#lorewalker ezzydesu

[ezzydayo]

RE: Jax's pronouns 🐰

[NO EP 9 SPOILERS UNTIL THE BEES 🐝]

Ever since Jax got put in a maid dress in episode 5 and the reveal of his girly-pink room in episode 7, transfemme Jax has been a widespread theory and headcanon, and more and more people use she/her pronouns for Jax.

That said, I am continuing using he/him for Jax. Let me explain.

Aside from gender =/= pronouns, when it comes to trans identities, unless the person themself tells you they're using XYZ pronouns, using different pronouns is still assuming gender/pronouns, as much as she/her-ing a femme presenting enby would be, even if your intention is well and even if those other pronouns fit your perception of their gender or whatever they've come out as (which tbh is never up to you anyway). There are he/him lesbians, there are he/him non-binary people, we simply DON'T KNOW where Jax falls nor do we know the pronouns he would even prefer (if any), even if the trans subtext is very clear. Don't make an ass out of yourself and Ming for assuming.

Now ofcourse Jax is a fictional character and the parameters are a bit different, but the way you treat fictional trans characters still reflects back on you. Implications and intentions of an author, creator, director, whatever weigh in obviously, but as Glitch exclusively uses he/him in and outside the show, and Gooseworx has never outright said anything aside from an HRT joke in a random doodle, she/her is nothing more than a headcanon at this point in time.

While I personally, as a trans person myself, am not 100% comfortable with people using she/her for Jax as more than a personal headcanon, I'm minding my business towards them. However, I absolutely do not fw people (especially cis people) making me feel bad or weird or like I'm hate criming/misgendering him for not using she/her.

[EP 9 SPOILERS AFTER THE BEES 🐝]

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SPOILERS INCOMING!!!!

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You've been warned!!!!

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Then there is also the fact that IRL-Jax uses masculine-presenting name and pronouns, and presents on the masculine side of androgynous/gnc. You can see it as him not having started MTF transition yet. But it can just as much be he already is transitioning FTM.

Ribbit did give Jax their ribbon (and he was clearly being affirmed by it), but she is trans herself just as much and wore it too, even if the wearing placement was more masculine while for Jax more typically feminine. And we don't know the parameters of the Circus rooms either. So far they all seem like to reflect their biggest insecurities, like Zooble's mirrors and Pomni's oversized furniture, so interpreting Jax to be raised as a girl while being trans masc or enby is just as a valid interpretation. We simply do not know.

There is just the infinite interpretations of his being. Toxic hypermasculine trans-guy that rejects any feminity, egg transfemme (even though he kinda implied he came out to his mom before leaving home/(almost) killing her), AMAB enby, AFAB enby, both post and pre-transition, and whatever else.

The "Isn't She Lovely" montage in the finale is the strongest evidence for pronouns, but it's still guesswork and assuming. Seriously, Ming is having a rough time...

Now I am AFAB transmasc non-binary, and for a long time my dysphoria made me reject any femininity, despite never identifying as a man. It just made me reject it all violently, I made myself stay away from the colours pink and purple, from flowers, from clothes from the women's section even if it visually was indistinguishable from the men's section. All while gender neutral or genderless always gave me the most euphoria, but I was simply overcompensating for how I grew up. I saw a lot of myself and my journey in Jax. Even the visceral rejection of the maid dress, and later realising he liked it anyway and seemed very comfortable later.

So anyway, unless Glitch or Gooseworx say or confirm anything else, I personally feel like he/him is the most correct way to address Jax. I'm not gonna tell others off for using other stuff, so please don't do it for me either. It's weird and uncomfortable. Especially if you are not trans yourself.

[ezzydayo]

So Arcane ended a year ago, and I still stand by this statement:

Arcane handled disability BEAUTIFULLY.

[ezzydayo]

TADC Ep 7 Trailer Breakdown [PART 2]

My collection of most notable frames!

Caine has another Blue Screen of Death like in episode 1, when he was giving Pomni a tour and telling about the daily activities. But that was midsentence and he froze in the pose he held. here it almost looks like he got surprised by it?

Quick observation: It looks like a different BSOD than in ep 1? The one in ep 1 was used in Windows XP, Vista and 7.

If anyone can find the source, I'll add it!

100% this is the same mannequin we have seen peeking around corners. I think this marks the third mannequin to have unique identifiers (Disappearing Guy is red with a cowboy hat, Ming is blue/grey with googley eyes and a baseball cap)

Also why does he kinda look like Dream?

More Jax blob, but no face

Jax' room door opening (door opens outwards)

Is that Bubble? or the angel?

Jax blob and face is back

This isn't regular fear, this is ''my perception of reality just got broken''-fear.

A door opening outward, so Jax' room maybe?

Between those door-frames shows an empty, dark room. Lighting is similar to that close-up on Jax' face early in the trailer (see part 1 of this post)

This is a different door. Not only is the room lit, but the door opens inwards.

Then the trailer ends with a black screen, and a mysterious voice saying ''I think I've found a way to leave.''

My friend Danny (@iamodynorth) and I already theorised Zach Hadel is guest starring as Ribbit (he made a full video about it), and this sounds like him. I think this voice is a memory from Jax.

If you didn't see part 1 of this post, here you go!

[ezzydayo]

🐝🐝🐝THE BEE THEORY 🐝🐝🐝

W.I.P theory - The Amazing Digital Circus

I started noticing bees popping up allover TADC - not just drawings of bees, but overall references but also the letter B. Here are the one's I've found from just skimming the episodes:

Episode 3 @ 5:16 - Caine drew a bee during Zooble's therapy session

Episode 4 @ 5:03 - Multple bee books on Caine's shelf and more bee drawings on the desk

Caine awarding all circus members - except Kinger, which might be relevant to Theory 2 - a B+

Various (yellow!) letter B blocks in the extra videos and episodes

📝Working theory 1:

It's related to the bumblebee quote in the the hate monologue in I HAVE NO MOUTH AND I MUST SCREAM. TLDR: in this monologue, AM (the AI in IHNMAIMS) describes the Hell of being sentient without a body, unable to do simple things like feel the sun or smell flowers, therefore hating humans for not only bestowing this fate to it, but also jealous for they can actually do those things.

AM: Look. [A bee buzzes by, he chuckles again] They say that bumblebees shouldn’t be able to fly, the scientists. Ted: But there it is! Collecting pollen. AM: How miraculous that it came to be.

While Caine doesn't hate humanity, the bees might be an indicator he might? But then there is also a lot of evidence of Caine being controlled (and filtered) by something/someone above him, who might be the one hating humans and using this circus to ''punish'' humans. With the fact that Gooseworx answered a question about ''deserving'' to be in the Circus too.

📝Working theory 2

So bees are bugs right? So you know how Kinger keeps referencing bugs and how his wife Queenie was an entomologist (someone who studies bugs)? What if his fragmented memory made him confuse insects and computer bugs? With Kinger saying he is a computer scientist and him being part of the Circus the longest out of everyone, it's not a stretch to think he worked at C&A and helped create the Circus (meaning him saying ''I made it up'' after making the healing butterfly could be quite literal). And considering he and Queenie likely joined at or around the same time, plus their matching avatars, it's likely they both worked at C&A, and Queenie was someone who worked on fixing bugs in the game. TBH the only connection to Bee Theory is honestly only that bees are bugs and in episode 4 Kinger is the only Circus member who didn't get a B+ (so the letter B and it being a coding language), but it's not the first time two only vaguely related smaller theories ended up being related.

📝Working theory 3

This last one is the vaguest honestly, and could be a part of anything. A common metaphorical association to bees is ''hivemind''. (Thank you @iamodynorth for this idea!)

In sci-fi settings ''hivemind'' could mean any number of things and even in the Circus there is so much it can be. Is Caine part of a hivemind with other AI's - potentially in ''other'' Circuses? If so, is he even aware of that and his subconscious is coming out? (Honestly there is a whole post I could write about Caine not being in full control of his actions and memory.) Does being in the Circus make you part of a hivemind? Does abstracting add you to the hivemind??? Honestly, considering people lose their identity and individuality after abstracting, it's not farfetched that abstracting links humans into a hivemind of sorts. But there is too little evidence right now to point in any direction.

Anyway, I just am super convinced these bees are a hint or part of a hint to what's coming, and I would love to hear your thoughts or more bees I have missed!

-Ezzy

[ezzydayo]

TADC Timeloop Theory ⏱️♻️ (Caine version)

the groupchat was working on a timeloop theory (and gods I love timeloops), but it was mainly for a full timeloop, that everything we have seen in TADC is part of the loop. But then a theory hit me:

What if the timeloop STARTS in ep 7?

And it's Caine's doing???

''Okay, but why a timeloop to begin with?''

The trailer itself is basically a timeloop already; it keeps resetting itself to show The Beach Part. And THAT reminded me of Gooseworx describing the plot of ep 7 as ''beach part''. And while it can definitely be Goose trolling this user, because they said not to say that, I think The Beach Part actually is a major part of the plot. Like, what if it's a timeloop that starts at The Beach Part?

The trailer also really put emphasis on the words ''IT'S TIME'', and so does the caption of the trailer on other socials. Really hammering down that ''TIME'' is an important factor. Like obviously it says ''It's time to soak in the sun.'' But even in the full sentence, there is weird emphasis on the word ''TIME''. And further down the trailer Caine just keeps looping on ''It's time''.

''But why Caine?''

The only time we see Caine in the trailer is him Blue Screening in the restaurant he was in in episode 1 and inside one of the glitches, but he is also referenced in that weird labyrinth area and his office door.

The only other time we saw him with a BSOD (Blue Screen of Death) was in ep 1, when he was giving Pomni a tour and describing the activities in the Circus. You know that same tour he told Pomni to go drown herself in the digital lake? The lake the titular beach is at??? Which makes me think his previous glitching is going to be very relevant, and likely get to a climax.

Over the course of the show, his glitching has gotten worse, duration increased and he went from just buffering for a moment to losing his memory of the last minute or so.

The type of glitching is also escalating; at first it only affected him/his model. But in episode 3, during the Zooble therapy session, we saw his glitching affect the environment, but it was still limited to the textures and 3D models. But it scared Zooble (who seems hard to scare), telling me that was a first. And in episode 6, when Zooble expresses they want the ability to have sex, not only was the glitch very long, it affected an area outside his model AND he lost memory of the question even being asked. Oddly enough, he already got scared of what Zooble was gonna ask beforehand?

I think Caine's glitches are a filter/limiter, albeit a broken one.

The glitching mostly happens when someone questions reality that goes against the rules of the Circus (exit, sex, real life money, etc.), or Caine or someone else is questioning his existence/purpose. That's why he keeps forgettin what people say, because it's deleted from his memory. He is not SUPPOSED to think about that. And everytime he doesn't glitch out when this happens, it's because Bubble already interrupted the conversation and changes the topic. (At this point I either think Bubble is an extension of Caine and that's just the alternative way of the filter to kick in, or Bubble is Caine's ''babysitter'', keeping him in check. But Bubble's AI is definitely getting more broken too, so IDK.)

And tbh, it's probably a good thing, because the idea of having a hyper intelligent AI like Caine become self-aware is terrifying. But in my Bee Theory video, I already theorised Caine is not the one in charge; there is someone above him limiting him.

''But why/how would Caine cause a timeloop?''

So, let's say your brain automatically erases the memory of something traumatic happening. But what if you're in a car crash, your memory hits reset so you don't remember the crash itself to prevent trauma, but you then wake up INSIDE the car wreck full of wounded people. Wouldn't that still cause trauma, even if you don't remember the crash itself? Exactly.

Resetting the last 30 seconds of your memory only works if the thing you are resetting is fleeting, not if the situation persists. And thus far, everytime someone says something and Caine resets, nobody asks again. Thus it worked so far. But what if something permanent happens, let's say the Circus member discover something? Or someone goes missing? Caine can't just reset his memory to ''fix it''; he would have to reset the whole situation, people included. Return to a save point. But depending on where that save point is (let's say, the beginning of The Beach Part), and what happened (people drowing in the digital lake), the situation can very likely occur again. So he resets again. And again. And again. Thus creating a timeloop.

''What has that to do with the rest of the trailer?''

A lot actually. I was kind of stumped on why Caine's office door would be so relevant, as we have already seen the inside of it and members of the Circus have been there too. But Caine was always there to teleport them.

What if with Caine bugging out, they have to find the regular entrance to his office and that's where all those weird pillars are?? Maybe to fix/reboot him? Perhaps that weird labyrinth place is inside of Caine's mind/code, a type of mindpalace? The mouth and eyes on the left side look like him after all, so it's likely connected.

It could also explain why that mannequin is there too. What if that's Abel, another AI Caine hurt/killed, and it's trying to regain the power it once had? Or - like in IHNMAIMS - Caine absorbed Abel? But for that I don't have a strong enough theory right now, but it FEELS related.

Anyway, I had waaaaaaay too much caffeine today, and I'm going back to my video editing cave....

[ezzydayo]

I need to call out the TADC fandom a bit here (Specifically about Jax)

I am writing this post to start a conversation, rather than blaming ''lack of media literacy'' or anything, because that's kind off a copout. I rather want to explain and inform instead.

Something I noticed is that people really cherrypick Gooseworx tumblr asks/posts, and especially about Jax. He is not a good person whatsoever, and Goose has said so herself, but he is genuinely painted as some sort of irredeemable monster, while he is such a beautifully complex and narratively interesting character with many many layers.

Especially these two asks are quoted a lot. And also misquoted a lot. Which has led to wild theories, like people thinking he hit-and-run a little girl?? And that's just based on his girly room and the flashbacks to him being in car, distressed, and one shot of a ''careful, kids play here''. That's a *wild* jump, and you'd have to think of Jax as a genuinely awful person to have done that and not really have that much mental distress from it. Let's also not question what a little girl would be doing unsupervised on a road in the dead of night btw.

In the show, it's clear that any guilt he experiences is directed towards Ribbit (and probably Kaufmo too), especially in regards to their abstraction. Nothing in the show has even remotely hinted at any guilt to something that happened outside the circus. That alone would make it unlikely. To me, it seems very straightforwards that he was running *from* something or someone. The flashes depict him going through a neighbourhood and leaving town.

Then there is the fact Goose herself said that there are lines he won't cross, while also having admitted he is an asshole and a bad person. We see over and over that Jax genuinely cares about other people, and feels bad about hurting their feelings, even if he acts like a cartoon bully by throwing people into deepfryers and out of moving trucks. Knowing he is quite soft inside, I don't think he would physically capable of leaving the scene after hitting a kid *just* because he is an asshole, not without clear longlasting effects. And if he did, he probably was running from something he was much more scared of.

''But he is clearly masking!'' He is, but we see it break, because Pomni is nice to him, and cares for him and tries to poke through. If that's enough to cause it to slip, I don't think it's reasonable to believe he tucked away the guilt about a hypothetical dead kid.

Jax is a flawed person, he does and says things that aren't okay, but he is also clearly damaged from something. Holding someone accountable for their actions while also acknowledging the person's issues that aren't their fault are two things that can and should co-exist. ''Hurt people hurt people.''

Which brings me round back to the flashbacks Jax had in episode 7. Usually the simplest answer is closest to the right one, especially if you lack context or further clues. If you hear hooves, usually it's horses.

Jax got a panic attack at the idea of actually leaving the circus, then the unprovoked flashbacks of the outside world, all in a car, distressed, driving away from civilisation. It completely reads as trauma, abuse or *insert any other negative association*. Followed by him pressing the button to stay in the circus, even though he spent most of the episode believing the exit wasn't real anyway. But he still chose the ''stay'' button, on the off-chance it was real.

He clearly was running away from something in the real world. At his age (he is 22 btw), it feels like it might be an abusive household, maybe abusive parents or another situation in that town he needed to get away from. Driving away from it and from the flashbacks, he did make it out. But now trapped in the circus, he is as far away from there as he can be, he is hidden. Going back to the real world means more running.

''Why is he such an asshole though?'' I'm not gonna explain the whole psychology to you, especially as there are definitely gaps in my knowledge, but this is from experience: sometimes when traumatised people finally are in a new environment and they no longer have to run or are the victim, they become the bully instead. As a way of regaining control. You've probably heard about the thing where bullies usually pick on someone to hide something about themselves. I feel like that's largely what Jax is doing too. He is overcompensating in the wrong direction, being mean so nobody will or wants to look deeper into what makes him insecure.

Even with all that explored, obviously it's still possible for Jax to be a supervillain. The thing that deters me from that thought completely is that Gooseworx on multiple occassions has said Jax is the most like her, or most relatable. Jax as a character is incredibly complicated, nuanced, grey. It's easy to relate to him if you peel back the outer layers. I don't think Goose would say this about a character if they were secretly the worst person on Earth, the way people are trying to make Jax seem.

There is a lot to say about Jax, but I think that might be better for a future post. I hope this gives some more insight.

[ezzydayo]

TADC ep 8 trailer: It's a map of the circus

I knew the shape of that weird globe thing in the ep 8 trailer reminded me of something: the whacky watch radar thing. It fits with that in one of the frames in the trailer it's projecting a picture of Earth.

Also whatever that yellow thing on the left of Caine's desk is, it looks like that yellow orb at the end of Jax' near abstraction scene. No clue what the red bits could be. Or the antenna.

[ezzydayo]

TADC EPISODE 8 TEASERS

Glitch just dropped several back-to-back teasers, weeks ahead of the episode.... sure. awesome. k. im okay.

Teaser 1 is Caine standing, eyes (and mouth) closed, in a spotlight. Notably, this is the same spot as Gooseworx' leak from a while back. Fans have deduced the leak must be from a flashback due to objects missing in the back (Perhaps from when Ragatha just joined the circus?)

Teaser 2 is a short clip of Caine snapping his fingers, with the screen flashing red and blue for a single frame before turning black.

The spotlight immediately made me think of the cellar, where the abstractions are kept. Notably, it only /looks/ like a spotlight - it's an illusion cast because of the circular opening into a dark room.

Spotlight imagery seems fitting for a circus/gameshow-y type place, but I feel like the visuals are deliberate and trying to tell us something.

Other notable places spotlights are seen are Gangle & Zooble's team photo for ep 6, and a piece of Jax merch (where he runs away from corn, flanked by Kaufmo and Ribbit's doors - both of whom abstracted. I wrote a post about corn a while back, that thing at the end of Jax's almost -abstraction scene vaguely resembles corn, Zooble has a corn bed... @iamodynorth has a detailed theory video about why corn & abstraction are related.)

Before episode 7 and Jax almost abstracting, I wouldn't really think twice about it, but he /did/ almost abstract. And Gangle definitely was on the edge too in episode 4. Zooble also is towards the top of my list of people who I'd think would likely abstract. So thus far, spotlight imagery being tied to abstraction, not farfetched.

Then we have Caine snapping, with a red and blue flash - each a single frame. Remember the last times he snapped? He killed two NPCs, and Gummigoo notably flashed in a red and blue frame, some weird inverted stuff and then a flash.

Oh, and the second teaser is captioned ''Showtime.'' He is ready to put on a show. And I don't think it's going to be pretty. Remember at the end of episode 5, where he realised nobody voted for him? He glitched out in blue and red. Notably so, the glitch effect is more like distortion than the typical glitch.

@barigamb saw there is chromatic abberation in the red frame, in very similar colours to the previous distortion glitch.

In an episode 7 theory post, I go a bit deeper into my thoughts on the nature of Caine's glitches (even if the theory was proven wrong, that info holds up and I don't want to retype), and TLDR is that they're related to people questioning reality and Caine questioning himself/his reality. He struggles with his purpose, people disliking what he does, and that nobody truly likes him.

What are the chances Caine is going to one-person-Thanos-snap someone out of existence?

It could be a cool (but unrealistic) twist to show someone was an NPC all along, but I don't think this CTRL-ALT-DELETE is limited to just NPCs anyway, coming back to the line of Caine being unable to tell the difference between human and NPC, and Abel's snap being different (less confetti, less different frames like Gummigoo, buzzer sound effect). Caine straight up killing someone instead of making them abstract would not be farfetched if it serves the purpose of it making it easier for him to entertain people. And TBH Zooble is the biggest party pooper, saying stuff the others didn't consider in the moment, making them question Caine too. Which loops back to that spotlight image from earlier.

Oh, and then there is also the Wacky Watch that updated to a screen with static, and if you refresh a bunch of times, the screen starts alternating red and blue, whatever that might mean :)