peptosabysmals

[peptosabysmals]

Jax misunderstood Pomni.

I'm focusing on one exchange during the Episode 6 Jax and Pomni argument.

Pomni: "Have you ever thought that this might be what causes people to abstract in the first place?"

Jax: "Oh my GOD. Are you SERIOUSLY gonna blame me for something that EVERYBODY else did, too? You didn't even know him! You don't even know what people are like before they abstract! They are NOT pleasant to be around. Like at all!"

I'm focusing primarily on the something that everybody else blamed Jax for.

To begin, I'll say its pretty clear Pomni didn't blame Jax for anything. She just struck a nerve with her phrasing. She likely meant that Jax's disconnect from his emotions and building relationships with other people in the circus could be dangerous for him if he continues to build walls.

Jax didn't take it that way. He heard Pomni say that the way he acts causes other people to abstract. The others likely blame Jax for Kaufmo's abstraction. Jax's behavior now is possibly a result of the emotional fallout from Ribbit's abstraction. This clearly took a heavy toll on Jax's mental state and could've prompted him to separate himself from the others. He's concocted a version of his reality that doesn't force him to confront the fact that his friend basically died and he has no other human connections and no chance of escape from the hell of being trapped in the circus.

This new version of himself included a wipe of anything deeper than one dimension. He would play a character, and that would be it. He wouldn't be himself, he wouldn't be human, and he would save himself the hurt of losing someone he cared about again by simply not caring and fulfilling a role instead.

I believe that Jax most likely had the persona he does now after Ribbit abstracted, not before. The new, "funny" Jax interacting with a likely already unstable Kaufmo could've put him over the edge. If Jax ever spoke to someone on the brink about losing your humanity to embrace your cartoon archetype the way he did Pomni, it's not far fetched to think it could spell abstraction. And even if Jax only berated and bullied someone the way he does Gangle, it could take a heavier toll on someone who is already breaking.

What Jax said about how "everybody else blamed him too" implies the rest of the circus members truly do blame him for at least Kaufmos abstraction, if not Ribbit's too. My personal theory is that Ribbit would've abstracted no matter how Jax was acting. Clearly they were good friends and Ribbit's abstraction causes Jax more pain than anger. This is not however the case for Kaufmo. When Pomni runs off to finish the game by killing Zooble, Jax is sat in the hall, looking first angrily and avoidantly at Kaufmo's door, then sort of taken aback and frozen when looking at Ribbit's.

Jax likely blames himself for Kaufmo's abstraction too. He'd been letting his guard down with Pomni until his interaction with Ragatha where she told him that he was only getting close with Pomni to corrupt her. If everybody else sees him as unable to form true connections and only out to get others, there must be a reason. It's one thing to have a generally abrasive personality that not many people like being around, but its another to look at someone and just know there is no good inside of them. Having spent time with only a group of people who treat him like the one dimensional character he plays, it's been easy to roll with the punches and retreat into the persona instead of actually confronting the affect his image has on others.

There is a reason Jax didn't go to Kaufmo's funeral (or any other, apparently, but let's focus on Kaufmo). Attending a funeral for Jax would be admitting someone died. Abstraction, while not true death, is essentially the same thing. The person who once was is no longer here, and they will never return. Nobody objected to Jax not going to Kaufmo's funeral, and based on Jax saying to Pomni that others have blamed him for abstraction and immediately bringing up Kaufmo, it can be inferred that off-screen interactions could have occurred wherein the others (likely Ragatha being the primary suspect) implied or straight up confessed that they believe Kaufmo's fate would be different were Jax not involved in some way or another.

Jax doesn't open up to any of the other circus members. He would never bring this subject up if nobody else does, but since Pomni just MENTIONED abstraction, the first place his mind goes (because it's the thing he tries not to think about) is to himself being accused of being the cause of someone's abstraction. He will not attend any funerals because he must confront death while knowing the other people there see him as the cause.

[peptosabysmals]

Look what nonchalant culture has done to us :(

Fakest idgafer CAUGHT

[peptosabysmals]

The Jax shooting Ragatha scene and why I'm fixated on it:

Ragatha, when cornered in the hallway by Jax and about to lose her last heart, says:

"I know exactly what you're doing with Pomni, and it'll never work!"

Jax responds confused, "Huh?"

To which Ragatha replies,

"You know... you're getting close with Pomni... to corrupt her?"

This visually upsets Jax. He goes to pull the trigger and after the gun backfiring and Jax losing a life, he pulls out a second gun and shoots Ragatha until it's empty.

This is an insane scene and the intensity in Jax's face and breathing reveals more of the darker side of the circus.

As much as Jax has communicated to Pomni in this episode that everything in the circus is unserious and meaningless, including the day's shooting adventure/game, he seems to take it pretty seriously here. There was anger behind those shots no doubt.

But beyond his plain to see emotions, I think its worth looking a bit deeper at this scene and it's implications regarding both Jax and Ragatha.

Ragatha and Jax have known eachother for way longer than either have known Pomni and through previous conversations it can be assumed that at one point or another Ragatha didn't treat Jax the way she does now. Eventually, she gave up on trying to be his friend and decided he's beyond help and what you see at the surface is what you get. To her, Jax is just a bad person set on making other people miserable.

Since this is her mindset, she assumes any attemp Jax makes at trying to get closer with any of the other circus members has bad intentions behind it. So, when she sees Pomni and Jax bonding more im episodes 5 and 6, she likely doesn't even consider that Jax could be doing anything other than trying to hurt people, this being rhe only thing he EVER does in her, and some of the other members', eyes.

While this image aligns pretty well with what Jax explained to Pomni as being his "archetype", he still gets upset. As he made clear to Pomni earlier in the episode, he doesnt see himself as "the villain", he sees himself as "the funny one". He messes with people, and likely knows he goes too far and that nobody else in the circus likes him, as made clear by Ragatha's inappropriate "not anymore..." comment in episode 5.

Regardless of how he KNOWS they see him though, he's still visibly offended at Ragatha's assumption that he is literally, deeply evil. This is likely the first time hes ever reached out to someone since Ribbit, and since whatever happened with them was so traumatizing and evokes such anger and sadness from Jax, it's obviously a big deal for him. There's an internal struggle both for and against letting someone in, as seen later during the betrayal fight scene with Pomni. Ragatha saying that she not only noticed Jax was getting closer with Pomni, but that she knows Jax could NEVER have good intentions when getting close with somebody, tells Jax that he is not worth others caring about him. The same struggle Ragatha deals with but in a different font.

I could go on and on about how similar their characters are as a whole, but I'm keeping this post scene specific so I'll stop here lol.

[peptosabysmals]

It's my 7 year anniversary on Tumblr 🥳

BRO HUH??? I just got back online for the first time since 2018 this is insane.

[peptosabysmals]

fuck you wheat