u/ZafinLolz

Like, I just realized something about Jax being a bunny/hare and it's how bunnies are usually prey, but in fables and stories — they're presented as tricksters that use their intellect to escape and fool predators.

An example comes to mind with Bugs bunny where he tricks others and predators that hunt him by using his wit and intelligence to do so.

It's basically like a trade off for them being so weak in the first place, that they have to come up with ways to survive on their own.

For Jax, it basically manifests as a coping mechanism for him to survive. He doesn't want confrontation and he just doesn't want to show he truly is because he's been taught that being vulnerable and intimate will lead to him getting hurt in the end.

So it's basically a subversion of the trope itself when it's supposed to be an empowering and comedic one itself.

Instead Jax's story presents it as a lonely and melancholic trait to have.

Reminder: I do not appreciate spoilers for episode 9 here, this is an in-depth analysis of Pomni's character throughout episodes 1-8 as I haven't seen the leaked episode at all and I plan on keeping it that way, so if you just wanna be an asshole, I recommend just skipping this post and entirely.

By the way if you don't like reading essays and whole paragraphs for a post, then you're better off scrolling for your own comfort.

A common take for Pomni in the TADC fandom is that she's an undeveloped character despite being the protagonist of the story and I just wanna say.... That is just complete bullshit.

Looking into the other side that thinks that way, I can understand just a little because Pomni's character and development is very much hidden if you don't go digging through the allegories of the show (which is a vast majority of the audience).

As far as I can understand TADC and Pomni's character, Pomni represents the desperate chase for Non-conformity, yet living in the circus does not reward that, it rewards your performance and endurance in the system. It punishes you when you step out of the circus. The circus which represents the part of our lives where we conform to fit in with society; fitting in with what's considered "normal" to survive.

Her character design speaks volumes of the way she's portrayed in the circus, she's not a jester because she's funny, but it's the fact that because her character is supposed to be made fun of by the rest and no one takes her seriously — which is by the way quote in quote said by Jax himself in Episode 6 during their fight.

"You're a cartoon clown, how am I supposed to take you seriously?"

This is a nod to how when Pomni is constantly rambling about an exit to the others in episode 1, no one takes her words seriously and kinger tells her that she might be crazy as well for mentioning an exit.

Representing how people who are outside the social script aren't taken seriously for their choices and with how they present themselves. If you step out of the script that you're supposed to follow for a "normal and safe" life, you will be punished and pressured to conform either way.

Episode 2-4:

We've seen Pomni develop throughout in Episode 2 where she was initially afraid to abstract and be forgotten.

Pomni is afraid to abstract and has feared now to reach her breaking point in this episode, the part of us that allows us to be vulnerable and "real", our human struggle being deemed not to belong in the circus of life.

Pomni realizes though that in episode 2 of how it's not the circus that truly forgets and erases people, as she realizes her place in belonging is with the people that she's connected with, not with the performance itself.

it's the human connection that lasts even when the tent is gone, the people who will stick with her no matter who she is even when someone experiences "social death". Those people who do care about her will pull her right back up to make sure she belongs in the end as we see a group of hands pull her back with them.

She realizes at the end of that episode when she gets invited to Kaufmo's funeral that, the circus won't truly erase her when she has others who will always remember and be there for her.

Reassuring her that she will always belong somewhere with them.

Episode 3, she gives in to the spirits that take over her own body, leaving her with no sense of control. She's snapped out by kinger and learns that she can't just give up and let anybody take her own autonomy to choose for herself.

Kinger serving as a guiding light for her to remind her that you just have to keep pushing and not breathe in the environment to protect your own integrity and identity.

A portion of Pomni's character is also very much present in her relationship with Gummigoo.

GUMMIGOO:

Gummigoo is meant to fit into a mold (hence him being a gummy bear) but eventually tries to break out of it. He is an NPC, which is essentially meant to be one-dimensional and serve a specific purpose to maintain "order," but he makes the argument that you can't possibly survive without fitting into the mold you're supposed to serve in the world, a world that upholds standards and created what's considered the way to live. For this reason, Gummigoo is removed or cast out because they broke the mold they weren't supposed to.

He is a reminder for Pomni that she is trapped in the performance of life (The Circus) and that if she tries to break out of the performance, she'll be punished.

A functional character that serves as Pomni's internal realization that the performance is the way to live, the only way you are able to exist and be considered "alive" in the living world. If you don't perform, you'll be erased from the "living" or be forced to stay in the performance regardless.

Which is what happens to Gummigoo in Episode 4, when Pomni meets him again, he's back to being a fugitive, the Gummigoo we knew from episode 2 is gone and has been reverted back for the circus to remain functional in Caine's eyes.

Yet despite all this, Pomni still yearns if there's a way that she could still have Gummigoo as a companion by her side, someone that reminds her that she could just not perform and be able to live in a world that allows her to be her true self.

But she can't, she's trapped in the performance, it's either choosing freedom to be herself or be erased by the living world itself if she stops treading the way life was manufactured to be.

Episodes 5-7:

Despite her being punished everytime she tries to escape the circus, she never actually gave up in trying to escape, instead, she starts helping Ragatha with her perfectionism and making sure she knows that she's appreciated and love by everyone no matter what.

Clocking Jax for putting up an act to protect himself from any kind of intimacy and vulnerability around others. She wants him to put his walls down to make sure it's not too late before he becomes a slave to the circus, the circus that represents the performance of life.

She didn't stop escaping the performance, she just shifted her priorities to making sure that others also escape the performance, whether it'd be breaking Jax's walls down or reassuring Ragatha that she's loved for the way she is.

Episode 8:

We've seen how Caine's actions and enforcement affect Pomni in Episode 8 when she literally hesitates to escape when given the opportunity, she's filled with so much doubt and suspicion because she's seen how Caine has fucked her over everytime she's given the opportunity to actually escape the circus. This hesitation and doubt eventually leads to them not escaping at all and the entire cast being led to a state of hopelessness after they realized Caine played right in their face once again, basically giving up on the idea of ever escaping because they don't know if there even is an exit to all of it, Pomni being the one having to initiate the idea of just giving up the idea of escaping after we've seen her chasing this idea ever since she entered the circus.

It's basically a reality check for them as Pomni just tells them all that they should make the best out of the situation and uplift eachother up instead of creating a negative space for all of them since they're all trapped and are basically victims of the circus anyways.

This state of an escape being hopeless is eventually broken when she gets the idea of trying once more, her spark reigniting when she remembers that Kinger is wise and knowledgeable about the whole thing and is determined to make Caine bend to their will once more, battling the enforcement of stagnant and fixed laws of society (Caine) with the deepest and most intimate parts of ourselves lying inside (Kinger).

I'm hoping to see what episode 9 is in store for me as I'm avoiding leaks the best way I can and I really don't want anybody spoiling it for me, I wanna see the ending myself and evaluate it myself.

I hope this analysis changes your view on the entire series itself and Pomni as a character.

Morphine's tweets are my Roman empire right now because it's either her losing it or being messy AF on there.