TADC Spoilers under the cut
Dude (initial reaction lol)
Okay a lot of this is going to be anti Jax so don’t like don’t read. My contribution to the discourse. Might be insensitive so check the tags too. Also I’m using they/them for Jax as for rn since I didn’t even pick up the transfem Jax stuff until I was talking with friends after the movie 💀
I don’t like Jax and haven’t liked them since episode 6 and it’s so frustrating just watching them repeat the same cycles of isolation and bullying again and again.
What Jax did with Ribbit after coming out to her was fucking horrible. I would have empathized with Jax more (at all) if they would have realized their mistake AND changed their behavior (even if it was after Ribbit abstracted)
I feel like Jax and Kyo from Fruits Baskets start their respective series as similar character types where they push others away because they’ve deemed themselves unloveable. And Kyo even has a similar-ish plot point where (fruits basket spoilers but it came out 20 years ago lol) Tohru’s mom died and Kyo could have saved her but he didn’t want to reveal his secret to the world in order to save her. The difference being that not only did Kyo feel deep remorse but he then began very protective of all the people close to him after the fact.
I don’t like how the responsibility/consequences of Jax’s emotions always fell to others, even until the end. Even after they abstracted.
The stuff with Jax’s mom, I don’t hate them for since they clearly grew up in a fucked up household and now they have a fucked up sense of emotional intimacy either as a result of that or as a result of their repression.
The stuff with Ribbit and Kaufmo though? And the stuff that would have happened to Gangle and possibly Zooble too if Pomni didn’t arrive to the circus? I mean, I feel like if Pomni didn’t arrive to the circus, Jax would have isolated Gangle until she abstracted. And then Zooble or Ragatha. One thing that seemed consistent with Jax is that they had to have a target. Maybe I’m reading too much into it though. The way Jax treated everyone and isolated Ribbit especially was some of the cruelest but also realest shit I’ve seen. What they did to Ribbit dude… ugh.
That’s why I dislike Jax. I understand there’s a mental health portion of the conversation but you have to keep in mind how your actions make others feel! And although the show was trying to say that too and also saying to grow/realize that before your shit hurts others to that extent, I feel like Jax got off easier than most of the other minor characters. Let me explain:
I haven’t seen anyone say this yet but why is their abstraction the only one allowed to live outside the cellar? “We came to an understanding” okay yeah for sure but didn’t Kinger and Queenie come to an understanding too? Why is she in the cellar and not in the tent with Jax?
I just feel like Jax has emotional plot armor if that makes sense? Or at least Pomni is like the Steven Universe of TADC lol
