Selective Anger

Not all the time

[selectiveanger]

Jax may be a product of a neglectful household. Just my ramblings and theory as I rewatch TADC.

In the first adventure in Episode 5, Jax mentions the eating of raw meat (him eating the Rhino Gangle) was as if his mom prepared it. That could just be a joke, but it could insinuate that his mother probably never cooked proper food for him or even served him raw food at one point. Or otherwise, a household that required him to mostly provide/fend for himself.

There's also the propensity for teasing, bullying, and violence, which in some cases, are means to demand attention from a neglectful family.

Then his skillfulness in theft and running away. Is it a learned trait as a troublemaker (for attention) or a necessity for the purpose of survival (neglectful/unsupportive family)?

Also, he's more or less a loner who wants to connect with people, but is also fearful in building connections. Either developed trust issues or got used to being alone?

At one point, Pomni told him that she's surprised he cared about what others thought and felt. Which he tried to refute at first, but then gave up and affirmed it. As if he just accepted that as people expect him to be a jerk, then he should be. It's like in a neglectful family that stopped trying to help those they deem as a "lost cause", and because he's heard it countless times, he might as well accept that is what he is.

There's also his reaction to Ragatha's story of having an overbearing and abusive mother. It's not the look of someone who can relate, but rather someone who may be thinking, "at least you have a mother" or "at least you were wealthy".

Take note that in Episode 4, we can see that Jax is not a stranger to high-stress employment as if him working in a stressful job and getting back to his car was a familiar routine. Take note that he is only 22, as if he had to work early on in his life without furthering his academic career unlike the rest of the cast who seem to have better backgrounds in life (some just slightly).

Fear of corn? Could be because of having to experience hard labor at a young age, or having nothing else to eat so corn was the staple?

He's a jerk and selfish, but is this because of how he was raised or a matter of necessity?

His avoidance for affection and focus on masculinity. Was he thought that dependence on others is a weakness? Was he deprived of affection? Was he thought that harshness is a form of affection? Was he made to become independent at an early point in his life?

What I notice with Jax is as if he has been deprived with a lot of things during his life and is now compensating in the digital circus. As if he didn't get to live the life he wanted to live or what he wanted in general, so now his wants are what he is seeking in the digital circus.

[cybernetic-programming]

apostates and [ we ] have nothing on nullus vult. nullus vult is definitely one of my favorite church of null songs already.

i've had it on loop for 6 hours straight already and plan to continue.

[selectiveanger]

Church of Null Chapter 19...

If you can excuse me just for a brief moment, I will be crying myself to sleep.

[selectiveanger]

So I decided to spend my remaining holiday vacation productively and read the Church of Null fanfic/au for Murder Drones in ao3.

What a ride.

So, I now understand how this cult came to be. Remember those solver cores that Alice trapped in the oven? Apparently, six of them managed to survive and escape during the last episode when everything was breaking apart. Then, now those six cores, who lost their ability to repair their body, because Uzi ate Cyn, are now desperately trying to survive and rescue/find Cyn, but they don't know that Uzi ate Cyn or if Cyn is even alive...

Reading their struggles, I can't help but empathize for them??? Sure they are the villains in this story, but this is a story where the main villains are struggling and trying to get stronger to beat the hero??? (Garou in OPM vibes here)

Then the author then released a bombshell on Chapter 15 onwards. I was still wondering why they were hyping up a short chapter like Chapter 15, but when 17 and 18 came a few days ago (and today). Stakes escalated to uncontrollable levels as the scale of things broke the ceiling.

So many new characters, so many new concepts. So much potential conflict and drama. And somehow, the author managed to explain things to it make all feel somewhat natural and possible in canon. And they respect characters like Doll and J to a degree that they even expanded on their roles in the fic... although I would've wanted for there to be bit more saucy things in the fic, it's being written so genuinely that I can't help but admire it.

Electrical Ink, I don't know if you have a Tumblr account or not but if you managed to read this is some way, please keep cooking!!! You said you have already planned at least 90 chapters for this! DON'T STOP.

[selectiveanger]

At around 17:14 of Episode 8, if you haven't noticed, there is a weird transition between the black and white scene when Uzi swallowed the Solver Core and the red scene where her wings are spread out and she had tentacles at the back while she was lying down in a small crater.

There was probably a final boss fight there where Uzi probably went rogue and continued forward with the planet's destruction.

This may have also been the scene where N, V, and J (including Nori) possibly team up at the end to save/beat Uzi (J is alive by the end as seen in the credits, fixing the ship to probably leave Copper 9)

This could also, potentially, be how Cyn and Uzi (this scene probably happens in Uzi's mind) teamed up in order to control the Absolute Solver and reach a symbiosis with each other as shown in the end credits where Cyn (or the Solver) is now in Uzi's tail. I can just imagine that this is probably the scene were we get to know Cyn's personal motives of vengeance.

I believe there are a lot of cut/removed parts on Episode 8 (which also explains why it is 20 mins long only).

Think about it, what final boss has no second/final form?

[selectiveanger]

Wouldn't it be funny(horrible) if Abstraction happens, not because you lose yourself, but because the mind that occupies the digital body is free?

What if those that Abstracted actually managed to leave the Digital Circus? What if Abstraction is the key to escaping? How is Caine or everyone else sure that Abstracting is a bad thing?

Sure it's bad because those that Abstracted end up becoming multi-eyed qudrapedal monsters, but what if these things are left to make sure that others become Abstracted as well, thereby being able to leave the Digital Circus?

Check the definition of Abstracted/Abstraction.

[selectiveanger]

Before you crucify Jax for being an asshole in episode 2, imagine and think that Kaufmo's abstraction is still fresh in their minds.

I'm not sure if how I interpreted Jax in this episode is correct or not, but it seems that he is trying very hard to entertain himself for the sake of getting distracted. He needs something to distract him from the recent death(?) of Kaufmo and the adventure right after the incident in Episode 1 not being memorable or entertaining is really messing him up.

[selectiveanger]

The many implications that Murder Drones Episode 7 created for the story:

1) Team JNV Disassembly Drone units are left with most of their personalities with them because they somehow always find ways to help the Absolute Solver (AS) destroy the planet. In fact, it is implied that they always lead to interesting and favorable results to the AS. What's scary is that what if the N-units always end up inflitrating settlements due to their friendliness, but it's all meant to lower the guard of any resistance.

2) Tessa has been dead/semi-dead since the beginning and Cyn has been wearing her skin to pass off as a human. This could also imply that this might be one of AS's modus operandi when infiltrating human settlements/resistances by posing as an JCJ Employee.

3) J has always known who her boss is (the AS) and has been the "getaway" for all the AS's planetary destruction endeavors. In fact, J almost slipped up and revealed Tessa's real identity in Episode 6.

4) All Murder Drone units have a clone that any deceased drones can get back to if ever they "die". This means that there is a central hub/fabrication machine where these clones are created and stored. The end may not be the end.

5) The AS can only utilize Solver powers through a vulnerable host like Nori or Uzi (while it seems that Yeva and Dolls programming are not that vulnerable due to a patch), otherwise, the AS's fallback is those meat-machine spider cores that can create those centipede-like creatures with projection abilities.

6) The reason why the AS wants to destroy the hosts is because of the possibility for the hosts to usurp the AS's powers. They are capable of acquiring control over everything the AS has, and therefore they are deemed a threat, especially if they have been patched. The AS also wanted to check the list in the Cabin Fever Basement to check if there were others, other than Nori and Yeva.

7) The Absolute Solver does not only want to end all life or end things like originally stated in Episode 5, it actually wants to eat planet cores.

8) The AS is primarily organic in nature and not machine or AI. It is only capable of invading machines by making them partially organic (converting their cores to hearts with rib cages and turning their oil to blood), and only a select set of drones (like Nori and Yeva) can be converted to this type of hybrid.

9) There was no big time-skip between Nori's death and Uzi going to school. The situation that probably set everything in motion is the death of both Yeva and Nori, which prompted the creation of the Three Doors Settlement.

10) Nori faked her death by transferring her consciousness to a Disassembly Drone AS Core. In fact, Uzi can also transfer her consciousness as well since this was shown as a joke moment in Episode 2 when she took over the body of one of her classmates.

11) In Episode 2, it was shown that Uzi as a baby had the AS symbol in one of the projections by the J-Centipede, this may imply the reason why Nori was looking for the patch in the first place. In fact, there is a shortcut to going to the Cathedral without using the elevator (as shown when J's key to the ship fell to where the Cathedral is), which Nori might've used to bypass Alice and the Sentinels. Nori might have been going down there to look for the patch even before she "died".

12) The patch updates the programming of a Drone. Removing the vulnerability that the AS exploits to take over the AI of a Drone. This patch also blocks the AS from seeing what the Drones are seeing. Unfortunately, the AS instead watched everything through Uzi and Doll's unpatched AI. This might also be the reason as to why Nori and Yeva died as their daughters might have been used as hostages. And they were allowed to die as their daughters are potential hosts.

I have other more to say but I'm tired already and too brainscrambled to think anymore. These are just theories and implications. I hope Liam provides a complete explanation in the end. And I sure do hope this isn't the only season.

[selectiveanger]

Just a few more hours until suffering...

Are you ready?

[selectiveanger]

We need more art of Jax in different attires. I found a gem of an artist in Twitter (X) through the the lang:ko (Korean) filter.

Here are some of the art of an artist (ui2ko) that I found, and there are better ones so go check out their Twitter linked below:

I shall be diving once again into lang:ja and lang:ko in Twitter to look into not very well known artists and share their art here.

Source:

귀요미바보찍찍이잭스광공 ᴜɪᴋᴏ😎 (@ui2ko) / X

사용못하는 My: @uiko_p7 | ♡ : @jAXx_4U | 15↑ | 올종족 | 장르팔 비추 | FUB FREE | NO. nsfp | 고어 주의 | 에스크 : https://t.co/WTHcsOrRlB | mo4: @emsilver_p7

[gooseworx]

Alright you filthy farm animals, come and eat your slop!

[selectiveanger]

I'm surprised I haven't seen anyone do this before.

Jax wearing Caine's Suit and holding the cane. Stealing power and authority in the entire TADC.

Won't it be funny if Jax was Ringmaster for the day?

[selectiveanger]

KINGER THEORY:

Kinger has kept himself sane because of his own insanity.

I'm no expert when it comes to mental illnesses, but I noticed some re-occurring traits and quirks that Kinger showed in the Pilot. For those who are knowledgeable of the actual definition/term of these, feel free to respond:

First, he has a delayed perception of situations which is shown via him getting startled all the time when he was with Gangle.

Second, he has moments of lucidity, sometimes tapping into information and knowledge he shouldn't be aware of like that dialogue he had with Jax about the difference between actually and virtually eating.

Third, he finds comfort in enclosed spaces and has a fixation for things like an insect collection. This seems to be some kind unintentional coping mechanism for him.

Fourth, he knows he is human but he attributes himself as "royalty" one time when clearly that isn't the truth.

...

This leads me to theorize that Kinger has remained sane because Kinger might be suffering with some kind of mental illness that has lucid intervals (moments of sanity).

The real Kinger (Lucid Kinger) is the one that is smart and capable of proper responses and communication. He rarely shows up and when things become stressful or too strange, Non-Lucid Kinger takes control.

The other Kinger (Non-Lucid Kinger) is manic, easy to get startled, panics, has delusions, and finds comfort in odd things. This Kinger seems to be always present when Caine's adventures or quests are there or when he as to do tasks for the Digital Circus. But when everything is over, you will see a glimpse of Lucid Kinger showing up to provide insight on matters and properly discuss with the other humans.

This is probably why Kinger managed to survive for this long because he never had the moment to actually absorb what is happening in TADC. Lucid Kinger will only appear when things have calmed down (which is his true self), while Non-Lucid Kinger faces the brunt of everything.

It can also be argued that Kinger might have two or more personalities, and that he only remained sane because there is one personality that is free from the worries and purposelessness of the Digital Circus.

Either way, Kinger's instability/insanity is what keeps himself sane as only when you fully lose your sense of self is when you Abstract.

[selectiveanger]

Remember that scene where Jax turned to the camera and talked to the audience directly, and Ragatha thought he was talking to her?

A lot of people seems to have missed it or downplayed it as a gag. But what if Jax knows that there is an audience that is watching them? That's why he wants to make sure that funny things happen to people?

[selectiveanger]

I know Jax is an asshole and all but it got me thinking that his antics, pranks, and dickishness also contributes to keeping everyone sane. While in some way, these also keep him sane by being constantly entertained.

Imagine the monotony of absolutely zero hostility in TADC. Routines are welcome but the same stuff every day with some side quests from Caine will probably lead to people abstracting a lot faster.

Jax is helpful in that he torments everyone in TADC (so everyone gets to experience his acts) and his actions keep things fresh and unexpected for them.

Does it mean he is actually a good guy? Not really. The best way to describe him is that he is a necessary evil/chaotic element.

[murasaki-cha]

[yellowocaballero]

So fucking glad to see someone talk about SSS Class revival hunter 😭 I lived it so much and I feel like no one ever mentions it against more popular titles like ORV or even The Lout of the counts family, so I'm so glad to come here and see your amazing takes :>

Thank you for the ask which lets me talk about SSSCRH (the version I read was titled 'Suicide Hunter', which tbh I like more - no beating around the bush).

It's hard to draw an accurate comparison since I'm going off just the webtoon for SSSCRH, while I'm going off both the webtoon and the webnovel for ORV. And I love ORV, ORV is my media blorbo right now, it hydraulic presses my brain, I am writing ORV fanfic - it's, like, funner to enjoy. But SSSRH is just better. In the vast majority of ways it is is better. It's better than the holy trinity by a wide margin. TW talk of suicide obviously.

I can't believe I'm saying this but you need a basic understanding of Buddhism in order to understand SSSCRH. It's not about Gongja's suicides - he doesn't suicide from depression or lack of self-esteem. SSSCRH is about suffering in the Buddhist sense - dukkha. I don't want to make this an essay, so I might reblog this with more information, but extremely shortly:

The Four Noble Truths of Buddhism is the truth of suffering, the truth of the cause of suffering, the truth of the end of suffering, and the truth of the path that leads to the end of suffering. You've heard that Buddhists say 'life is suffering'. To put it one way that doesn't require defining a lot of words: the cause of suffering is experiencing the world as we percieve it instead of how it truly is. Suffering isn't just being miserable and in pain, and life isn't suffering because life sucks and global warming exists and people voted for Trump. Life is suffering because we can experience beautiful and joyful moments in this world, but we do not exist in the moment of that happiness or place our ego/'self' between us and that happiness. Living in that moment, accepting the moment as it is unconditionally, is freedom from suffering. The Buddha tries to free people from suffering through teaching Buddhism.

"What does this have to do with the webnovel and manwha about a guy murdering himself thousands of times" it has everything to do with it. Because SSSCRH is about suffering, and it is about using suffering as a tool in order to experience a world unfiltered by ego and break down the artificial boundaries between human beings. Suffering in SSSCRH is not a bad thing. Gongja has the unique capability to (reincarnate.) experience a person's suffering in unity with them, which dissolves the delusion of separation between people and puts us in touch with the reality of oneness.

The Murim arc was fucking insane because Gongja pulls a Big Bodhisattva Move and walks through the suffering of the world in order to achieve full understanding of the human experience. He takes all of the suffering of the world into himself and is liberated. You can tell it's Buddhist because death was not presented as a bad thing - death was an aspect of a happy ending for the Heavenly Demon lady, because she was finishing her life according to her own joy, and because her teachings were passed on she did not truly die.

But the purpose of embracing suffering is to discover the ability to fully embrace life, and that's where Heavenly Demon's teachings were incomplete - as the ghost dude said, Gongja hasn't even experienced his own full life and the infinite capability for his own happiness. You can only feel the depths of sadness when you've felt the depths of happiness. Sadness deserves its place in the world and it can strengthen you, but so does happiness.

Gongja is attention-seeking, envious, and unbelievably petty. When he drills down into his own desires and why he wants the things he wants, you see that he has a very strong sense of justice and right and wrong - he realizes he doesn't want to be famous, he wants to be acknowledged, but on an even deeper level he is desperate for love and to be loved. Everything he does is to experience love, and as such he learns to love others. His love for the Flamey Asshole was purely parasocial and ego-filled, with no concern for who he was as a human. Throughout the manwha, he grows to care for people as they truly are and pierce through any delusions or misleading outward appearances. He has released all attachment to life and death, and as such does not fear death, and as such has taken a step on the road towards becoming a Boddhisatva who frees others from the cycle of samsara, and as a result has learned sick sword techniques and is sooo good at beating people up.

I think the only other thing I want to mention here because otherwise this is an essay: in almost every time loop/regression story, only the final regression matters. In stories with dungeon monsters and NPCs, only the humans matter. The regressor exists in a space where there are no consequences for their actions, so they act terribly and do whatever because none of it matters. In Groundhog Day Bill Murray acts like an asshole because he can. That's not the case here. Everything Gongja does matters. The NPCs are fake, but Gongja never treats them as anything less than real people who deserve life. Once he understands a person's life he never treats them as unimportant. No loop is thrown away and no person or life is disregarded. His choices matter, the way he treats others matters, and Gongja never treats anybody as if they don't matter except for himself.

That was not short. There is a lot more. The female characters are so good and so rich. From a craft perspective it is excellently paced and has a wonderful sense of set-up/payoff and balances tone and maintains a lot of momentum, which is really hard in a time loop story. You have to do a few very specific things to write OP characters well and SSSCRH does it very well. There's more to say from a craft perspective and it's hard to judge accurately from a webtoon but it's good. I was so strangely struck the entire time about how sincere and genuine it was, how it said what it said with no trace of irony of confusion, and I think that's what stuck with me the most.

TL;DR: SSS Class Revival Hunter is good for a lot of very normal reasons, such as excellent pacing and set-up/pay off and characters, but it's also so sincerely and genuinely Buddhist that it blew my tits clean off.