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Tadc ep 5 spoilers

That last shot of Ragatha watching as the cast made real connections without her was SO REAL. TOO REAL.

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Can we all take a moment to appreciate this frame in particular?

Absolutely beautiful. 😭💖

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Quick thought about Jax that I’ve had in my head for a while, because this new episode fueled it:

I find it interesting that Jax didn’t share anything about his life at all during the bar scene.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not surprised he didn’t, it’s in character for him to mess around and not take the conversation seriously.

But still, I wonder what his motivation behind not sharing anything could possibly be. The main topic of the conversation was their jobs and hobbies, not really going into depth about them. So, not a super vulnerable thing to share, and it’s not like he’d have anything to be embarrassed about since none of them had particularly extravagant lives.

This takes me back to a thought I’ve had before that I want to cite two things for:

1. The theory that Jax is the first human to have been placed in the circus. I’m aware in the first episode he says “supposedly Kinger has been here the longest” buuuut I wouldn’t be surprised if he says that due to wanting to hide that it’s actually him for one reason or another. And Kinger isn’t mentally present enough to share or remember that Jax was there before him, if he was.

2. Jax’s age.

Jax is only 22. Let’s say he has been there the longest: Just how long would that be? If it’s been a multitude of years, he could have still been a highschooler when he got transported into the circus.

Perhaps he had nothing to share about his life because the last things he remembers are being a bored highschooler with nothing interesting to do between school days. (Except watch Breaking Bad apparently.) And has been growing up in the circus ever since. So instead of just choosing not to share anything, he has nothing to share at all.

This isn’t an idea/theory I’m super invested in or 100% believe, but I think it’s an interesting possibility.

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A slightly more believable TADC theory

Like the last one, take everything I say with a grain of salt. I’m just a lady watching a show.

One scene that stuck out to me in the new TADC episode was when Jax seemed to genuinely think that Gangle likes it when he's mean to her.

At first glance, it seems pretty counter-intuitive. Why would he think being mean to someone will cheer them up? But I think this whole episode casts a bit of light on his perspective.

There are a lot of indicators that Jax has some concern for the others. The aforementioned exchange is one of them. Then, in the bar, Jax makes the jab at Kinger right after Ragatha talks about her history with her mom.

This one could be read in a few different ways, but I see it as him trying to distract from the somber tones in her story. Especially considering this expression moments before.

And then he apologizes to Pomni about the president thing, something even Pomni thinks is odd. Granted, he does it in a semi joking way, but there does seem to be some sincerity behind it.

If you’re a bit delusional, you could interpret later actions as this as well. When Ragatha blows up at Pomni and apologizes, he jokingly asks for an apology. But then seems surprised that he got one. It’s possible he was intentionally trying to distract from the semi-harsh thing she said before.

And finally, while the Poacher's Paradise is pretty self-indulgent, the President Pomni adventure seems like a surprisingly genuine attempt to make a fun adventure. Everyone gets a character sheet and everything. Minus Pomni, but still.

But if he does care, why does he act like… Jax?

I think it’s for the same reason Ragatha tries to keep things positive.

Some people try to solve things directly. They talk to people about issues. Pomni usually does this, but that’s a post for another day.

Ragatha and Jax try similar approaches on the opposite ends of the spectrum. Ragatha tries to lift everyone's spirits by keeping them positive and avoiding the negative. But I think Jax tries to lift everyone's spirits by trying to keep anything from being serious. After all, if none of it matters, nobody gets upset. Either way, nobody is confronting the actual issues at play.

To get a little personal here, it reminded me a bit of myself. Sometimes I find myself acting like Ragatha. Trying to find the good side so everyone else can see it too. But most of the time it's just easier to joke around. It's a band aid solution, sure. But it lightens the atmosphere. Seems to make things better. Granted, I usually don't do it by insulting the people I'm trying to cheer up, but still.

In Jax's mind, the reason everyone is so miserable is because they take it too seriously. He says it himself multiple times. Granted, he's a bit of a hypocrite in this respect. He can take insults and banter, but being humiliated in any way tends to send him off the edge. But even Ragatha seems to be acutely aware that her up beat attitude hasn't done much to keep her happy.

Their similarities are further enhanced by the scene on the bench.

Their back and forth strongly implies that their motivations and facades are similar. While both assume the other has negative intentions, I don’t think either of them do.

I do think he’s partly a jerk who gets pleasure out of making fun of others. And his philosophy of not caring is probably mostly to protect himself from negative emotions. He’s certainly not a saint.

But I think it’s possible that he’s got dual motivations. That he thinks everyone would be better off if they stopped trying to be happy and just started doing what he does.

Not taking anything seriously.

But that’s just a theory.. a Digital Circus Theory! And cut..

…

And yes, I did get the idea from that “Funny Things” fan song by RecD.

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It's so clear to me that Jax DOES care about Gangle, even in his fucked up evil way because why else would he be asking these types of questions.

He seems bitter by the fact that she chooses to hang out with Zooble over him and doesn't seem to grasp the fact that she might hate him for the way he acts with her, making up stuff in his mind to why she actually enjoys, that he's doing her a favor.

That's his way of showing he cares, by picking on her and trying to help her "tough up", the thing is that his barriers are so high it doesn't even crosses his mind this is doing more bad than good.

And once no one seems to understand his reasoning he goes back to his uncaring mask and doesn't talk about it anymore. This man is so complicated I want to study him in a lab.

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Character analysis of Jax and Ragatha based on episode 5 in-coming. It gets long. And perhaps a bit incoherent. I'm losing my mind rn:

I fucking got a PERFECT read on Jax. Y'all who started hating him as soon as he started displaying how mean he can be on ep 2 are WEAK. I saw RIGHT through his mask. Although I'll admit I was taken aback by how he took it off and the way it developed. But I CALLED IT. He's trying to take his mind off the Horrors, and wreaking havoc is his way of doing it. He likes being mean, but he's aware of what buttons he can push without deeply hurting the others, and he WOULD actually like being heard instead of dismissed as evil. He represses his sincere feelings so bad because he doesn't feel he can be sincere with anyone. Because they take his teasing as serious and expect him to not have anything worthwhile to say. And maybe it's his fault, and maybe he keeps perpetuating it himself, but it's because he put himself in a box and can't easily break out of it with the people around him. That's why he latches onto Pomni as someone he can be sincere to. Because she doesn't fully see him and expect him to be the mean guy who can never be trusted. But he can also feel free to BE mean, to BE chaotic, because he likes being that, actually. He LIKES being mean and chaotic; he just needs someone to also see that he's more than that.

I am very. Very curious as to the implications here. About. The. Conversation. Oh my godddd.

Also RAGATHA. AUGHH. I WANT TO KNOW WHAT SHE'S THINKING. I want Ragatha to both be a little self-centered sometimes and ALSO to not be quick to judge. There's like this impulse she has that she needs to be helpful or otherwise people won't love her, won't appreciate her. And maybe, deep down, she expects the same of others. That they would go to the same lengths as her to help her as she helps them. That's why it hurt her quite a lot when Pomni left her on ep 1, and why she cannot stand Jax's GUTS, always antagonistic to others and not at all helpful — in fact, to the point that he gets annoyed by her help he considers insincere. She was taught to be the perfect little girl always ready to help to avoid admonishment and she represses all her negative emotions towards others. She keeps everything tightly blocked off and when she lets slip, she feels like she's breached something, done something she shouldn't have. She can never be mean to anyone. But she is, she breaks, and she doesn't know what to do with the pieces after the fact. She gets told to be a bit mean sometimes, so she does, and she gets told to calm down so WHAT. I AUGHHH. She doesn't know how to feel anymore but she's trying to be who everyone needs and it's becoming unmanageable for her. She no longer knows what to do.

Ragatha and Jax are such interesting fucking foils I'm going to pull from Jax's page and do this:

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they should invent a bus that never gets stuck in traffic because it's on its own path separated from the roads. and then chain multiple of them together and put it on rails. has anyone had this idea before.

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saw a video that was like “everybody comment what you did today so we can see how everyone experienced something different” and the comments have me tearing up on this train. what the fuckkkk. the human experience

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How come semi trucks in Europe look like “toot toot :)” and in North America they look like “HONK HOOOOOOOONK >:|”

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Damian settling in to life at the manor but he keeps forgetting that Jason is supposed to be dead and after a slip up where he mentions an interaction he had with Jason recently in front of the bats he panics and just tells them he’s a medium and that he can see and talk to Jason’s ghost. unfortunately that just makes things worse because now the family all think Damian can speak to dead people and they keep asking him to get victim’s information on murder cases and Damian has to keep bullshitting answers and desperately hope that he’s somehow on the money so they don’t figure out he’s lying. eventually it gets to the point where Damian is doing double detective work; doing the case normally with the bats and then sneaking off alone to solve the case ahead of time so that when Bruce asks him to use his abilities to get information he already has it on hand and can pretend a ghost told him who the murderer is.

eventually, of course,

Bruce: we have reason to believe that Red Hood wasn’t wearing his helmet when he made this kill; however nobody alive saw his identity. Damian, do you think you could contact the victim and find out what Hood looks like? That way we could have a profile sketch to add to his case.

Damian:

Damian: *deep sigh*

-later, on the phone-

Jason: you never fail to entertain me, little buddy

Damian: may i remind you i’m doing this for your benefit. help me.

Jason: i mean i don’t know what the fuck i’m supposed to do about it, just lie about what i look like.

Jason: OH- tell him i look exactly like Scarface.

Damian:

Damian: you want me. to say you look exactly like a famous movie character. and you think that will go well, do you?

Jason: when i was a kid Bruce told me he’d never seen the movie before so i made him watch it with me, and i swear he fell asleep like three minutes in. he swore on his life he paid rapt attention but i don’t believe him. if he doesn’t clock that you’re lying, then i’ll finally have confirmation and justice will prevail.

Damian:

Damian: i don’t think you take this as seriously as i do

Jason: womp womp, just do it

Damian: how are you the older brother out of the two of us

-

Damian, handing over a perfect sketch of Scarface: this is what i got from following the victim’s descriptions.

Bruce:

Bruce:

Bruce: *pinning it to a case board* incredibly detailed, amazing job, son. now-

Dick, stepping forward: isn’t that-?

Tim, putting a hand on Dick’s elbow and whispering: hold on, hold on. clearly he’s lying, but Bruce is fucking dumb, and wouldn’t you rather watch for a bit and see how this plays out, before we go digging for the truth?

Dick:

Dick: a fair point- great sketch, Dames! we’ll have Hood in no time with facial recognition like this!

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so my apartment building got a notice board to post fire alarm tests and maintenance announcements and such. the building is pretty well-maintained, so we rarely get notices. the board is big and grey and to think it would be empty like that 99% of the time was a bland boring sin i just couldn't bear, so i vandalized the corner of its empty canvas with a teeny tiny Guy

and within a few days, there was a sudden addition from my one of my neighbors along with a Bunch of thumbtacks. this was an unexpected, but welcome surprise!

well there was still so much space, i figured i'd add another crumb to the art hoard. i'd been playing genshin that day so i drew my favorite grandpa

and like clockwork, new art manifested!! this person is gonna grow to be a great artist i know it. the detail in those stones? hell yeah that's cool.

we're two weeks into it. more neighbors have joined in with their artwork. who knew there were so many artists in my building?? we're onto somethin great here i just know it.

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Damian defends the Red Hood. the family doesn’t know why, but it’s concerning. what reason would their youngest have to defend a crime lord? there must have been something more to it.

even after the identity reveal, Damian refuses to step down. the moment he perceives the family as being unfair to Jason, the moment they seem to overlook him or brush him off, Damian will be there to tell them off and remind them that, actually, Jason was talking first.

what’s probably even more dumbfounding to them by that point is that Jason lets it happen. it forces them to realize that Jason hardly fights for himself, to be heard or acknowledged. and for those of them that had been there when Jason first joined the family? it’s a painful reminder of the skittish boy they had first got to know

Damian takes his duties of brother very seriously. when Jason first joined their family back in Nanda Parbat, his mother had been very clear when explaining to him that his brother was in no state to speak or stand up for himself due to his catatonic state. Damian had made it his mission then to not only defend but also promote his brother’s interest. it would be unbecoming of him to let anyone diminish or take advantage of the more vulnerable member of their family until he could do it for himself

except that time never did happen. Damian still jumps to Jason’s defence at a moment’s notice and Jason still gets a little choked up when he gets to witness how how protective his little brother still is of him

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FIRST step to enjoying any media is getting attached to the character whose suicidal tendencies are the most obvious

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On Iris and Miles: the commonalities of Ace Attorney's most underrated duo

Ah, Iris and Miles...by this point it's no secret that the pair has one of my favorite dynamics in all of Ace Attorney. They're just...silly. Delightfully so. Autism-to-autism communication except their autism wavelengths aren't compatible in the slightest. Autism starers who hate being stared at lest the other see the hidden depths of their soul they’ve put so much work into hiding. Spacing out and getting lost in thought and needing to remind the other that they’re still there and the conversation isn’t over. Among many other charming little moments.

Of course, nothing in this series is surface level, and there's a lot more to be said about Iris and Miles aside from the fact they're both socially awkward disaster introverts who at times can barely seem to stumble their way through basic conversation (and believe me, I say that with nothing but love for them). In terms of fandom discussion, one of the most common things you'll see is conversations regarding Iris' canonical romantic feelings for Phoenix Wright versus Miles' subtextual ones (if it can even be called "subtext" at this point), and specifically how a certain bit of easily missable dialogue seems to imply that Iris is aware of Miles' feelings (which I give my thoughts on in this post here). And while analyzing their relationship from that angle can certainly be interesting...

There is so much more to Iris and Miles that I've never seen anyone else talk about.

Don't get me wrong; I don't think anyone's in the wrong for getting lost in Gay Lawyer Excitement. I'm far from innocent of it myself—it's compelling to think about, and the Narumitsu framework serves as a backdrop for much of my analysis on the franchise, BttT and Iris included. I just think it's reductive to focus solely on the possibility of love drama and jealousy between her and Miles, while ignoring everything else that makes that oft-referenced scene actually work—that being, the very way the two work exceptionally well together as characters, through the many, MANY parallels in their upbringing and traits that I can no longer be silent about.

In fact, I'm just gonna come out and say it: Sister Iris Fey-Hawthorne of Hazakura Temple mirrors Miles Edgeworth so goddamn much that she is quite literally the perfect choice for his first client as a defense attorney. And it's through this mirroring that his choice to defend her becomes so much more than a desire to help his childhood friend, or a chance to briefly live the life he once dreamed of at age nine—it's emblematic of his own personal self-acceptance and healing, and culminates his trilogy character arc in a beautifully full-circle, satisfying way. So, let's get into the details, shall we?

The first point I'd like to bring up is that Iris and Miles have a shared disdain of spirit channeling. There's some slight differences in how they express it—Iris' distaste is mostly directed toward the practice of channeling itself, as she states very early on in BttT. That said, she lives at Hazakura Temple even as an adult and continuously dedicates herself to her training, so she still has some level of respect (or at least tolerance) for spirit medium culture. Miles, on the other hand, rejects everything to do with channeling and mediums themselves/their lifestyle, as seen by how he angrily denounces Misty Fey at the mere mention of the Kurain Channeling Technique. The way his and Iris' lingering resentment presents itself is different, but the root of it is the same: The DL-6 Incident, an event that brought both of their families to ruin and left them with a great deal of trauma. They were inextricably linked by it years before they met—and though we never see Miles move beyond his denial of spiritual abilities (there's kinda a whole lotta other shit in BttT that needs to take priority), I like to think that he and Iris could have some very interesting conversations with each other on the subject post-canon.

Next, I'd like to point out that there's a noticeable parallel between Iris hiding herself away at Hazakura after Turnabout Memories and Miles “choosing death” after AA1. I'm of the opinion that neither of them had any intentions of returning to Phoenix, let alone explaining anything, when they set out to do so—Iris resolved to train endlessly as a form of self-flagellation penance, never appearing before Phoenix again so as not to hurt him any more, and Miles left his note at the Prosecutor’s Office with full confidence he would never again return to the courtroom (whether it was truly a suicide note is up for debate, but the game makes it fairly clear that before his offscreen epiphany Miles' initial choice was to leave his prosecutor career for good). They both wholly blamed themselves for being the reason they were even put in such a position, and their absences left Phoenix with unresolved grief as large as a mountain, and deep as an ocean. They both had events that brought them out of hiding—Miles chose to reforge his life and helped Phoenix from the shadows during Turnabout Big Top, and Iris received and accepted Godot’s request for help with his plan (though I’d imagine Phoenix’s presence caught her by complete surprise). They both were put through the wringer and came out of it resolving to reveal the truth. Phoenix, despite being hurt, wanted to believe in them both and ultimately decided to forgive them due to his unwavering faith.

Now, as for the events of BttT themselves, specifically Miles' choice to take up the mantle of a defense attorney and represent Iris in court, it's worth noting that he has multiple reasons for doing so. He just saw his best friend clam up in the hospital when pressed about Iris and wants to do what he can to help him heal, and in Miles' mind, truth in the most healing thing of all, so he becomes her attorney on the condition that she will eventually tell Phoenix what she's been hiding from him. The popular fanon joke about this is that Miles flew halfway across the world in a private jet when he heard his boyfriend was in peril, and took his attorney's badge simply because he couldn't say no to him—and they do have a point that that is an utterly Deranged™ way to express loyalty to someone...but I will argue until my dying breath that it wasn't just about Phoenix or Miles' latent feelings for him (or his latent jealousy prompting him to self-sabotage by pushing Feenris together). It was more than that.

Phoenix may have been the instigating factor, but I believe the reason Miles ultimately decided to defend Iris was because he empathized with her.

Because he saw himself in her.

A young, guarded individual stuck in the detention center for a murder they didn't commit. Going along with the punishment because even if the crime they're on trial for isn't the same as the one they committed, they believe themself guilty regardless. Stuck in a hopeless rut of neverending self-blame, and desperate to keep someone they care about from discovering the truth about them.

Sound familiar?

Miles doesn't make any promises to Iris initially, but after hearing her out...he learns of a tale all too familiar to his own experience in the defendant's seat two years prior, and he empathizes with it. He's far from upfront about his own feelings most of the time, but he demonstrates on multiple occasions that he actually has quite the knack for understanding other people's emotions (such as the end of BttT, when he explains to Phoenix that Maya is very emotionally resilient when there's someone she has to be strong for). Miles may have chosen the path of a prosecutor, but due to his upbringing of having been raised by Gregory, he has the instinct of a defense attorney—he feels strongly compelled to save people, whether they be the falsely accused or the victims of crime. And after finding common ground with Iris, he resolves to do the same thing for her as Phoenix once did for him—save her by proving her not guilty and giving her closure. It's an undeniably selfless act that speaks volumes as to how far he's come since we first met his douche-y AA1 self, and serves as excellent contrast for how we just saw Bratworth act in Turnabout Beginnings.

What really tips the scene over the edge, however...is that because Iris reminds Miles so much of himself, his offer to defend her becomes symbolic of his own self-acceptance.

While it's true he was proven innocent two years ago, and reinvented himself as the kind of prosecutor who can truly bring about justice for those who need it, and shows nothing but confidence in his newfound ideals...we never really see him acknowledge that he was worthy of such redemption. Certainly not with words, at least.

But thanks to Iris, we get to watch him prove it through his actions. Through his unyielding dedication to ensuring that this woman, who's clearly suffering from repressed guilt, knows that she is just as worthy as he was of being freed from her shackles, both real and self-imposed, by the all-encompassing light of truth. And I don't think it's a stretch to say that Iris found that inspiring. So much so that after a single conversation, she decides to finally let go of her need to obfuscate anything and everything about herself/her actions that could interfere with how she feels she has to be perceived in that moment, and begin to own up to the harm she's done by telling Miles what she did (in vague terms, granted, but this is the most progress ANYONE'S made in getting Iris to come forward with what’s on her mind to this point, which is still impressive). And for the first time, someone has helped her realize that maybe, just maybe...she could start on the path toward revealing the truth to the person most in need of the answers she's kept locked away in her heart all this time.

Iris wouldn't have found the courage to seek the truth if not for Miles. And it's because of Iris that Miles gets the chance to prove to himself that he was worthy of salvation all along.

They're perfect, your honor.

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I tap the mic. “Most people don’t want to crawl down your chimney and steal your dog.”

the crowd murmurs uncertainly.

“If someone wants to steal your dog,” I continue, “there are easier ways to do that. They don’t have to crawl into a chimney.”

Murmuring intensifies. People stand in their seats and begin to boo.

“People disguising themselves as chimney sweepers and stealing dogs is not a rational fear,” I shout. “Literally anyone could steal your dog. Why make sweeping chimneys illegal?”

“I have a list of chimney sweeps who stole dogs from parks!” Someone yells, throwing a shoe.

“You seriously think no chimney sweepers could possibly ever steal from a home?” Another cries.

“Only a dog thief would even want to crawl into a chimney to begin with!” Says a third.

A single tear rolls down my cheek. They are all so fucking stupid

This is a metaphor

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Reblog to give prev the power to write their fanfiction

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decentralize and clean up your life!!!

use overdrive, libby, hoopla, cloudlibrary, and kanopy instead of amazon and audible.

use firefox instead of chrome or opera (both are made with chromium, which blocks functionality for ad-blockers. firefox isn't based on chromium).

use mega or proton drive instead of google drive.

get rid of bloatware

use libreoffice instead of microsoft office suite

use vetted sites on r/FREEMEDIAHECKYEAH for free movies, books, games, etc.

use trakt or letterboxd instead of imdb.

use storygraph instead of goodreads.

use darkpatterns to find mobile game with no ads or microtransactions

use ground news to read unbiased news and find blind spots in news stories.

use mediahuman or cobalt to download music, or support your favorite artists directly through bandcamp

make youtube bearable by using mtube, newpipe, or the unhook extension on chrome, firefox, or microsoft edge

use search for a cause or ecosia to support the environment instead of google

use thriftbooks to buy new or used books (they also have manga, textbooks, home goods, CDs, DVDs, and blurays)

use flashpoint to play archived online flash games

find books, movies, games, etc. on the internet archive! for starters, here's a bunch of David Attenborough documentaries and all of the Animorphs books

burn your music onto cds

use pdf24 (available online or as a desktop app) instead of adobe

use unroll.me to clean your email inboxes

use thunderbird, mailfence, countermail, edison mail, tuta, or proton mail instead of gmail

remove bloatware on windows PC, macOS, and iOS X

remove bloatware on samsung X

use pixelfed instead of instagram or meta

use NCH suite for free software like a file converter, image editor, video editors, pdf editor, etc.

feel free to add more alternatives, resources or advice in the reblogs or replies, and i'll add them to the main post <3

last updated: march 18th 2025