TADC spoilers under the cut, a ramble about a specific scene lots of people are talking about
A lot of people, myself included, were a bit confused at the abrupt nature of Jax's abstraction. We didn't see it; one shot he was there and the next he was a large, glitching mess.
But the more I thought about it, the more it makes sense. When it comes to suicide, you don't see it. One day the person is there, and the next they're gone. It's not something public and grand; it's a private, dark moment.
And it makes sense why Zooble was mad, saying "he waited until now to do it". And why Gangle couldn't cry for him immediately, but let it out days later. And why Pomni wished she had done more. Grief is a complex thing that never shows up the same way for two people.
Zooble represents the people who are angry at the people who commit. There's never a good time to die, and they cope by blaming Jax because it's easier.
Gangle represents the numbness that can come with grieving, and how some people fall apart days, months, or even years after the fact. Especially since they had such a complex relationship with a lot of harm. You're allowed to grieve for someone who hurt you.
Pomni wished she could do more, even though she constantly reached out and was there for Jax. You can't help someone who doesn't want help. And when someone dies, you're always second-guessing every interaction, replaying conversations and thinking "if I said something different" or "if I did something different".
In short, after thinking on it, I really love how brutally realistic Jax's abstraction was. It shows different types of grief, how different people cope, and how sudden and abrupt it can be.
Griffin McElroy put it best during the TAZ: Balance DND campaign: "When someone leaves your life, those exits are not made equal. Some are beautiful and poetic and satisfying. Others are abrupt and unfair. But most are just unremarkable, unintentional, clumsy."
