Yamikazam

There are two types of ribbun that I like:

1. Complicated toxic ribbun (the consequences of a fictional dynamic being applied between real people with their own fears and traumas.)

In the last post I made, I explored the possibility of Gangle being a factor in preventing jax's abstraction post Ribbit's death. In this post I'll explore the reverse, in which Gangle could have made it as far as she did because of her dynamic with Jax.

When Gangle first entered the circus, there seemed to be so many things that weren't in her favor. She had just arrived when tensions were expecially high and while I'm sure the remaining circus members tried their best to be their for her given the chance, it was also made clear that they were definitely dealing with their own issues post Ribbit's abstraction.

• Kaufmo was going crazy looking for an exit with the reality of abstraction having set it. And while Gangle's drawing of her and Kaufmo in the pilot implied that he was a dear friend to her, it was also implied in that same episode that in Kaufmo's search for an escape he became very agitated and irritable towards the other circus members.

• Ragatha was mourning not only the loss of Ribbit but also her friendship with Jax, with her considering her conversation with Jax in the flashback sequence of episode 9 to be the end of their friendship. Having had promised to never speak of Ribbit again and therefore preventing her from properly grieving the life of someone who was also a dear friend of hers.

• Kinger is for the most part, mentally incapacitated. Barely being able to understand the nature of his own surroundings and actions much less that of another person.

• And while I'm sure Caine was happy to have another human in his roster, he was also too focused on his adventures and fulfilling his "purpose" to truly make an effort to be there for them (Ragatha even mentioned in episode 8 that her biggest gripe with Caine is how idle he is when it comes to their personal problems and feelings)

And since the others were busy dealing with their own problems and priorities, it likely meant that Jax had more access to Gangle, leaving Gangle to depend on Jax to navigate the circus more than she probably would've wanted to in different circumstances. which Jax was more than happy to use in order distract herself from her own issues.

In episode 4 Ragatha and Jax try and help teach Gangle how to throw a baseball. But what was initially supposed to be a bonding moment shortly turned into an argument between Jax and Ragatha due to Gangle's comedy mask accidentally breaking in the process of their lesson. Thinking that her fragility is the reason she can't have meaningful moments with others, Gangle tries to remedy it using the manic mask only to have one of the few moments where she tries to have fun and connect with the others "properly", backfire horribly. leading her to isolate herself by the end the adventure.

I bring this moment up because it communicates that Gangle often feels like a burden to the rest of the circus members without her comedy mask. Its the reason why she almost never reaches out to Ragatha, not because she doesn't want to but because she doesn't trust herself to not be a burden to her (Which is only made worse with the fact that Ragatha struggles to be honest with her own emotions.)

But when Gangle is with Jax, someone who actively relies on Gangle playing "the sad one", she no longer feels the pressure to be anything else. Because while Jax certainly didn't make her feel any better about her feelings of inadequacy, she was still the one to initiate most of their interactiones, she still took Gangle on adventures despite her demenour. And maybe being with Jax was better than being alone, maybe Jax's predictability was better than the possibility of burdening others and facing rejection.

it adds a whole new perspective in the scene where Gangle looks upset when Jax walks off after the Spudsy adventure was over.

I've already elaborated on it a bit in this post, but I'd like to elaborate on the idea more as an abstraction prevention method for Gangle. basically, I speculated that Gangle could have shared the same cartoon nihilism ideology as Jax. Mostly because of scenes like the one in episode 6 where Gangle admits to Zooble that she doesn't really feel like a person because of Jax. But also in episode 8 when the cast are about to "escape" the circus, where Gangle questions the "realness" of everything that happened and if any of it will matter in the outside world.

It's even in episode 9 when it was revealed that they were actually brain scans the entire time. Gangle seems less upset about the fact that she isn't "real" and more upset about how it makes Zooble and Ragatha feel XD.

What I'm trying to say is that Gangle could've used this mindset for the very same reason as Jax, to prevent herself from abstracting. Jax and Gangles menace & lackey dynamic both rely on minimizing and downplaying the events that happen in the digital circus as much as possible. Since they both live in a world where violence and pain is often depicted in such a cartoony manner, Gangle is able to see her pain as "not that big of a deal" since it's all just cartoon slapstick at the end of the day. it isn't seen as "real" and all of the torment that not only Jax, but also the circus itself inflicts is treated as a gag that isn't taken with any seriousness up until Zooble starts getting closer to Gangle and begins to deconstruct this mindset by affirming Gangles humanity.

The only reason Jax and Gangle's dynamic "works" is because they dehumanize themselves in order to not confront the painful emotions that come with living in the circus. Which for Gangle, not only includes her feelings about being robbed of her autonomy entering the digital circus, but also robbed of the chance to fulfill the dream life she could've had.

Because If Gangle can convince herself that her sad/fragile archetype is an intrinsic part of who she is, something that is bound to happen. Then she can also apply that mindset to the rest of her life; if her comedy mask was always going to break by the end of the adventure, if she was always going to spend her life in a career she didn't want, if she was always going to fail in reaching her dreams no matter if she got stuck in the circus or not. Then there's no use in getting so torn up about it since It was all inevitable, and if it was inevitable, then it doesn't matter. You can't go through the "what ifs" if you dont think you ever had a chance in the first place.

So it's interesting how much gangle could've played a role in preventing jax's abstraction post ribbits death. When Gangle arrived in the digital circus, Jax had practically burned all of her bridges and was in her early stages of creating a persona who's function was to push the remaining circus members away.

The moment Jax named Gangle was not only the beginning of Gangle's loss of personal agency in the circus but also what will define what most of their interactions would be like in the coming years, jax choosing things for gangle, and gangle letting her.

A big part of Gangles arc is regaining her own agency back by learning how to dictate and discover the life she wants since so much of her life both in the outside world and in the circus had been spent letting things happen to her.

• She let her peers pressure her into choosing a career she didn't want.

• She let a fast food job consume her until it became all she thought was worth noting of her life.

• And she let Jax asign her a name and a role she never asked for.

Jax takes full advantage of Gangle's unwillingness to push back because despite what she wants everyone to believe, she can't actually stand being completely alone. Jax views Gangle as "safer" compared to the rest of the circus members because she gets to decide exactly what happens in the relationship and how it happens. That is to say that jax is ultimately the one in control of who knows what and how it will be perceived. (Ie: the reason why Jax seems to know so much about gangle enough to blackmail her, but gangle doesn't seem to know much about Jax)(Not to say that gangle knows absolutely nothing about jax, when you spend that much time with another person your bound to see the mask slip occasionally.)

It all circles back to her cartoon nihilism ideology, the defense mechanism that kept her from abstracting all these years. Torn between her need to validate her own worldview and her need for connection, instead of choosing one or the other jax decided that she wanted both at the same time. Which lo and behold, created the incredibly toxic relationship between them.

Jax's funny guy persona needed someone to be the punchline, she cant take being made the joke so she has to make someone else live that nightmare. fully immersing herself in the circus's cartoon wackiness and eventually forgetting about all her underlying issues.

She needed someone to project all her issues on, an outlet where she could take out all of her repressed emotions on with little to no repercussions, a way to sort of vicariously have feelings.

and finally she needed someone who would keep her company while simultaneously keeping the control & emotional distance she desires. Someone who is too scared and reserved to question or pry into her actions/past but also someone who doesnt take any initiative to try and leave said relationship. (Atleast not without outside help)

And when gangle entered the circus in such a vulnerable state, she was unfortunately the perfect vessel that could provide all of what jax was looking for at the time.

Put all these factors together and you get an abstraction proof method that has absolutely no cracks or flaws what so ever and that requires none of that icky "emotional vulnerability" and "personal growth" stuff. 😀👍👍

I just feel like it would make perfect sense for these moments to be a byproduct of having been asigned "the sad one/the punching bag" role and therefore having to adopt some aspects of jax's cartoon delusion in order to cope with such existence.

their shared ideology not only would be the foundation that worked together to uphold their cartoon menace & lackey dynamic. But in order to cope with a dynamic that is otherwise unsustainable between real human beings, both jax and gangle used this "nothing matters" "nothing is real" notion. Jax using it to relieve the guilt she feels upon the torment she inflicts, and gangle using it to relieve the helplessness she feels upon the receiving end. Which is only worsened by the fact that the circus itself is so inhospitable to personal growth/change.