u/Disaster_Pansexual

The most recent posts didn’t get a lot of engagement, so I made a wheel to choose the next character.

Pinhead is our first resident! Who’s the next one going to be?

Rules are in the comments

I made her hair more red because I wanted to slightly mesh her with OG Disney Ariel

I have no clue if these takes are hot or cold or whatever the fuck because after getting into way too many arguments, I’m trying to stay out of discussions on other posts for my own mental health. If any of these takes seem pointed, it’s probably because I’ve already discussed it with someone. I’m willing to discuss any of these opinions rationally and level headed.

Will be using he/him pronouns for Jax in the circus.

Jax is a shitty person in the circus. He sucks. A lot. I also love his character dearly.

All of his actions while abstracted shouldn’t be held against him. He’s already done plenty of horrible things, being thought police over the what-if’s that were going through his brain is, in my honest opinion, stupid.

Jax choking Pomni? Jax being weird towards Gangle? Just thoughts. Weird and uncomfortable thoughts? Yes. Horrible if acted out? Also yes. But that shouldn’t be what we judge him on.

I feel horrible for Jax. His story makes me genuinely sad and no one should have to go through that. You don’t have to feel bad for him, obviously. But saying that him “having a negative attitude because of his trauma is an overreaction because all the other circus members have trauma, and they try to stay positive” is an odd reason to hate on him. Especially if you think his story is an invalid reason to be insecure.

But don’t get me wrong, Jax’s whole backstory isn’t an excuse for who he is and all his actions. He isn’t a poor baby who needs protecting. Any criticism towards how he reacted to Ribbit is warranted. No, Ribbit gently pushing for his story isn’t her taking advantage of Jax. That’s silly. She’s just trying to be a friend. And I personally think he’s majorly at fault for Ribbit’s abstraction. Kaufmo, less so, but he was still a main force behind it. The way he treats the other circus members is horrible, especially to Gangle, and his trauma doesn’t justify any of that.

It’s tragic that Jax abstracted. I don’t think he deserved it, but I think it’s the best way for his character to end in this story. I’m glad it was offscreen.

Jax wasn’t redeemed. His past was explained. Thats it. We were given insight into his past.

He also wasn’t really forgiven. Pomni cares about him, and wishes he would’ve reached out and that she could’ve helped out more. That’s not forgiveness. That’s compassion. She didn’t want him to be alone. Again, not forgiveness.
And Gangle crying over him finally? I don’t take that as her forgiving him. She’s having complicated feelings about her abuser being abstracted/“dead” and maybe even how her friends are helping him. It’s common to not know how to feel when you lose someone who was horrible to you, who you don’t exactly feel remorse over but feel like it’s your fault. Gangle’s feelings aren’t completely explained to us, but I think we can at least take that away with reading in between the lines.

And, on Jax being trans. Honestly, I didn’t see it until his scene with Ribbit. But as soon as she put the bow on his head, I felt that it was being heavily implied that he was trans. Then there’s the one version of him that’s feminine “for the bit”, that’s also the most misogynistic and homophobic of the masks of himself. The “isn’t she lovely” song… which many trans women have claimed irl even if it’s not the original intention of the song. Even if I didn’t know about all the intricacies of Leeroy in real life that Gooseworx put into them, Leeroy really reminded me of trans friends I had who all had similar looks with dysphoria hoodies. Even if they aren’t out yet, they definitely seemed implied closeted transfemme. I agree that Gooseworx unintentionally made it a bit too ambiguous for those unaware with the culture, but oh well.

I don’t think Jax is written perfectly, as well as the show, but I love both him and TADC dearly.