TADC could've been so much better

yikes. (hi, this is another TADC critical miniblog because i can't take this holly jolly shite any longer!!)

[meta-commentary]

part 2/2 because tumblr is being idiotic

ok so if it's not any of those, is the metaphor that you need to look inside yourself to find the meaning in the little things in life? [BUZZER SOUND] nope. nothing in the circus means jack shit lol. if everything can just be created and destroyed on a whim in the digi-void for all eternity, and everything/everyone you create is a bunch of 1's and 0's, where's the meaning? there is no meaning, it's just random flights of fancy and maybe a few memories to pass the endless time away until you can't ignore time itself anymore. maybe the digital circus members could've made a hypercomplex digital world where npc's like gummigoo and the cast could've lived together and made a life for themselves, and that COULD'VE been kinda interesting, but aside from the npc's that could gain their own sentience it would've been just some illusory matrix of a thing where nothing truly exists or happens unless you design it specifically that way. and that's something that would honestly drive anyone mad eventually, "meaning" be damned. humans aren't really built to be immortal gods with no life of their own. (lol and how's a human being in the audience living a "stagnant life" or whatever that means supposed to relate to any of that???) this is a "happy" ending where everyone's just doomed to a forever-loop not dissimilar to the Slay the princess table route. there's no meaning; just like everything else in this show the writers put little to no effort into actually designing, thinking through or exploring the story in this way. eventually the digital circus members are going to run out of things to create to pass the time away and stave off the boredom and existential terror, and sooner or later the cycle is going to break them and they'll have to contend with the fact that there's truly nothing more than this and will never be. yaaaayyy for meaning in a stagnant life!! honestly just pulling the plug on whatever kind of Forever Invincible computer that is running this program in an abandoned building that inexplicably still gets electricity pumped into it and not torn down by the city would've been more merciful.

[meta-commentary]

part 1/2 because tumblr is being idiotic

ok so it's been a while since i posted, and i'm not sure if this has been said already by other people (probably has tbh), but there's been something really bugging me about the whole "meaning in a stagnant life" metaphor that TADC has been trying to portray. buckle in cause this is gonna be a lot. the thing that doesn't work about this metaphor is that like...in this world, planet earth, things are complex and shifting enough that situations are always and forever changing, and everything has the potential to become different, better and/or worse throughout the journey of life. so the true degree of stagnancy that the digital circus has to offer by the ending (aka being trapped indefinitely in a tiny digital pocket world with the same 5 people, no real life prospects and where nothing that happens has any meaning) is not even really possible or relatable to a person living a "stagnant" life on earth. so what the heck is the metaphor supposed to be referring to for the audience? is a "stagnant" life one where you accept the boring aspects of life? well, that doesn't work because the digital circus members can just create literally anything they want out of thin air, so it's anything but "boring" even if it's in a shallow stupid way. the members of the circus are now basically gods of a nothingburger world while we are limited participants in a world of change. so is a stagnant life one where you're accepting that you're never going to be able to achieve your dreams and settling for what you've got or something? ok, sure, that's a bit eye-rollingly cynical and ironic especially considering gooseworx's random-ass (and imo undeserved) wild success, but it'd work i guess...except we see the "real" versions of the circus members out there living their dreams and becoming better versions of themselves through their social media pages, so that whole comparison just....falls apart like a block of wet sand. (and side note but why don't we have the cast discussing this at all? wouldn't this be a good thing to explore storywise?? them all coming to terms with the fact that they're never going to be able to do these things while their counterparts are none the wiser? of COURSE not, it's gooseworx and co after all; shallow thoughtless bullshit is apparently their specialty. but honestly that shit's existentially terrifying enough that it really should've abstracted the rest of the cast in some kind of mass tragedy horror ending.)

[llilobnuy]

Someone was annoying me by constantly reposting some tadc logo generator and quirky funnies so I decided to try it did I do it right

[reindeerp1g]

Of course the MF is also a lolicon artist

[the-multifandom-detractor]

"Some of ya'll didn't understand ep 9 and have no media literacy-"

Okay then, do us the favour of explaining the episode! And please do tell us what media literacy is, because you understand it so well and you most definitely aren't using it as a nonsensical excuse!

We critiques are mainly complaining about how the last episode is almost completely centered around Jax, and how the other characters didn’t get as much attention as he did. And we're really wondering how we're incorrect when most of the movie was in fact centered around Jax! The rabbit that abused, harassed and terrorized the rest of the cast!

[meta-commentary]

everything else aside i wonder if Dana’s regretting her choice to go with glitch studios as a host for her commentary story on the shitty aspects of a company like Disney. out of the frying pan into the fire amirite

[meta-commentary]

yknow I saw someone make a post saying that people didn’t like TADC and the last act because they wanted LESS nuance in the show and a monster of the week plotline. like girl no we wanted More nuance lol?? maybe try expanding your media consumption variety so you start to understand what nuance even is to begin with. 😆

it’s always funny as heck watching people ALMOST hit the nail on the head about the problems and flaws in TADC amongst their glazing. like people are saying “oh this show was always about the characters and their dynamics” and then mention “the complexities of Jax and Pomnis characters” in the same breath and you’re just sitting there like hmm…interesting…so you’re not gonna mention the rest of the cast there buddy?

almost as if the show kinda sorta fails at being a proper cast show with believable character dynamics cause the only two characters who have a basic if not very broken ass framework for being “complex” characters, or any semblance of proper narrative focus whatsoever, are these two? HUH how intriguing.

[adeline-art90]

mainstream "indie creators" cant write for shit

(oringinal image on twt) ➡️https://x.com/MontyBlun/status/2057120357547446619⬅️

[justa-side-blog]

Another quick note about TADC episode 9 spoilers

It is revealed in 9 that Jax pushed his mother and left her body to lie on the floor. Now, I haven't phrased this in the best way, but basically, his mother was *seriously* injured. As in, we don't know how bad the injury is, but she doesn't *move*. She is left lying on the floor, not moving, possibly dead. This is very, very serious.

And Jax leaves her to die. He runs away.

Now, whether Jax's mother dies or not, we don't know. We'll never know (unfortunately).

But this should be taken seriously. If I EVER come across any fans after 9 that try to defend Jax's behaviour, I won't be happy. I don't think you need to be a medical expert to understand that someone left unmoving on the ground is a very serious event, and shouldn't be minimised or treated as 'not a big deal'. I have some experience in this field, but in simple terms, the human body is very fragile. If you bang your head on the floor (depending on where), you could get a blood clot, brain damage, possibly even die. I don't care how bad Jax's relationship with his mother was. The way the show frames the event is very sexist - we never hear Jax's mother's side of the story. She doesn't even speak. She's a victim of domestic abuse.

[yaemicoco]

The amazing digital misogyny in the waste of time circus never disappoints

[carma-official]

Tdac got leaked and my honest opinion is…

THANK GOD!!

FUCK GOOSEWORX. FUCK GLITCH PRODUCTIONS. FUCK RACIST.

I’m glad it got leaked because that’s what they get for harboring/platforming racist and pretending to not care about black voices. And fuck the fans who baby that grown ass lady too when she starts vague posting about fandoms.

[meta-commentary]

Oh boy, Glitch's done it again.

so these screenshots of Glassdoor reviews from Glitch employees have been making the rounds on Twitter recently. now i personally cannot confirm or deny the truth of the allegations told in these screenshots, but i do know this: Glassdoor is a website where employees can review the working conditions they face at the company they're employed at. it's a well-known fact that Glassdoor doesn't allow just anyone to post a review there unverified; they have to show ample proof that they actually were employed at the company they say they were. so, we can operate under the assumption that these reviews are, most likely, more or less a legitimate look into Glitch Production's inner workings. however, if i'm wrong, please let me know. tl;dr: these reviews essentially state that Glitch treats its female employees like shit (what a surprise), sets ridiculously unrealistic expectations for its workers, resorts to intimidation and threats on multiple occasions, and even coerces workers to write false good reviews to boost their Glassdoor ratings (among other horrible shit). and Boy, am i not surprised but still somehow disappointed. honestly, i didn't think my respect for glitch could sink any lower, but here we are, i guess. apparently this is the same company that's going to be "paving the way for a new generation of indie artists" or whatever. more like falling back on the very same underpaying, overworking, greedy, toxic abusive bullshit that's been plaguing the animation and entertainment industries for decades now. great work guys, thanks! you're a stain on our history and the future of animation is even deeper in the pits than it ever was. we're one step back from ever redefining and reworking the rampant malpractice, mistreatment and dehumanization going on behind closed doors. link to Glitch's Glassdoor page: https://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/Glitch-Productions-Reviews-E8656356.htm Link to twitter posts with screenshots and summaries: https://x.com/lumirunner/status/2057519161648333178 https://x.com/lumirunner/status/2057800789977174404

[yaemicoco]

TADC gang at the end after putting mindless corpses of people who killed themselves in an aquarium and having fun with two dudes that are responsible for at least half of the things that happened (they found meaning in stagnant life or something)

[meta-commentary]

apparently media criticism automatically = misunderstanding the point of the author now! and calling out racism = harassment, defamation and overreacting lol. love that for us in 2026; you get a free pass for shitty behavior because [insert identity label here] and you're an "indie" creator so you can do no wrong

[shsl-hubris-guy]

TADC fandom for the past month and especially the past like 2 days

[meta-commentary]

weirdly parasocial TADC fans lately, apparently: how DARE you HORRIBLE people criticize our precious goose's flawless work and perfect personage in your own space and while using the proper spoiler tags!! the only reason why anyone would EVER critique a show is if they're OBSESSED LOSERS with NOTHING BETTER TO DO than to tear down a perfect little indie creator who has never done a thing wrong ever because we said so and refuse to look at or listen to the voices and evidence of people we don't want to hear! we must SWOOP into the tag and fight against these EVIL people TOGETHER! tadc critical: ...ok?

[meta-commentary]

Tadc spoilers cont.

oh and on a side note, kinger as a character is so unbelievably broken it's unreal. guy just sits and twiddles his thumbs and doesn't think to do anything about it as everything goes to shit around him, his programmer buddies die, his wife dies, bunches of other people die without ever knowing what's happening to them or why, and then he twiddles his thumbs some more until he loses his marbles. if i know programmers irl, i know they're natural explorers and problem solvers; they wouldn't just sit idly on their ass until some person suggests they try the most basic solution attempt possible 25 years later. what was this company Kinger was part of even trying to do anyway?? we sure didn't get any of that info from his daughter's instagram page.

[meta-commentary]

WARNING FOR TADC SPOILERS

another bunch of things that's kind of bugging me about episode 9 on the smaller less-openly-talked-about scale of things is...the caine and blue ai scene. and the bizarre wifi scene as well. 1) so the blue ai, in episode 8, was established as the more "successful" and "stable" ai, the one that was creating all the "correct" shapes that Caine, the red prototype, was unable to do. and when caine gets locked away for this, out of desperation (?) he breaks out and consumes the "correct" ai, thus making him the main aggressor in that situation. so....with all that in mind... why the hell is the blue ai, in episode 9, suddenly redefined as "the thing that's making caine do/think all the evil stuff"? what even IS the blue ai anymore??? how the hell does it make sense for the blue ai to suddenly be the more unstable/aggressive of the two? if there's something going on that we're not seeing here, it's being communicated so piss-poorly that it just makes no friggin sense. caine having this whole "no....NO!! the evil is fighting for conTROL OVER ME AGAIN!! NOOOO ITS HURTING ME NOOOO" sequence going on while the "other side" of him was suddenly the pinnacle of stability and rationality and kindness and perfection was so ridiculously corny and inconsistent too. ah yes, let's just relegate all the prior complexities of his character down to "nope, apparently he just had to yank out the evil weed in his head the whole time and now he's all good again!" and destroy both characters in the process! no need for things like facing the consequences of his own actions, learning and growing through a naturally progressing character arc along the way, coming to terms with his own flaws and working through them, nope. 2) but to be honest, after the insane shit he did in episode 8? torturing the characters with their worst fears and mutilating them over and over again?? he should've stayed gone; bringing him back was a pretty friggin stupid and cheap cop-out decision. realistically, if i were stuck in a tiny pocket dimension world with the guy who physically violated me and forced me to re-experience my trauma in realtime, i honestly dont know if i would ever feel truly safe in the same space as him. or at least, i would need some more time to process that shit. i Definitely wouldn't be able to be all happy-sappy funtimes with him and instant flowers and friendship the way the cast apparently seems to in the ending. but then again, this is abuse apologism the show, i guess! gotta insta-forgive and cuddle all the goose self inserts so she can feel extra special about herself. as long as they show they're super duper sad, everything's immediately okay no matter what! 3) the bizarre wifi and google search thing. i have to talk about the bizarre wifi and google search thing. this whole scene, of course, raises a ton of questions that will, of course, never be answered BUT: first off, this is a small nitpick i guess, but wifi isn't a finite resource that can be used up. you're either connected to it, or you're not. so idk what that whole "oh no the internet is running out, better hurry!!" thing was lol. or why the wifi was hidden behind 2 firewalls to begin with, but oh well. the whole purpose behind this company and this ai is a complete mystery mess. secondly, apparently Caine just....didn't know that the humans were humans from their own world, and thought they were just his own creations this whole time???? wow-ee. you know what could have solved this WACKY MISUNDERSTANDING that apparently was allowed to go on for the past 25 or so years while countless people died?? oh, i dunno, maybe KINGER COULD'VE OPENED UP HIS GOB AND COMMUNICATED WITH HIS OWN GOSHDARN CREATION FOR A SECOND. OR MAYBE CAINE COULD'VE LISTENED TO WHAT LITERALLY ANY OF THE CIRCUS MEMBERS TRIED TO TELL HIM IN PLAIN AND SIMPLE TERMS, OR JUST LISTENED IN ON WHAT THEY DISCUSSED ON THEIR DOWNTIME. HOLY SHIT LOL.

[meta-commentary]

TADC SPOILERS - again

seriously though, i do have to say a few things here about the "Grand Finale" of TADC that i don't think i've seen many other people mention, before my head explodes from frustration with this show lol. first of all, you know that scene where pomni gets choked out by jax? going over that scene again i realized how the shock of this fucked moment kind of erased the memory of the fact that just before this, pomni essentially says to him: "jax, i am the only one who can help you. i can fix you. you need me" when she finds him in his mind for the first time....and??? haha?? what the fuck pomni...? that's fucking weird??? genuinely what the hell is your bizarre obsession with this guy??? and where did it come from, and why??? * i mean obviously it doesn't excuse jax choking her out the way he did because. idrc if if was "just" a mind reflection of jax or not, i'm operating under the assumption that each of these "mind-jaxes" all represent a smaller facet of jax's awful subconscious, and each of them basically serve to let the audience know that a terrible character is actually even more one-dimensionally terrible than we ever thought he was. *just kidding. i know why. the reason why is because jax is goose's extra specialest little self-insert egg that she's also lowkey horny for on twitter, concerning implications and all.