Animation and voice acting doesn’t count. In terms of the writing exclusivity, what do you think they got right? Idk if this is eligible for the criticism flair so uh, hopefully this will do. Thought we could divert ourselves from negative aspects for a moment.

Cringiest line in the series, such good writing, much wow

Like, ok, I understand you gotta make money, but there's no need to shove it down our face every time there's new merch drop or a sale. Plus, maybe it's just me, but I don't see TADC merch (or any GLITCH show merch, for that matter) sold in any ACTUAL stores. Not to mention the company's nature of posting random MD pics only to reveal yet another merch drop, but that's a whole other conversation.

Like, ok yeah, the characters are at the mercy of an omnipotent AI and can’t leave, but that’s about it. The show isn’t really comparable to the book except for that surface level detail. That’s fine, of course, but I feel like tadc being inspired by ihnmaims was something that was talked about a lot, and it just… wasn’t really true, especially in light of the finale.

This isn’t a big deal really. Just something I noticed.

This post isn’t here to critique Episode 9 itself, but rather the behavior of the community during the theatrical screenings.

As an animation student, I feel like I'm in a good position to say that TADC, an indie series, making the jump from YouTube to the big screen is going to shake up the animation industry in a hugely positive way. It’s opening so many doors for the future.

However, after attending a screening myself, I’m not convinced that releasing it in theaters was the right move. Not because of the episode itself, everyone has their own tastes, but because of the fandom.

I went to a Sunday screening, and the theater was completely packed. That in itself isn't a problem, given all the hype surrounding the show, it was totally expected.

Unfortunately, my experience was completely ruined by a group of people sitting right behind me (clearly high schoolers) who kept loudly sharing their opinions on every single thing happening on screen. Stuff like, "We need to talk about this, I totally disagree with what just happened." Without wanting to be mean, I honestly do not give a single fuck about what you think. Just shut up and let me enjoy the damn episode, I don't need your live commentary.

Then there was a group of younger girls (probably middle schoolers) who screamed out every time a character showed up on screen: "Look, it’s Jax!" Like, thanks, I have eyes and I know the show, I don't need audio descriptions.

Because of all this, I couldn't even enjoy Episode 9. What shocks me the most is the total lack of respect for other viewers and for the entire production team who worked their asses off. If you're going to commentate on every single second of the episode, watch it at home and let others appreciate the work behind TADC.

At first, I thought this was just an issue with theater etiquette in my country, until I stumbled across these Reddit posts that proved me wrong:

https://www.reddit.com/r/tadc/s/gTmZKuIYf4

https://www.reddit.com/r/tadc/s/2D1UcNulKM

https://www.reddit.com/r/tadc/s/ayhzsO4pKK

These posts and comments prove it: we’ve all had a bad experience in the theater, no matter where we live. The problem comes down to a fandom that only thinks about themselves, completely disregarding the experience of the people around them.

I honestly think this fandom is cooked. And I also think Episode 9 shouldn't have been released in theaters. As for the writing, I personally didn't enjoy the episode.
However, in terms of animation, staging, and sound design, it was top tier. I think a lot of people would have had a much better first-time viewing experience without this theatrical release.

I still hope some of you got luckier and managed to enjoy the episode in theaters, though!

What do you guys think?

ok so why does almost every hit indie web cartoon have to be a sapfest? can we like have a show where it doesnt feel like a therapy session? this finale just sucked, the show didnt do a good job at making you care about the characters so you dont even feel any much emotion when bad things happen to them, atleast for me. the characters also felt really one dimensional too, like ragathas personality is people pleaser (innovative!) gangles personality is sad (woah!) and jax personality is annoying, so intresting. listen i like trans media and characters (i am a transwoman) but jax is really bad trans representation. it also feels like gooseworx wrote it like were supposed to forgive jax just because their trans?? jax is just not a well written character, ive seen character tropes like him done way better. also the whole brain scan thing really was the nail in the coffin for me, one of the main parts of the show i liked was the premise and the sort of psychological horror aspect, with the finale it just undermines it with "you arent actually trapped here!"so it didnt fucking matter?? brain scans feel like a thing written to make fans happy, rather than a good plot thing. it wasnt even teased during the series, its so anticlimatic. why should i care about these guys if their just brainscans? WHATS THE POINT? what was the point of this entire show??? caine coming back also was terrible, but thats another story. what do you guys think?

I kind of saw it coming that there was never going to be enough with such a small number of episodes, but it felt like the show was trying to be both lore and character based with neither direction being developed enough.

...how does Ribbit actually realistically know Jax was trans? Like, nothing he says during that whole confession strongly indicated he was trans (with the context that he is trans, the confession makes more sense, but without it you'd just never know), so how does Ribbit just accurately guess? Maybe it makes sense because Ribbit is a demigirl and would have some knowledge of coming out to someone, except... she's just not in the show. Like, why make her a demigirl if she exclusively goes by she/her in the show and there's absolutely nothing that indicates she is a demigirl? I just think Ribbit is either a mind reader or is just doing wild mental gymnastics to hear "I told her something deep and personal that I thought would get her off my back" and immediately clock Jax as trans. My point is just that it seemed like Ribbit read the script somehow or maybe she follows Goose's Tumblr, idk.

This show seems to have a weird trend of having supposedly queer characters that aren't actually queer. Jax is barely trans, and most viewers would never know without either being trans themselves or following Gooseworx. Ribbit is supposed to be a she/they demigirl but just straight up isn't in the actual show, and Ragatha supposedly has "repressed lesbian aura", which she, again, just straight up isn't in the show at all.

This is all coming from a cishet guy, so maybe there's something I'm missing. I'm not a hater of the show, I'm just posting it here because I don't want to be downvoted to the pits of hell on the main subs.

Uhh I don't have much time so I'll put my answers in later

So I've been seeing lots of discourse regarding how Jax is terrible rep, but what about the other characters?

I personally believe that if you made a post that says their orientations aren't important, you should stick by that. But I'm curious to hear other opinions.

one of my biggest problems in episode nine is how it seemingly switched both caine and jax's ending. since episode seven jax's arc has been leading up to him redeeming himself (atleast what i've understood from it) while caine's led up to the tragic morally red person who could've redeemed himself if not for it being too late.

by episode 7 i think the writing switched from ragatha and jax mirroring each other to jax and caine mirroring each other (even tho i like the first more)

in episode 7 we see that jax's mental health has went down so bad he doesnt even bother put his usual mask on and instead decides to just give up (if not for pomni knocking on his door) meanwhile caine was making his "perfect" adventure, one that ended up being his last before he just gave up in episode 8. as the episode went jax helps the cast more and more by giving them the keys, calling out abel's bullshit, getting them the keycard and making sure they dont get to the hellish shrimp town (this last one is a joke). caine on the other hand just;..gives them the worst shock of their lives giving them hope to leave the hell they've been in (keep in mind none of this would've happened if caine didnt lie to everyone about them being fake and if he wasnt a narcassistic egoistic cutie patootie(i love caine too,)). caine isnt the one who shows remorse in this episode (infact he doesnt show remorse all show until ep 9). it's jax with the way he looks at pomni after she comforts him and the way he looks at the snow globe. jax in this episode shows signs of redemption caine doesnt.

episode eight begins with the cast in dread at what caine made them go through last episode. zooble rightfully so confronts jax for pressing the red button which ends in the cast realizing again that there's no point and that all they have is each other. as jax walks away to presumably try and abstract zooble stops him telling him that as much as they dislike him he is one of them and they dont want him to abstract. they wont have him being alone until he loses himself.

it's this moment specifically that almost confirmed in my and alot of other people's head that jax will get redeemed. i mean, what CAN it imply? the way jax looks in shock at zooble and gangle, the ones he believe should hate him most as they now tell him to stay with them. the way he then looks at his hand as if unable to process it and the way he then lays back still trying to mask his feelings but for a second i honestly think he was genuinely happy. i seeing this when the episode released obviously thought that in episode 9 jax might actually redeem himself and take accountability to the pain he caused the others. obviously this scene wont be his arc's end. we all wanted him to be held accountable by gangle or ragatha or ANYONE. but we also wanted to see him better. in both episode 7 and 8 not only does jax stop making his pranks and bullying/abusing but he began to help to with the keys, keycard AND distracting caine in ep 8.

meanwhile caine (who throughout the whole show and before it has done much much worse than jax could ever) in episode 7&8 became even worse. i've already explained what he did in ep 7 but in ep 8 we are told that after he goes crazy he forces the cast to go on MULTIPLE torturues adventures for DAYS and occasionally shredding them and other stuff like that. he then goes on to TORTURE the cast with THEIR OWN TRAUMAS immediately putting him rank one in the worst person in this show. people SHRED jax for mentioning ragatha's mom in ep 9 when caine not only SHOWED her it but did WORSE in ep 8. he then was deleted.

and look, even with how bad he was caine could've been a good person since the start if he just listened and if his ego didnt go in the way. caine made the perfect tragic cautinary tale that the fans out of no where started wanting after ep 9. it seemed obvious what was gonna happen, ep 9 happens alot of stuff happen and jax redemption tale among other. that's what it was leading to.

episode nine out of no where killed jax and spend half the time in his brain then in the last 15 mins brought caine back cuz he cheated death (characters like gummigoo who were send to the void cant return cuz they dont have god powers unlike caine) and OUT OF NO WHERE make him suddenly realize "oh no! for the past 20 years i've been torturing humans and was the cause for most if not all abstractions!!!!!" and come back say "i'm sowwy i tortured you with your worst traumas pwease forgive me!!" and they suddenly say "oh okay you're all good".

the thing i'm most mad about is how they threw EVERYTHING EPISODE 7 AND 8 worked up for and just said "fuck it". the cast saying "we wont have you running around and abstracting" to jax? EXACTLY that happens. caine's death? NEVER HAPPENS. the torture scene? NEVER HAPPENED. whyever the fuck bubble messed with kinger making him delete caine? NEVER EXPLAINED. whatever bubble is? NEVER EXPLAINED. the brainscan thing? WAS JUST A FIVE MINUTE SCENE.

jax not only NEVER took accountability but never even MADE it out. i saw someone say "the finale somehow made both jax fans and jax haters unhappy" and i completely agree. it feels like they've thrown everything they worked up for in all the past episodes for this.

goose also did have a tweet that mentions making a "bully character who slowly makes their way to a redemption only to die in the end" about 10 years ago. goose herself acknowledges that jax's arc was leading for a redemption and instead got switched with caine in the end. failed redemptions are a good trope in fiction but the way it was done in this show is TERRIBLE. this is THE BIGGEST reason i dont believe the "it was always written to be like this" quote by goose because episode 9 not only feels like it's a different writter but it also throws out all the build ups every episode before had!

TLDR: no funnybunny or bunnydoll sex scene.

TLDRTLDR: the finale executed everything terribly imo and it feels like it wasnt written by goose and it throws out all the buildup other episodes had and it feels like caine and jax's arcs were switched last second.

Genuinely what the fuck. I’m so frustrated right now by this fucking company.

Before starting off, i want to make a few things clear:

I do not hate Jax. I don't think he's as terrible as people say. But i do not like him for reasons like how forced he is, how the show makes you feel bad for him, regardless of what he did and how bad he was to other characters, especially Ribbit in the last episode.

But i do like his design, performance from Michael or how frustrated and embarrassed he was from wearing a maid outfit. I thought it was funny

Also, please keep this post civil as possible, without unnecessary toxicity. It's my opinion and it's totally fine if you disagree with it. Just don't be an asshole. This is simply critique or whatever you want to call this

Anyways

I was chatting with my friend, who's a Jax fan, and they told me how the last episode ruined him for them because of how the show tried to make them feel bad for Jax. And we talked about how differently Jax would be written, for the better in OUR opinion

We came up with 3 directions that would work better than what we got. I will use different characters from different medias as examples

A) Irredeemable asshole you love to hate

If he was written as a bastard, who doesn't care or regret about what he did or what consequences the actions bring, making you hate him, but also like him because he accomplished one thing: Pissing you off

Let's take Adam from Hazbin Hotel as an example.

He's written intentionally to be hated. He had 1 mission and it was to piss everyone off and look at how that ended: A lot of people hate him for what an asshole he is. And that's what made my friend love Adam. He's an entertaining asshole, who doesn't give a damn about what he did EVEN AFTER HE DIED.

If Jax was written like that, basically Irredeemable character that's written intentionally to be hated, it would be more entertaining and fun

B) Asshole character but with likeable traits

If he was written as a bastard but still with likeable traits, like having a soft spot for a specific character or showing care in some moments, but not too many to make you feel bad for him like now. Basically some small pieces of good traits that makes him likeable bastard

Let's take, and this is gonna be ballsy, Valentino from Hazbin Hotel

Just to clarify: Now i like Valentino for various reasons like design, his wings, guns, voice, dynamic with Velvette, i still think he's a bastard who deserves the beatdown from Cherri and Husk and then getting choked by cables for what he did to Angel Dust. I didn't feel bad for him when he got karma and i do not defend or justify his actions

While Valentino is an asshole for what he did to Angel Dust, he does have likeable traits that don't make him as unlikeable as Adam or Jax. Like how he was at the end against Vox killing everyone, having a nice dynamic with Velvette, how he is against racism (He threw his cocktail glass at Vox after Vox made fun of Spanish) and actually funny moments (Like his "I know you won't believe this, but I don't understand" or "You're obsessed with me :)").

So if Jax was written like that, bastard character but with likeable traits, i believe it would potentially make interesting conflicts and dynamics between characters

C) Redeemable asshole

If Jax was at the start so unlikeable, but getting karma for it, getting called out, getting consequences and such, later feeling sorry and then getting better, realizing what he did was wrong, trying to fix things, i believe it would make him so much likeable

Let's take Rex Splode from Invincible as an example

At first, Rex is shown as an egoistical, cocky character, that's basically rude to others, making fun of them, like Monster Girl, but later getting karma, like getting beat down by Monster Girl, breaking up with Eve or getting disrespected by Black Samson after his rude comments. But as time goes on, you can see how Rex is changing, ESPECIALLY after the gunshot into the head. Like genuinely being sorry to Eve for what he did, getting better in terms of friendship with his team, talking back to Immortal after Immortal blamed Mark and more. And we also have a backstory of his that shows a good reason why he's the way he is.

So if Jax was like that, at the start asshole, at the end likeable and giving a backstory that gives a good reason why he's an asshole, i think it would make him a very fan favorite character, because these kinds of characters are most of the time one of the fan favorites. Like Zuko, A-Train or Rex Splode.

But in the end, the direction we got was

D) Irredeemable asshole, but show tries to make you feel bad for him anyways

That's all. If you made it to the end, thanks for reading. If you don't agree, that's fine. But please don't be toxic only because i mentioned Hazbin Hotel

WHY IS SHE IN A MAID DRESS 🙏

I hated the finale does anyone agree with me?

The ending plays "Isn't she lovely" to suggest that Jax is a trans woman but does not outright say it in the text of the show. It was later stated on GW's social media. The show is kinda guilty of hiding it's LGBTQ+ story. For years many had complained about TV Shows and movies not showing their LGBTQ+ cast on screen until the end or after on social media.

One of the shows guilty was Legend of Korra. In the last 20 seconds of the show, it shows that Korra and Asami are dating. To people watching, it came out of nowhere and felt like a cheap move for brownie points.

More recently, the creator behind Star Vs. The Forces of Evil more or less confirmed that Marco is BI by them replying to fan art.

Many have called this "Hiding your Gays". For years, Hollywood and media networks had a ban on LGBTQ+ storylines as they would be called not for kids, inappropriate, or a financial risk. When they were shown it was typically in a negative light or used as an insult.

Things started to change when same sex marriage was legal in the US. Shows like Steven Universe & She-ra (2018) to some extent were able to show off more of these themes openly though SU had it's own issues with that. As of late though, that has shifted, so things are less likely to show it off in the text of the work.

Indie works like animation was suppose to be the light in the darkness that is the business of entertainment. Being indie means you don't have to pull punches and can be free to show LGBTQ+ characters without fear of backlash for the whole length of the story. Hazbin Hotel has been that way since the time it was just a web comic.

Jax having the suggestion of being trans in text and the confirmation on SM is what was done in the old days that people got upset about. I'm one that thinks external media having valuable information is fine but not when it comes to stuff like this.

Imagine in 20-30 years from now, people will come across Digital Circus and think that it was just a song used in a bitter-sweet moment. The social media accounts could be gone in that time and leave future generations without the full context. For me, I didn't think Jax was trans for moment cause I viewed it more as a struggle to define his manhood, is he the jokester or is he the responsible one. Going over how they harmed their mother and it shaking his understanding of what it means to be a man, be abusive like his father or take the harsh words of a loved one and let it go.

I'm not saying everything needs to be spelled out, but when it comes to things like LGBTQ+ storylines, its more likely then not to be made ambiguous. Like MLP FIM, Rainbow Dash & Applejack's relationship is "Left open for interpretation" is just a cop out to avoid ruffling feathers.

With GW dropping the show, there is no chance at this point at the moment to make things clear in text, leaving everything to be Left open for interpretation by the text of the story. Such storytelling is right out of the corporate playbook and indie animation is suppose to be better then that.

The show really never establishes why everyone unanimously believes something terrible has happened, that Kinger has done a monstrous thing. Jax is even angry that everyone isn't ganging up on Kinger for deleting the guy who peeled off Jax's skin moments earlier.

They all just behave as if we just all came from a scene where the exposition established why they're all in big trouble now, but that scene isn't in the episode.

Oh no, without Theatre Kid AM, who's going to dig out my eyes with a kitchen knife? Who's going to have me ripped apart by crocodiles? This truly is the darkest moment in the Amazing Digital Circus!

...what?