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While I personally interpreted Jax as a villain who was meant to showcase what happens when you DON'T reach out to others and instead lash out and hurt them to protect yourself, show that it will kill others and yourself, I realize that that...might not have been what the show was going for and in the end she was ultimately supposed to be solely sympathetic and a lesson in why you should always be there for people no matter what which...really puts a bad taste in my mouth considering everything.

Even if that wasn't the intention, it still comes off that way if the majority response to the episode of people being so heart broken and forgiving of Jax is anything to go by.

I think it would've been possible to keep her as a closeted trans woman who due to abuse and internalized transmisogyny continued that abuse via targeting others (Zooble & Gangle mostly) who reminded her of who she really was because she refused to actually work on herself AND have it work well.....IF all the focus wasn't devoted to seeing things from her point of view and making her more sympathetic than those she hurt.

I think it could've worked if instead more time was spent with the other characters grappling with the abstraction of someone who, although they now understand the inner turmoil of and can even relate to, were still deeply hurt by and can never find closure from.

Why couldn't we get more of Zooble, and see more of their point of view in the after math of Jax's death as a nonbinary person who DID push past societal expectation of gender and choose to be their true self? Why can't we see more of the point of view of a trans person who IS alive and happy and not a source of violence? It's cool that Jax showcases the damage that can happen when you don't accept yourself, but it would've been better to have more of the same discussion from Zooble so we could see the joy of what happens when you do. It's sprinkled here and there throughout the show, but as it stands that needed foil feels WAY out of balance and therefore doesn't carry the same impact it could.

Why couldn't we get more of Gangle, and hear more about the turmoil of your abuser, who although you understand the pain of and might wish things had gone better for, dying so now you can't hope for closure and you're left to deal with the deep hurt they left you on your own? I was SO ready for that to be a conversation between her and Zooble when they came to comfort her in her room...but then it was just barely acknowledged before the scene ended. It felt more like a box to check off than an important conversation to be had, allowing the audience to feel more for Jax than those she did damage to.

Why couldn't we get more of POMNI. THE OTHER MAIN CHARACTER??? Why do we hardly know anything about her in comparison to Jax? It would've been such a good character arc for her to learn that although you must remain compassionate and reach out to those around you, if you always try to save those who choose to destroy themselves and others you will ultimately go down with them, and if you really want to keep doing good in the world and remain kind to those who need it, you must pick and choose those battles.

Why....Why couldn't we get more of Ribbit, the gender queer woman who was the first person to help Jax connect with herself in regards to her own identity, and then ultimately suffered for it because they kept pushing and trying to help someone who was more comfortable lashing out in fear and anger than actually working to at least try and return that same kindness and understanding. Why couldn't we know more about her outside of the context of her and Jax's relationship? Even if you didn't want to fully reveal her in person until the final episode, which I understand is meant to be rewarding, you still could've told us more about her as a person in other ways (like, for instance, the fact her pronouns are she/they so fans didn't have to find out only through a tumblr post). That way her fate is WAY more impactful, and we fully feel the weight of what happens if you don't let go of people like Jax. If you don't keep giving yourself the responsibility of trying to help others who only want to hurt you in a cowardly bid to save themselves. Because if we DID know her as deeply as we got to know Jax, then I'm sure it'd be way more difficult to brush the harm she caused away, and that's important, because it SHOULDN'T be brushed it away.

A show that handled the whole, "character who shows a pattern of misogyny and abuse because they choose to distance themselves from their actions and reality due to abuse they themselves faced growing up," I feel is Bojack Horseman. It displays the point of view of the characters affected by an abuser's actions in equal amount to the abuser's, so the damage they do can't be ignored by the audience, and in the end it's made clear that although you can and must always improve yourself via remaining kind and reaching out to others, you also under no circumstances have to remain in the life of someone who has repeatedly hurt you. You're not responsible for saving those who don't want to be saved.

I think Jax and TADC is what happens when you're too close to a character to actually acknowledge how they're impacting the story and I'm taking it as a lesson in why you should "kill your darlings" so to speak. No one character should end up being more important than the entire story at large, because as TADC stands it feels like the whole world bends backwards to accommodate just one aspect of it, even if it's contradictory and ignores other key elements.

It's not that I didn't want Jax to be sympathetic at all, I think villains work well when there's something about them you yourself can connect to, but the other characters not getting the same care feels sneaky and like the deeper discussion that's CLEARLY THERE was being purposely avoided so she could remain well liked.

I think there should be space for characters who are terrible people and also queer in media because, guess what, people can be terrible and queer in real life. But I feel that it overshadows everything else in the story and causes serious things to be easily overlooked, resulting in a WORSE, unbalanced story overall with a well-intentioned message told in a way that can cause more harm than good.

Also, as someone who loves things being told through subtext in stories because I find it rewarding when I figure them out without being told outright, when I connect with the story more because I did work as an audience member to engage with it....I feel if the different ways in which people struggle with their gender identity in a world hostile to those outside the norm, and how that can end in internalized issues that perpetuates abuse was THAT important to the story....it really should've been just a little bit more clear.

Yes I was able to pick up on it, but it wasn't as obvious as people are making it out to be, and I can totally understand how it blind sighted even more gender conscious viewers. If something is so important to a story that it shifts its meaning entirely, I think you should acknowledge it more outside of minor details that can be interpreted in other ways. For an independent series not beheld to censorship, TADC had every chance to be more upfront but wasn't, making the choice feel more cowardly than smart.

Also also, hey why the fuck did you choose a song about a Black father loving his daughter to represent an abuser who targets women and gnc folks because of the internalized transmisogyny she refuses to work through? Why did you do that? The choice is terrible on it's own but in the context of the main showrunner making light of the racist behavior of her cast, thus making her community as a whole a space where racism and anti-Black behavior gets a pass, it feels especially cruel.