reappearance here, and it's really uncomfortable. Feels like a fetish, honestly. I don't get the obsession with Maid Jax, but geez! Leave me out of it! I don't wanna watch this...voyeuristic nonsense. It doesn't serve any purpose other than a pointless distraction.
• Pomni sees a (unclear...fantasy? Intrusive thought?) lemme try again.
Pomni sees a scenario in Jax's brain where Pomni offers comfort and Jax VIOLENTLY chokes Pomni on the FLOOR. It's gruesome. Her face turns black and she almost dies.
Pomni has no reaction after witnessing this. You could swap out this scene for literally anything (even a meme!) and the context would feel exactly the same. Pomni wouldn't care if Jax stabbed her in the chest 47 times as long as he cries a little afterwards. This woman is hellbent on killing herself, I guess. She's going to forgive That Man no matter what.
Pomni has no self preservation or dignity whatsoever.
• Jax sexually harasses Gangle after she loses Zooble to abstraction (in this hypothetical scenario). He waits for Gangle to be at her absolute lowest and then delights in breaking her down through psychosexual/psychological warfare. It's pretty clear that there is no line Jax wouldn't cross (almost). Again, Pomni witnesses this mind-projection and has no opinions on it whatsoever. Not only does the poor writing flanderise Jax to the point of making him comically evil, but it also reflects badly on Pomni. She comes across as an amoral asshole who doesn't give a fuck what happens to other people, as long as her 'friend' doesn't personally affect or victimise her.
• Jax abstracts. On one hand - yayyyyy! 🎉🎉🎉🎉
On the other hand - hmmmm. 😐 The audience is clearly supposed to have mixed feelings and feel bad that Jax abstracted. Personally, I don't give a fuck. It's a net positive! But the show clearly doesn't want you to see it that way. I mean, yes, concluding Jax's arc was always going to be difficult. But killing a shitty character as a form of 'redemption' is almost always a bad trope, and usually signifies that the writer doesn't know how to solve a moral quandary. I think it also doesn't help that Jax wanted to die for most of the show, so he really isn't sacrificing anything. There is an irony there - that Jax got what he 'wanted' and be careful what you wish for...but TADC doesn't have the maturity to tackle such a complex set of emotions as this.
Whether Jax is dead or not, the crux of the matter here is that none of Jax's terrible actions mean anything in the show. I'm not asking for karma necessarily - but the humans treat Jax with so much kindness that it feels completely unearned. Nobody behaves as though Jax's behaviour is really all that harmful, which is the worst part of this entire episode. Even Caine's behaviour is treated a little bit seriously...not nearly enough, but it's a crumb compared to Jax's big fat NOTHING.
• Time for Jax's crybaby backstory! Wow! I don't care. I cannot even put into words how much I DON'T CARE.
There is something very concerning I have to mention. Two things, actually.
Deadbeat dad, divorce, mummy issues, yada yada yada. All the stale tropes are here. But here's what worries me.
1) Jax admits to *possibly* killing his mother. This is very serious. I say possibly because neither Jax nor the audience know. He's a fucking coward, so he ran away. Maybe it's the translation of the dub, but the way Jax tells this story is INCREDIBLY concerning. "I pushed her. She fell to the floor. She didn't move". So basically, very passive language here. Jax isn't framed as the aggressor. It's very detached. As though the narrative is trying to give Jax as much leeway as possible, absolving him of responsibility. I'm not trying to obscure the facts here - it was an argument, Jax was yelled at, triggered. It's not exactly clear whether his mother was abusive, but they didn't have a positive relationship. Nevertheless, it is very concerning how much Jax's violence is downplayed here.
So, how does Ribbit respond to this confession?
"The police didn't go looking for you, so I'm sure your mother is alive".
Jesus christ.
This isn't a purposeful choice from the narrative here - we're not supposed to see this as Ribbit enabling Jax's darkest tendencies, or see Ribbit as a flawed friend with dubious morals. I think...I think the show wants us to see this as a bonding moment? Fucking hell. What's really bad about this exchange is that it's not even about Jax's mum, not really. Jax feels bad because something bad happened to him. Because he doesn't enjoy the feeling of guilt.
Jax doesn't actually feel remorseful. At the end of the day, it's always about how Jax feels. It's not about the people he hurts.
Jax never faced any consequences for his actions, and he's upset that he has a conscience. In another world, this could be well written, potentially. The backstory is cliche and incredibly tacky, but there's a kernel of truth there. But uh, yeah. There's no self awareness in the narrative whatsoever.
Look, go read Clockwork Orange. Or watch it. It's way better than this Jax slop, I promise. It explores all the same themes but EFFECTIVELY.
2) Jax is revealed to be homeless. Already this post is too long, but I'll summarise. Stereotype is reinforced - working class people bad, they are sick, destined to continue cycle of abuse. Poverty is the source of mental illness (WRONG; gross oversimplification).
This also follows a trend of writing amoral characters and then over-simplifying their behaviour by giving them a "reason" for their shittiness, which retroactively absolves them of their guilt. The opposite of dehumanising - humanising TOO MUCH. There is no "good/legit" reason for horrible people to be horrible. It is not a good message for your story. We need a culture of accountability and forgiveness that is EARNED, not expected. Rehabilitation only works if the person is willing to make sacrifices.
Caine
Phew! That took a while. It's 2:44 am right now, so I'm just gonna have to speed through this.
• Caine/Blue dot scene (and the seperation) was really stupid. Caine's bad behaviour is actually caused by his evil twin brother living in his brain, which he just PLUCKS out and throws away, no problem. Not only is this a fundamental misunderstanding of Caine's psychology, but it's also a cheap way to absolve him of his guilt because it was all (apparently) his evil twin brother.
This scene also DIRECTLY contradicts Zooble's talk with Gangle about how you can't just remove the parts you hate about yourself, because they're real. Bitch, you thought! Nahhhhh. Why don't you just take the part you hate and rip it out of your head, like Caine did? You're so dumb, Gangle, come on. Get with the program. LOBOTOMISE YOURSELF.
• Quick, easy, unearned redemption. I think Caine torturing the humans was OOC anyway - I hate it. But regardless of how I feel, as always, the humans under-reacted to Caine. MASSIVELY. Bro literally tortured them and got welcomed back into the group after like, 5 mins of talking.
• Caine magically understands the humans and their conflict with him. Somehow. Idk how. I guess bro just needed a 5 minute time-out to figure out what took him DECADES to understand, despite there being no logical reason for him to come to this conclusion.
• Caine being deleted/dead meant jackshit, apparently, because he came back - just like that. No rhyme, no reason or explanation. I guess Bubble was the blue AI because he's gone now, even though Bubble works much better as a representation of Caine's ID/repressed thoughts. WEEEEAK!
• Caine's personhood or rights are never discussed, and neither is his identity outside of serving the humans. The show spends so much time convincing you that Caine is a real person here, but when it comes down to crunch time, TADC has no interest in exploring Caine's future or personhood whatsoever. Instead we get a wacky montage of everyone getting along like the ending of a bad sitcom.
• With the Moon not being programmed to love Caine, it is more or less confirmed that all NPCs have the potential to be sentient, artificial people. The implications of this are completely ignored. Caine's dialogue about mixing up humans and NPCs is completely unanswered and pointless. The humans are brain-scans (SOMA confirmed), which essentially means they are very similar to NPCs. But none of this matters - the show couldn't care less about the philosophical implications here.
• The Blue AI is put in a little cage at the end, Caine, wtf? Why would you do that??? (Ogh, look at how they massacred my boy...)
Ok, I really need to sleep. I've probably forgotten some points, but let's just list the most frustrating questions here.
• We don't know why C&A exists as a company or what they were trying to achieve by creating Caine.
• We don't learn about Scratch or the developers.
• For some reason Caine briefly gets access to WIFI??? We don't know why Caine hid the truth from the humans that they were brain-scans (we can only guess). Caine makes a PowerPoint presentation for the humans using their social media information to give them "closure". It's very cringe. Thank god all the humans were terminally online! Apparently the IRL humans documented their lives religiously to the point of oversharing. IRL Ragatha no longer lives with her mother. Also TADC, social media is NOT an accurate reflection of people's real lives. It's a very biased, unreliable source of information. This is so poorly written (I mean, the whole episode is, but come on).
• The abstracted humans are not put to rest (deleted) but instead live in this glorified zoo/aquarium. Creepy.
• Pomni hugs an abstracted Jax and falls into his mind dungeon like she's got magical powers or something? Kinda nonsensical and uh...cringe. Sorry.
• Kinger never apologises for his involvement in making the circus. Not even once. Also nobody gives a damn that Kinger was even involved. Caine has no feelings about being created inside of a digital prison.
• Jax doesn't apologise either. Caine is the only one who apologises.
• We don't know why the humans forgot their names. We don't know why the circus is modelled like a kid-friendly videogame. There's a lot of shit that makes no sense which we will never get any answers to.
• If I was in prison and someone showed me a PowerPoint presentation of Another Version of Me Achieving My Dreams, I would absolutely abstract. Immediately. No question. How tf would this give anybody a sense of closure? On what planet is this a good idea???
Wow, that was very long! If you read all of that, kudos to you. TLDR: Awful. Terrible. A massive waste of everyone's time. Don't buy tickets. 0/10.
Digital Circus glazers: “You just want Jax to turn to the camera and say “I’m Trans””
Me who just got done listening to The Magnus Protocol episode where a trans character voiced by an actual trans woman said out loud as part of natural dialogue “I’m openly trans” and reading Kill Six Billion Demons where a character has a whole arc about being trans and transitions on page despite never using the word trans: Yes actually, you can make your character trans in the narrative without making it infuriatingly vague, based in gender essentialist stereotypes, and appropriating a song about a black man’s love for his daughter by having it be covered by a self admitted racist.
I honestly think it would fix a lot of problems if ribbit was scrapped and the person jax opened up in the past was ragatha. If they were former close friends that drifted apart, it would give weight to the weird tension/animosity between them that was pretty much scrapped by episode 7. Not to mention
It would give importance to their parallels of parental abuse
It would make jax's actions less heinous if he didn't drive two of their friends to suicide (kaufmo was more carelessness than outright malice anyway)
Ragatha could have a less than pleased reaction at jax badly injuring her mother and it would feed into her belief that she's not allowed to express any negative emotions if she want to keep her friends. Making so the both of them trigger each other's parental abuse traumas.
It would make the emotional moment between pomni and ragatha (jax's current and former bird) more powerful
It would generally tie the jax/pomni/ragatha subplot together a satisfying way
Having strict, religious parents fit with ragatha's character
Jesus, jax doesn't need three people to project their mommy issues onto
And if you think "why would you want to erase a nonbinary fem character?", ribbit is barely a character so it would be beneficial to take their role to flesh out a character who need it.
> Ep 3: Caine mentions a "wild west" adventure, implying there has been a western adventure off-screen
> Ep 5: The episode literally opens with the cast coming through a portal, as Pomni is drenched in seaweed, implying there had been an underwater adventure off-screen.
> Ep 6: Major Ragatha and Pomni conflict building off the course of the series at this point, is resolved off-screen.
> Ep 7: "Too bad they cut me off, right?" Caine said. This implied C&A or whoever powered the system on cut Caine off from access, off-screen.
> Ep 7 (Bonus): "Scratch... the first abstraction." Yet again, another abstraction, implied destruction at the hands of Caine, is mentioned off-screen.
> Ep 8: After Pomni walks through the portal, it's implied multiple harrowing adventures are off-screen. Queenie has abstracted with no explanation, off-screen.
> Ep 9: Jax abstracts off-screen within the first 10 minutes. Ribbit abstracts off-screen.
"Isn't She Lovely" is very explicitly a song about Black joy, specifically the joy of Black parenthood. Stevie Wonder's first daughter, whose birth the song is about, is named Aisha, which means "life" and "prosperity". If you need the evidence any clearer, the opening of the song features a newborn's cries, and in the extended version there's a long instrumental section over audio of Stevie giving Aisha a bath.
It doesn't surprise me that "Isn't She Lovely" was used as a coming-out allegory— transitioning can definitely feel like a sort of rebirth— but it saddens me that it was at the expense of the song's Black core. Considering Goose and her track record, this was likely a fully conscious decision and not simply an ignorant misstep.
“Jax is a main character” the pilot did a poor job showing that because we spend most of our time with Pomni and Ragatha. They show him to be an annoying goofy side character. He doesn’t have main character energy and the show only decided to fully focus on his issues/mystery during the sixth episode out of nine.
“Mother issues” we learn in the final episode of the show after Jax has committed suicide and that he had an abusive mother, he opened up to Ribbit about those issues, the problem is that we get this in the FINAL EPISODE. I understand that trauma can shape a person but saying things like “ he was a victim too” removes the harm he has done to not only his two friends that he pushed to isolation and suicide on purpose, but treating the rest of the circus members like toys. He was the one to name Gangle and treat her like a play thing to the point where she didn’t feel human anymore. He was more than “just a jerk”. If everyone’s a victim, then no one is. he is benefiting off of making these people suffer. He told Pomni to her face that he wouldn’t mourn her death. He knows what abstractions have done so why would he say that to her face? Is what happened to Jax’s unfortunate? Yes. But does that excuse him literally pushing people to suicide and mocking Ragatha for also having an abusive mother? Hell no and I am tired of these fans excusing it because….
“ he couldn’t help it”
Muh mommy issu- if he was chill with Pomni during the gun fight and Abel adventure then he can show more than one emotion. he’s capable of being a good person. Being a good friend. But he actively chooses to be a misogynist, he chooses to be mean those around him to make himself feel better. He chooses to say hurtful things that he knows will hurt them the most. He wanted them to stay in the circus and he got what he wanted. He acted out on his intrusive thoughts. he is a grown ass man capable of controlling his emotions.
“ Goose’s favorite character”
I’m not opposed to self inserts, but it comes to where they can get annoying. A good example of a self insert is Shinji from evangelion. Shinji is a developed character that has chunks of the author experience. He’s just a kid questioning himself in the place in the world and it fits into the themes of the show.
Goose had said time and time again that Jax is an awful person. At some point when I was in the fandom I said that Jack’s was an awful person, but a well written character. You’re enthused by their evilness and you want to know more, you want to know why they’re like this (like Bojack Horseman or Jimmy from mouthwashing). But this love is less like a fleshing out a 3d character and more like a “ he was a poor baby this entire time, if he came out the closet things might have been better”. I like writing evil characters that have a reason for being evil or doing bad things, you can get into their ways of thinking, psychology Heck that could also help in the real world too but it comes to a point where you have to balance it out. You can’t have “ I pushed my friends to suicide, you’re my toys” and “ isn’t she lovely” in the same room together. All we have seen from Jack’s how comically terrible he is in the earlier episodes so why now 2 minutes after he’s abstracted are you fleshing out his more complex side?
“Transfem Jax”
No I do not want a “ perfect woman” but you need to realize that this head cannon was slapped on once the show has ended. We were left with breadcrumbs of headcannon. Jax’s has a pink room, so what? The maid outfit was treated as a joke, both in the series and for merch. Any causal person could easily miss the chicken in an egg thing. This isn’t an ARG. This is a Indie show, either you confirm it in your show or don’t. That’s one of my problems. The fans say “only cis people want a perfect innocent trans woman” only to turn around and make Jax’s the “ perfect goth feminine queen”. Yes, people in the LGTBQA+ community are capable of making bad rep (I mean, look at high Guardian spice). THEY AREN’T TRYING TO AVOID CENSORS. THIS IS AN INDIE SHOW GUYS. Slapping the transfem representation tag onto an abusive misogynist Tumblr sexy man AFTER the show ended is awful representation, in my opinion. EVEN GLITCH CALLS HIM A GUY.
Ignoring(i’m not ignoring this) the racism, the dumbing down of racism from fans, Shadman glaze, hiring a lolicon that drew nsfw of real kids to sing a song about a black baby girl, and more. I think Jax’s could’ve been an amazing character, a subversion of the cartoony jerk character turned into an abusive misogynist. I believe it could’ve worked perfectly, I love subversions. But this ain’t it.
I never liked the scene in episode eight where all the characters call out Caine for his flaws/how he makes the circus suck, and while that's partially because only some of the characters have actual relationships with Caine, it's mainly because the effect the circus has on everyone is really unclear.
Obviously living in a digital cartoon world where you can never die is upsetting, but narratively speaking, what about the Circus is upsetting to everyone? The only character who seems effected by it in any specifics is Zooble, who doesn't like their weird cartoony body.
So how would I make the Circus more specifically traumatizing? A few ideas... (this is long as hell btw sorry)
Pomni!
Pomni is characterized as disliking being infantilized. I think being trapped in a cartoon world where they can't curse, can't have sex, can't do any normal adult things would be personally very upsetting. But at the same time, whenever she is confronted with "adult things" they make her uncomfortable ie; the Mildenhall Manor adventure, or the President Pomni adventure.
I'd have Pomni actually want to do the scary route, after Jax mocks her for being scared/a baby. She wants to prove herself, but the adventure is incredibly upsetting. Even more so, Kinger handles it very well which makes her feel even more incompetent.
In the President Pomni adventure I'd make her get snappy with Ragatha in a more concerning way--she dislikes how Ragatha is babying her, and she gets performatively aggressive to make Ragatha take her seriously.
(this is unimportant but I headcannon Pomni as being Asian, so I think her particular sensitivity to being infantilized also has a racial element).
Jax...
Jax is a very performative character. He views the other people in the Circus as caricatures or tropes, and he tries to be the "funny one" because this trope makes him feel powerful and in control.
In a lot of ways the Circus is great for Jax--not in the long run, but the simple rules and surrealist logic is comforting for him in a dissasociative kind of way. But there's two ways I'd make the Circus more torturous for him.
For one, I'd make it so Caine doesn't think Jax is the funny one. In this version, Caine himself places archetypes on each of the characters, and for whatever reason he doesn't think Jax is the funny one. He thinks he's a bumbling-buffoon, or a villain, but he doesn't think he's funny, and won't let Jax do any bits where he gets to be funny. Essentially, Jax is constantly trying to assert his identity ("I'm the funny one") and the "one who's running the show" is constantly forcing him back into a different box (it's like a metaphor for not passing I'm so smart).
I'd also have Jax realize the archetypes he assigned on everyone was wrong. People have pointed out how in episode six all the things Jax says about the other characters are proven wrong within the same episode, and I like that a lot. But I also think Jax should realize this. He should see Kinger interacting peacefully with Ragatha and feel confused. He should see Zooble and Gangle being happy and cheerful together and feel upset. He should see Pomni being confident and mature and feel insecure. I really like the moment where he expresses doubt that Gangle is really happy, but I want more. Episode 6-8 should have Jax realizing that he doesn't understand these people at all--he's not in control, he's not the snarky funny one who sees through everyone. He's just an asshole, and that should be crushing.
Zooble!
Zooble's dysphoria translated into their weird cartoon body works really well. But I'd push this idea even further by making Zooble's dysphoria a "crack in their armor they didn't know they had".
I feel like Zooble is really self-assured, and doesn't like relying on other people's approval for their own self-worth. I feel like in their human life, they may have not experienced much gender dysphoria, because they for one, give off a lot of they/them vibes, but also because they weren't particularly bothered by others not clocking them.
Then in the Circus they have a strange toybox body with interchangeable parts, and they feel like Caine is making fun of them. They're convinced their body is some mean joke about their transness, until they get to know Caine more and realize it's an entirely genuine solution to a problem Caine identified in Zooble. All at once Zooble realizes that not only are they more insecure and dysphoric than they realized, but they're trapped within a body that would make anyone lose their mind.
Ragatha!
This is a reach but hmo. Ragatha is a horse girl, country southern belle yeehaw. And there's this moment in episode 5,
Where Ragatha appears distressed by the fake-ness of the stadium she's in. She can hear cheering, but there's nobody there. The sky is too blue, the grass is just a flat texture.
I'd make it so Ragatha is deeply comforted by nature, or in general her physical environment. I think the almost-but-not-quite-right-ness of the Circus is deeply disconcertaining for her, and I'd show this by having her be on edge in adventures where they're outside.
I'd also use this to justify her comment about Ribbit in the Stargazing adventure--she's freaked out in a way that nobody else seems to understand. They're all having a good time, Jax and Pomni are bonding, and normally she would stop herself, but she's so uncomfortable that she reflexively tries to ruin it by bringing up Ribbit.
Kinger!
Kinger is kind of a very shallow character, so I'm just gonna make some shit up.
I think (similarly to Ragatha) Kinger is put off by the unreality of the Circus. He's a computer programmer, he likes when things make sense, when they have internal logic that he can follow and understand.
But the Circus is nonsensical and inconsistent. I'd give Jax's "where'd my tail go" moment to Kinger instead, and have him be freaked out when he realizes without his knowing something changed. You could even make the inconsistent pain tolerances chacracters have be intentional--this is a bit dark, but what if Kinger when he's super upset reflexively tries to hurt himself, and becomes frustrated when it doesn't work, because Caine didn't program him to feel pain in that way?
He also has some type of dementia/cognitive degradation going on, and I'd portray this in a less comical manner. I think when he starts to remember things, he should become agitated and confused, which could be a source of conflict when he's devulging information in episode eight--they have to keep him calm so he doesn't alert Caine.
Gangle!
Gangle is a very fragile character; emotionally and physically. In her real life she was hit by a truck and as a result was severely injured and most likely disabled.
Within the Circus she is constantly reminded of her own vulnerability and weakness, both by her own body, and by Jax's constant torment. I'd push this even more by changing how Gangle's body corresponds to her emotions. In addition to her mask breaking, I'd make it so when she's "pushed too far" her ribbon body begins to unwravel. This feature could be introduced in episode 4--she'll try to hide it but will reach the point where she can't even move to put herself back together.
idk how Ragatha is the people pleaser and "fake sincere" when she's the one who's been consistently calling out Jax from the beginning. and not just for herself, she has constantly defended everyone else from him but somehow that makes her "fake".
meanwhile, Pomni is apparently the one who can handle Jax and yet, she just enables his shitty behavior and keeps making excuses for him. the only time she gets mad at him is when he starts acting rude to HER specifically.
and Jax is somehow more "real" than Ragatha because he's an asshole to everyone. because don't you know kindness and positive feelings are for children? real adults bully everyone and talk like emo edgelords when provoked /s
Would’ve been nice if Jax, who clearly was meant to have AM’s misanthropy due to trauma and abuse, and Caine, who was a subversion of AM, got into an argument about whether it not humans are inherently worth anything good or not. That would’ve worked better than Caine’s crashout over a misunderstanding, in our opinion, and also would’ve tied Jax better into the main narrative opposed to the narrative derailing itself to make itself about Jax in the last half of the series.
Like Jax could’ve trauma dumped his tragic backstory during the argument as “proof” that humans are evil, disgusting, selfish creatures, and Caine would’ve been forced to contend with the knowledge that he really doesn’t understand human beings at all.
Either Caine could admit he can’t possibly understand the emotional complexities and intricacies that happened between Jax and his mom, OR Caine could relate, because he was quarantined by Kinger, showing the audience that even though Caine saw the worst of people like Jax has, he still sees humans as a Positive, opposed to Jax’s misanthropy.
there's so many things wrong with the later half of the show that it's actually upsetting but one of the main ones is the lack of representation for victims of abuse despite it being right there and shoved in our faces
Ragatha being from an abusive home and developing coping mechanisms that hurt her relationships and friendships more than they help. doing everything she can be to be nice and friendly and helpful and still being unwanted. being afraid to even stand up for herself because she doesn't want to be unwanted or unkind. being shunned by her friends, simply because she was "too nice"
Gangle being sexually harassed and abused by someone who said they're her friend. someone who she can never truly escape, especially when they have the key to her room. they force her to do anything because they've invaded her privacy multiple times and gathered blackmail against her. being forced to be around them for eternity and watch as her friends all forgive them but knowing that she might never
and then you watch your abuser go through what is obviously a lot of struggles too and then kill themselves and you don't know what to think. do you feel sympathy because they were a person too? or do you feel relieved because at least now you don't have to deal with their abuse? do you feel guilty because maybe you could've prevented it? and you know you can never bring these feelings up around anyone else because they don't know. they don't know what your abuser put you through. saying any of this would make you look like a horrible person because of course your abuser shouldn't have killed themselves.
and yes, this comes from my own feelings about processing my own abuse and things about my abuser. my abuser was hospitalized and almost died during my abuse and i felt nothing. in fact, i wished for him to die. i prayed. i wasn't even religious and im still not and i prayed. but i could never admit that. not to anyone. never. no one will understand.
and i wish people could. maybe then they'd stop treating jax the way they do. maybe they'd understand what it's like, even just for a moment.
100% this. I'm a bit appalled at the messaging of TADC and abuse. If Jax wasn't such an obvious self-insert (or if Goose was a better writer) the complexity could've been interesting.
The conflict of both relief, guilt and grief when your abuser dies is something that doesn't get talked about enough. Not everyone reacts the same way but the fact that Gangle's response was watered down to "I wish I could cry" and Ragatha's "I wish it was me instead" just makes them props to serve Jax's story. And I hate that for them, and the message it sends.
My biggest problem with The Amazing Digital Circus.
The circus isn’t even that bad.
People inside and outside the show are comparing it to hell and it’s like…huh? The adventures aren’t torture or anything physically bad. Gather The Gloinks is just collecting gloinks (which they don’t do) and defeating the Queen. Zooble is the only one who suffers on the intended adventure and they’re swallowed whole and don’t express any pain. The Gloink Queen had it worse. Candy Carrier Chaos. They don’t even stop the bandits, they do get hurt in the carriers but that was Jax’s doing not faults with the actual adventure, have a friendly chat with the Fudge, and go on their merry way. Mystery of the Mildenhall Manor most of the group have a tea party. Kinger and Pomni are the ones who suffer and sent to Hell the ladder getting possessed. Spudsys. if Caine was as terrible as they made him out to be he would’ve refused to change it from horror but no he does listen to their suggestion. The bad things that occur are due to the humans not the circus.
The Suggestion Box Adventure. Again is Caine listening to them albeit for selfish purposes. Besides President Pomni and the Safari none of them are bad. They All Get Guns. Caine again AGAIN changing his adventure for them doing it as a trust exercise even if it was misguided before Jax ruins it. Beach Episode is the first adventure that’s blatantly awful. Episode 8 is the closest to hellish to circus gets…in the second to last episode. And we aren’t even shown any adventures. Remember they don’t go on any.
How is the circus Hell? Like the only correlation is they’re trapped and they can’t escape. It would’ve been better if they went for The Amazing Digital Circus is purgatory or the Hell is Other People route. But no only Jax is a bad person.
Caine being the one response for the pain. No? That’s either Jax, people from the real world, or their own internal struggles. He only becomes malicious in episode 8 but that quickly falls apart as it was revealed to be the blue AI in episode 9. Yay. He tries and fails to help Zooble in 3. He changes the adventure in 4. He again changes it in 5 AND 6. Caine only becomes antagonistic in two episodes. You can argue he was also listening to the blue AI in 7 as in the end of They All Get Guns his more angry persona comes out.
Plus Caine and the humans rarely interact besides him and Zooble. Like how I mentioned in a previous post why the hell do they have smoke with him if they never even talked? They’re never shown seeking him out or getting to know him besides in Beach Episode and that was just to trick him which ended up being scripted. It feels like they talk at him not too him. Are you seriously telling me no one managed to befriend him in the past prior to Remember and they didn’t even take initiative . Not Kinger nor Scratch his programmers??? Not Ragatha the people pleaser? Not Pomni Ms “I don’t anyone to feel like they’re nothing.” Caine was RIGHT there.
Another gripe is why.the.hell. Does Zooble get to SKIP ADVENTURES?! Like if you wanna show the circus is so bad why are you making the torture optional. Like no one besides them ever asked Caine to not go on an adventure??? Hell they could’ve bargained with him that they could spend time together.
Remember shows is that before Ribbit abstracted the circus was chill. HUH? You’re telling me that Jax not coming out of the closet is the sole reason everything went down hill? That the circus’s stability rests solely on if she talks about her feelings. That everyone got along prior to it. After Jax dies. Boom. Everything is peaceful again.
The fact Caine can control minds isn’t something lingering over everyone’s heads and are in constant paranoia doesn’t even come up after the reveal it was never important.
Being realistic a few people probably enjoyed the circus better than their real life. Everyone besides Pomni and Kinger had pretty shitty lives in the real world. None of them genuinely like being here?
You can argue you only see 4-6 people everyday but NPCs also exist and it’s not like they’re robots they act basically like humans you can form connections with them too. Just ask Caine to have them retain their memories or revisit the world and problem solved.
A short on the channel show’s Caine’s greatest fear them abstracting. Which is funny as no one batted an eye at the fact he was presumed dead just the consequences that came with it.
TLDR The Circus isn’t as nearly as bad as people make it out to be.
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