#bear vents

[ursakursa]

If he is supposed to be oblivious, then why is it revealed that he actually did lie about their names, and he intentionally withheld them this entire time?

There are so many things about Caine that read as him just being oblivious, but LYING about their original identities? Withholding this from them for years?? Revealing this in the last episode with no further explanation for why?

That one act derails everything we've been told and shown about Caine

And dont even get me started on the fact that during his heartfelt apology he conveniently never brings iup that he in fact knew their real names this whole damn time. Kinda hard to have that admittedly wholesome montage of them all learning to become friends if he admits to hiding this huge piece of info intentionally

[ursakursa]

More tadc finale talk under the cut

So not only do we get no explanation for how tf Caine isnt dead, but also!

- We dont know what Caine did to Scratch's mind to make him abstract

- Kinger never explains what Caine was originally called by the developers

- Caine is back but Bubble? Yeah, Bubble is No More

- Caine randomly getting access to the internet but only for long enough to look the humans up on Google before access is cut off again

- the Circus goes back to how it was after Jax's abstraction and no one questions it at all

- Caine says he doesnt have the same power that he did before, but it doesnt look like he lost any powers at all even after pulling out the blue AI which just floats away into the void and just...leaves, I guess?

Cool cool cool cool none of this presents Problems fine fine fine it's all fine

[ursakursa]

One more, with feeling this time

You know what really sucks?

The fact that I technically got what I always wanted for Caine (for him to be appreciated and loved, and form genuine bonds with the humans through mutual understanding) but I can't even be genuinely happy about it because IT CAME IN THE MOST CONTRIVED WAY!

Caine is literally my favorite character. I had been thinking about his death for the past 2 months, how beautifully tragic it was. How the real villain of the show wasnt any single person, but the unfortunate circumstances they found themselves in and a lack of mutual understanding between him and the humans. How despite his genuine efforts to try, Caine was always destined to fail to understand the humans in a meaningful way, because he lacked the ability to do so on his own - that if he was genuinely guided, and had their situation explained in a way that he would be able to understand instead of just writing him off because the AI completely cut off from society doesnt know what body dysmorphia is, we could have cleared things up long ago.

But no, we dont get that nuanced, painfully oblivious to a fault character. We get a rushed realization, a half-assed redemption. We get a fake out death with no real consequences other than being a catalyst for Jax's abstraction. We get the implication that his erratic behavior wasn't solely his own flawed missteps but the blue AI effecting his code that he just quickly removes and lets float away into the void.

And we get 2 seconds of apprehension from the humans, before all is forgiven after a powerpoint presentation. Like damn, they basically completely forgot that he was SUPPOSED TO BE FUCKING DEAD.

All I wanted from the finale was just some acknowledgement, any remose about his death. I would have been happy if he had gotten a funeral. No miracle revival, just...acknowledgement. Even post mortem.

But what we got just feels...hollow. Meaningless.

Sigh. BIG OL SIGH.

[ursakursa]

Gonna talk about the tadc finale below the readmore, scroll away and dont click if you want to go in blind!

Please feel free to block me if you come across my blog to prevent any spoilers you dont wanna see, and as an extra precaution, here's a list of all the tags I'll be using (I wont be using any of the main fandom tags):

#tadc critical, #tadc episode 9, #tadc the last act, #tadc episode 9 spoilers, #tadc episode 9 leaks, #tadc spoilers

Anyway, my rambling thoughts below!

I'm going to try to be as concise as possible here, so bear with me:

To start, I want to say that the finale, to put it plainly, is Bad.

It had some moments that I enjoyed individually, but as an episode and finale to the series? Disappointing would be putting it lightly - incredibly overstuffed, badly paced, and despite spending a significant amount of its runtime developing 2 characters in particular, it fails to deliver in concluding their stories in a satisfying way, and even leaves some significant plotholes unanswered.

I know there's quite a few people that are critizing the fact that none of the characters escape, but while that may have been the badly established goal of the characters, it was never the point the narrative was trying to make. Staying in the circus was always going to be the conclusion to this story, despite how much of a mess the final product ended up being.

But the issue isnt the finale, but the lead up to it throughout the entire series.

Frankly, the series doesnt do a good job of following through with its goals for its narrative or the characters. It feels disjointed and unfocused, and frankly the second half of it is where the cracks that were always present inevitably become too big to ignore.

The first 5 episodes of TADC are, imo, pretty solid. We navigate the world and the situation the characters are in mostly through the lens of Pomni, who is the newest member of the digital circus. The pilot does a good job of setting up the premise, while episodes 2 thru 5 gives us an overaching theme - the importance of interpersonal bonds and relationships, especially when at our most vulnerable.

But unfortunately the series has a pretty crucial flaw - Too much telling, not enough showing.

We're told that the goal of our cast is to leave the circus.

But the only time we're shown anyone pursuing that goal is the pilot and ep. 7 (the latter example not even being incited by the humans themselves, but by Caine)

We're told that each character gets dedicated screentimes meant to develop each of them

But we're shown very little onscreen development for Zooble, Gangle, Ragatha, and Pomni apart from a few conversations

We're told that Jax was always meant to be a main character alongside Pomni

But we're not shown him getting any significant development until we're halfway through the series.

We're told that Jax is a genuinely terrible person and that his bullying is basically abuse disguised behind "bad jokes"

But we're shown him not doing much other than being a jerk and a bit of an ass, while spending significant screentime in painting him in a more sympathetic light.

We're told Caine isn't a villain, but a flawed AI that is moreso oblivious rather than trying to cause genuine harm.

But the finale shows him not only admitting to keeping them trapped, but he intentionally stole their names and also there's literally NO explanation for why Caine is alive. LIke none whatsoever, and it was set up as this huge impact to their entire status quo, changing their situation entirely to the point that it's basically the final push that leads Jax to fucking abstract but he's not even gone, he just gets transferred to the void which he can easily leave and also are we actually implying that the reason Caine was emotionally unstable was because of the blue AI instead of actually making him be responsible for his own emotional regulation, nope lets just remove the blue AI and let it float out into the void of course that wont be a problem ohmygodihatethisshitsogoddamnmuchraaaAAAAAA--

Anyway...!

The outlined goals of the show are completely misaligned with what we see in the series, and that's been an issue from the very start.

And I'm not going to speak on Gooseworx as a person or my personal feelings on a particular recent controversy, but it's clear that her skills as a writer are very amateur (and tbh, being so engaged with fandom made her a bit resentful and burnt out, which you can see reflected in her writing as well)

But hey, Abstragedy and Bluetooth (kinda) are basically canon, so tiny win yay *pops a single confetti popper*

[ursakursa]

Only thing I'm gonna say about Jax...

I'm gonna hold off judgement until after I watch it in english, but that "coming out" scene with Jax and Ribbit is so badly handled.

Because it doesn't confirm anything. In an Indie show that is written and directed by a trans woman and has multiple LGBTQ+ people working on it, it doesnt make sense to cover this coming out scene under 100 layers of innuendo and subtext. In a scene where we see Jax in a private, intimate moment with someone he trusts, there's not reason to not just be explicit and have Jax say it outright.

The only excuse I could give for this is the fact that it could get banned/censored in other countries, and if that's the case...

So?

We have so many animated series in recent years, from much bigger companies, have explictly LGBTQ characters that yes, did get censored in their translations and led to the show's cancellation. But this is the final episode of TADC, there's literally no reason not to make it LOUD and CLEAR.

Gangle and Zooble HAVE SEX IN THE CREDITS! But no, Jax can only say "I told my mom something I knew would upset her, just to shut her up."

What did Jax say exactly? Who knows, it's all wrapped up in Wink wink nudge nudge

Again, I'm holding off full judgement until I watch it in english, but just based on the leaks, I dont have much hope it'll be any better...

[ursakursa]

A (very very rough) rewrite of TADC

For starters, just a few adjustments here

- Ribbit and Kaufmo's roles are switched or combined.

- Ensemble cast, point blank. We may spend more time with Pomni, but that's due to her being the audience stand-in/"Everyman" character

- Jax is still an asshole, but not abusive. His terrible behavior and treatment of others has increased in intensity only more recently, possibly a few weeks or months before Kaufmo's abstraction. The reason why the others dont give him as much pushback over it is because they knew that Jax and Kaufmo were very close at one point, but are losing patience with his behavior. They know that he's not taking Kaufmo's abstraction well, but dont know what caused their friendship fracture.

- each of the cast spend more time talking about their human lives with each other and Pomni throughout the series, giving a clearer idea of who they are as individuals. Everyone's hope of leaving is in different stages: Ragatha isnt as positive there's a way to leave but does cling to hope that it's possible, while Zooble is more cynical but hasnt completely written of the possibility. Gangle is torn and a bit anxious about leaving, and Jax tears down the idea of escspe every chance he gets.

Episode 1: Kaufmo still abstracts in the pilot, the same day that Pomni joins the circus. Have the remaining cast watch, with various expressions of sadness, discomfort, muted anger etc as his abstracted form is placed in the cellar

Episode 2: Kaufmo's absense is more apparent, and the rest of the cast spend the adventure trying not to talk about his recent abstraction, but maybe one of them (maybe Ragatha or Kinger) slips up and almost calls Pomni "Kaufmo". This adds to Pomni's fear and distress over abstracting and being forgotten. Gummigoo still gets popped, adding to Pomni's stress, before the others invite her to Kaufmo's funeral service, which they decide to have a dual service for Gummigoo (Jax still doesnt attend, and Pomni gives a quick confused look towards Jax before continuing on with the others)

Episode 3: continues on the same way, except maybe Kinger also has a few words to say about Kaufmo as well as Queenie.

Episode 4: again, few changes, but Zooble and Pomni have a short conversation after Gummigoo leaves.

Episode 5: no changes (ok one change, I would adjust the dialogue a bit in the bar scene because it's always bothered me that the scene is framed as everyone's first time talking about their pre-circus lives with one another. Apart from Pomni, they've all known each other for years and we see them hang out casually outside of the adventures. So why make it seem like none of them actually talk to each other when we see them hanging out casually around the circus all the time?)

Episode 6: some slight changes in dialogue, but mostly the same. We get an on-screen conversation between Ragatha and Pomni, and show their friendship progression.

Here's where the changes get a little more significant:

- adding another episode between 6 and 7. Another adventure, Pomni, Ragatha, Zooble and Gangle have more bonding and partner up. Pomni is pointedly awkward when Jax is around, and it's clear she wants to say something but is still upset over their fight. Jax and Kinger go off on their own, and Jax tries to pull his same behavior on Kinger but it doesnt land due to the latter's lack of lucidity. At some point, they end up in the dark and when Kinger becomes more lucid and tries the Kinger Wisdom tm with Jax, it actually backfires and causes him to lash out before running off on his own and having another panic attack. (More hints of "Abel" in the background)

Episode 7: no changes, plays out the same

Episode 8: the relationship between the cast starts to crack here. Zooble tears into Jax here, and both Ragatha and Gangle try to intervene. An argument breaks out, with Zooble snapping at Gangle and Ragatha over defending Jax and how tired they are of everyone coddling his feelings because of Kaufmo. Gangle cries, and Zooble instantly regrets their words, but before they can apologize, Caine pops up.

Glossing over the events of the disasterous "Escape the Circus" adventure, he tries to introduce a new adventure before being interrupted by the angry and hurt humans. They tear into him over what the previous adventure, and Pomni is the one that snaps and basically tells him "Dont you get it? We HATE this circus and all these stupid fucking afventures!"

Caine is genuinely hurt by the words, and he looks desperately at the rest of the cast, hoping for some proof that she's wrong. They all look at him, hurt and angry, and the realization finally hits him. He disappears quietly, retreating to his office once again, and the humans all walk away in different directions to be alone with their feelings.

Eventually, Pomni comes across Ragatha and Kinger in the cafe, with Pomni noting that she didnt know this place was here. They all talk, and comfort one another. It's the beginning stages of them accepting their lives in the circus, and while they're not fully ok about it, it's a start.

Cut to Caine back in his office, where we get his "I am GOD" crashout, and the episode ends with his glitching eyes as he turns to the camera and the episode ends with his line "Lets get this show on the road"

This is already getting pretty long, so I'll continue with a rough rewrite of the finale in another post in a bit

[ursakursa]

Oop I got more to say sorry from spamming the tag

If I could change one thing about TADC, I would have had Kaufmo switch roles with Ribbit, or have their roles be filled in with one character overall.

It would have way more impact to have Kaufmo be the character that essentially haunts the narrative throughout the series, since he abstracts the very same day Pomni arrives.

His absense would be felt by everyone, especially by Jax, and would explain his reluctance to get closer to Pomni if he just faced a significant loss

Just a thought

[bearingthecurse]

it's around 5:30am and i can't sleep because i'm sick, this is my third time waking up

i have work at 10am but my throat is on fire and i can barely speak. i think i'm calling out today

i'm miserable and had to share it somewhere