A wicker passing the time.

Which is all to say once again that no one is doing it like Mob Psycho 100. Because Mob is unambiguously the most powerful entity in the world and he goes "Okay but that's not very interesting. Being powerful isn't a personality. I'm gonna try to improve myself in ways that matter."

I saw The Last Act in theaters. After some of the things I heard floating around about the final episode from the leaks a while back, I didn’t have high expectations. I’m happy to say, after seeing the full episode myself in English, that I liked it more than I thought I would. There are a lot of things about the final episode that I genuinely enjoyed, and I am glad I got to see it in theaters. The audience I was watching it with was also really well behaved and respectful the whole time, which I was SO thankful for cause that’s low key kinda rare nowadays lol.

Some of my positives are:

Animation and voice acting was ON POINT

Abstragedy is actually low-key canon fuck yeah. The people in the theater I was in HOLLARED at THAT scene lol.

The whole mindscape stuff was really cool with all the other Jaxs and the different animation and writing styles.

Loved that the show didn’t hold back on discussing how shitty it is to have upsetting intrusive thoughts. They're not often discussed in mainstream media due to stigmatization. Shame the fandom wasn’t normal about these scenes, but I’m honestly not surprised.

Pomni’s moments with Kinger, Ragatha, and Jax were really touching.

I ADORED seeing Kaufmo, Ribbit, and Jax. The way it was framed largely from Jax’s POV was a neat choice.

I knew Jax had parental issues!!

While I don’t think we NEEDED to know everyone’s IRL doings and what they looked like outside of the circus, it was still pretty neat to see. Glad to see Jax thriving after all the shit she went through IRL.

While I don’t like how Jax’s abstraction was handled from a narrative standpoint (something I’ll go much more in depth about a sec), the scene where they all make the fort for her and take care of her was really touching. Though I do wish we also got a scene where they gave her a proper funeral, like with Kaufmo.

Also THANK GOD they didn’t use an actual leash, I got genuinely concerned when I heard that going around a while ago cause people were making it sound like the group was using an animal leash on her… which would’ve had weird implications. Thankfully, it was just Zooble's arms being linked together.

Funnybunny hug and “Isn’t She Lovely” montage DESTROYED ME, I’m not okay.

The mural for the abstracted players was cute.

GIRL DAD KINGER YALL

Alt credits were fun.

I’m not big on Caine’s sudden return and change of heart (also something I’ll talk more about), but his scene with the moon was cute. 

Oh most importantly, Transfem Jax is canon LET’S GOOOOOOOO!!!! Most of the fandom won’t understand it cause media analysis is dead, but we won chat!! She’s real!! Can't wait for all the new fan works that will pop up about her.

So yeah, there were a lot of aspects about the finale I really enjoyed. THAT BEING SAID, there are a couple of critiques I have with the finale, mainly to do with the conclusion to Jax’s character, how it conflicts with what was set up prior, and how she was treated by the larger narrative. Please note that this is just my perspective and you are allowed to have your own, so please do not take my words as gospel.

As I stated in my messy ramble a while back, I was NEVER a fan of Jax’s character arc ending with her abstracting, due to it feeling like an easy and obvious way for her character to conclude. Seeing it for myself, the way it happened in the episode felt very odd; it just cuts to her running around the main floor abstracted, really early in the episode. I also find it really weird that in episode 8, Zooble and Pomni made it very clear that they weren’t gonna let Jax wander off and abstract… only for that to be exactly what happens.

Like, in the montage where all the characters are helping patch up the circus, we never see any of them attempt to include Jax or check in on her, despite her obviously NOT being okay. Jax nearly confides in Pomni before backing out, but none of the other characters think to check in on their friend (I know I’m being generous with that term in this scenario) who they all know is at risk of potentially harming herself. Obviously they do NOT need to be Jax’s therapists or anything even remotely like that, but it feels weird how they previously made a big deal of “we’re not gonna stand by and let you hurt yourself” only for the story to not follow through or explore that. Idk that really annoyed me while I was watching.

I think the whole Jax Mindscape hijinxes and flashbacks about her relationship with Ribbit and Kaufmo were genuinely really cool and well done (her almost killing her mom felt odd, but it’s not as dumb as the hit and run theory), and the lamp scene with Pomni was fantastic too. I just wish that the conclusion after all of that wasn’t, oh well it’s too late for Jax to ever change as a person or find meaning in the circus.

I’m also really not a fan of the whole “killing off the traumatized suicidal character who struggles to find a reason to keep going” trope that has been popping up in recent media, but that’s a much more complicated discussion for another day that requires way more thought and analysis. 

I understand what the story is trying to say, I REALLY do, don't get me wrong. Not being open with yourself or others will only harm you in the end. It’s better to embrace vulnerability, even if it’s hard. Those are both lessons I wholeheartedly agree with and are important for people to learn, but I think they still could have gotten that message across while still letting Jax live in the end. We as the audience have already seen how Jax pushing others away and not being honest with herself has harmed her and her relationships in the finale and previous episodes. We even had a moment in ep 7 where she almost abstracted after trying to bury her problems. I think letting Jax survive abstraction, find meaning in the circus, learn to open up and confront her problems, and showing her life IMPROVE because of that would’ve worked and dare I say, even strengthen that message of the importance of vulnerability.

In fact, the final montage and and the end credits showing the group starting to enjoy their time at the circus would be the PERFECT opportunity to put that. Show Jax picking up her piano playing again, being able to talk about Ribbit and Kaufmo without falling apart, HAVE HER THROW A TEA PARTY IN HER BEDROOM WITH THE REST OF THE CAST PRESENT!!!! Idk I feel like there was a ton of potential that was left unexplored.

Maybe instead of cutting to a fully abstracted Jax hanging around the circus, Pomni or one of the others finds Jax in the midst of abstracting. The mindscape stuff could be used as a last-ditch effort to reach her and save her life when trying to wake her up doesn’t do anything. You can keep the mindscape and flashback segments pretty much the same, just make it so the final resolution isn’t her dying. It also would make the moment that parallels the scene from ep 2 where the cast grabs Pomni’s hand to not let her fall (which symbolized how the support of others will allow her to navigate this scary situation she’s in), only with Pomni grabbing Jax’s hand this time to not let her fall, even stronger.

Another thing that bothered me, I don’t like that Jax, whose story absolutely could have resulted in a redemption arc based on her growth during episode 8, isn’t given a chance to become a better person and properly take accountability for how she treated everyone, while Caine was, even though his whole character was about how he couldn’t change or understand humans and the tragedy surrounding that due to his existence as a stagnant AI.

DISCLAIMER!! I love Caine as a character. I’m not as attached to him as I am with the others (and maybe that’s part of the reason for my perspective idk), but I enjoy his character. However, I’m gonna be honest… I don’t think he needed to make a return. I'm not saying it was an inherently impossible route to go with, I’m sure it could have worked with the right setup, but the whole final ten-fifteen minutes just felt kinda odd for me and left me raising an eyebrow. He just kind of… comes back without much prior setup or buildup from earlier in the episode. Maybe when the episode releases on YouTube, and I can rewatch certain scenes, it’ll make more sense, but for now idk.

The moment where Caine apologizes to the cast and works to better himself for their sake is really a moment that I think should have belonged to Jax, who felt more built up as a character throughout the series as opposed to Caine and it would’ve felt at least a bit more earned coming from her. It feels like a really odd choice that they chose to do this with Caine, but not Jax. Idk, maybe it’s just me, this might end up becoming an unpopular opinion as more people watch and discuss the episode.

Overall, while I am happy the episode was a lot better than many were initially making it out to be, there are some things I personally think could have gone differently and used some reworking, but hey, that’s what fanfiction and AUs are for! And just to add, I’m glad Goose got to end the show on her terms, even if I don’t agree with every plot or writing choice made. That is something not a lot of showrunners get nowadays and I think it’s important to at least acknowledge and celebrate. I’m planning on making my own little AU where Jax survives abstraction and properly heals and grows, so I’ll have that to keep me content, as well as other fanworks that will most definitely pop up as more people tune in.

I really hope I was able to get my points and criticism across in a constructive, healthy manner, as I do not want to blindly complain about the show out of spite. Trust me, I saw some WILD takes when the leaks came out that made the episode sound a lot more messed up than it was and I do NOT wanna perpetuate that kind of behavior. 

"oh so the trans character kills herself??? this show is transphobic" JESUS CHRIST YOU PEOPLE ARE INSANE. Jax repressed himself to the point of abstraction, then Pomni finds a way to reach him even through his broken mental state, and the gang puts him in a safe and comfortable blanket fort where s/he can relax and get his senses back in order without hurting himself or others. The other abstractions get to be seen being happy and at peace. No it's not IDEAL but it's basically like having a mental break that just needs some care and attention instead of Cellar. We do not see any Abstractions get fixed but the episode does leave it open-ended as to how much they will one day be able to be reached, and the characters have eternity to figure it out. Jax finally opens up to Pomni in that headspace and it's far from impossible she can still talk to him in this state.

it's also not like Jax is the only trans/queer character. Zooble is nonbinary/genderqueer and makes it through the entire show, is given emotional depth and weight to their own dysphoria and character struggles, and then gets to end the show with their human self opening a successful (implied) queer bar and their digital self having epic gay sex!! (entire theater cheered and clapped at that btw)

like. look me in the eyes. do you think that a trans woman show creator would write a trans woman character just to kill her out of malice?? like do you think she was maybe trying to say something with the abstractions and Jax's repression and the fact there is still hope and time for him and his human self?? are we operating on this level of media literacy or are we just looking for things to get mad at

commission for Adastra (VGen)! 💙

At the start of my employment, my boss showed me videos of people stealing, and we both had a chuckle about it. How silly they were! There was a camera overhead, and it’s not to watch the shoppers. See, we can’t actually stop shoplifters. They get away with it maybe nine out of ten times. But we, who are watched and tallied and witnessed? We are always caught.

At first it was hard to hold one hundred dollars bills. An amount I had never seen before. An amount that didn’t exist in my household. It’s normal now. Here is something that is not for me.

“What the hell, I’ll take another,” says the man, pondering our 200 dollar watches. What the hell. Total comes to 580 and not even a flinch in his face. I have been working for 11 hours today and made only 110 dollars. It will go to my rent. Today I work for free, it feels. When I get my check, I will have 35 dollars left for food and saving.

The six hundreds he hands me go into the cash register. For a moment, I imagine having money. Then I put it away, counting out his change.

I know for a fact we sell our products for double what they are worth. That I could be making commission. That they could hand me those 580 dollars and change my life and not even mark the difference in their checkbooks. He’s not the only sale they make today, but I am the reason they made it. He’s not the only one spending 600 dollars, but if I hadn’t spent two hours with him telling me about his life, he wouldn’t have spent any. I go home. I don’t own a watch.

I have watched and rewatched a video on how to make salmon four ways. My shopping list is always the same. Pasta. Rice. Tuna. If I can afford butter it was a good week. I dream of the world I will never walk in, where I can throw the best fish fillet in the cart with a shrug. I hold hundreds in my hand and look up at the camera. I put them under the cash drawer.

I go to work. I scrap together my savings. I eat my bowl of rice slowly. My manager takes a paid week off from work just for his birthday. He owns a yacht. 

i was part of their college program. i moved to the state for it. they legally owned the building i was living in and still charged me rent. i ostensibly was being charged to work for them. it was a 2 bedroom apartment and they placed 6 adult women in it in forced triples.

as many as one in ten disney employees have experienced homelessness while working for the company. despite huge efforts to unionize, strike, or otherwise demand fair treatment; disney has refused to increase employee quality of life.

disney admits publicly that a good portion of their success is because the employees (“cast members”) are dedicated, passionate, and selfless. this is never reflected in pay. even “face” characters (ie those that are princesses etc) make barely above a minimum wage.

at the time that i worked there, i made $8.50 an hour. at one point i was asked to create a human shield around a bag because a bomb dog had alerted to it. for eight fucking dollars an hour.

i now work a very cushy office job. i have bought the salmon and cooked it all four ways.

i go to the store. i am nice to the person behind the counter. she looks up at the camera while she counts out my change. there is nothing fundamentally different about her and i.