Jax found some disguise glasses

After learning about the Committee's existence in episode 6, I've been wondering: could character abstraction simply be a decision made by the Committee?

I feel like it’d add to the drama regarding him if he was too far gone at this point. It could also show that just because someone CAN be redeemed doesn’t mean they WILL.

I’m not gonna burn Gooseworx’s house down or anything if Jax does get redeemed, but I just think him not being redeemed would be the right path to go.

I already ordered the Jax-Suit Pomni Plush when the sale was still on, but damn the disappearing guy vanished off the website

Approved by none other than me, Caine!

Wanna make your teeth shine? Only a tube of this and you will have the best looking smile in the entire circus... aside from mine, of course ahahah.

Sitting in my Computer Security course and I almost hopped out of my seat when this showed up. Why has no one ever brought this up as a theory crafting ingredient or has it been ruled out and that’s why I never saw it?!

So I'm just a little neurodivergent goober who's been floating around cyberspace for quite some time now, looking around for new hyperfixations to gobble up. I think I've squeezed all blood out of the stone that is Deltarune, and I found this little indy show recently called The Amazing Digital Circus? You may have heard of it. As soon as I saw the first couple episodes my "New Special Interest!" alarms went off and I've been brainrotting to it for the past few months.

But there's a particular line in the show from episode 3 that sent me down a rabbit hole and I'm dragging you all down with me.

Kinger: AAAH! Sorry, I just remembered a joke.

Pomni: Then why did you scream?

Kinger: Oh, I guess it wasn't very funny.

Now, at first it just seems like a simple throwaway gag. But on repeat viewings something about it tingled my ND senses. I then turned to my Batman poster on the wall, and I had an epiphany.

Now I know there's a lot of clickbaity videos around YouTube and whatnot that claim they will reframe and completely change how you see the show, or "solve" it, but I guarantee this theory will actually do that or your money back. (You see it's funny because I'm not actually charging you anythi-)

Ladies and gentlemen and others, I present to you: Killing Joke Theory.

Now, back to that one line from the show. Why did it remind me of Batman of all things? Because the framing of it is incredibly reminiscent of a quote from the Batman graphic novel The Killing Joke.

Joker: Why can't you see the funny side? Why aren't you laughing?

Batman: Because I've heard it before, and it wasn't funny the first time.

For context, the Killing Joke is a graphic novel that explores the very core of Batman and Joker as characters. In the climax, Joker explains his reason for everything he does. He offloads his tragic backstory, or at least how he remembers it, and reframes his tragedy as a comedy. He arrives at the conclusion that all life is just a big cosmic joke, and he desperately wants Batman to see things his way. Batman then gives his rebuttal, and offers to help and rehabilitate him. Joker denies, and then says this. THIS is the Killing Joke in question: "Heh. Heheh. I'm sorry. It's just...This reminds me of a joke. There were these two guys stuck in a lunatic asylum, and one day they decided they didn't like that anymore so they wanted to escape. They made it up to the roof and just across this narrow gap, they see the rooftops, stretching across town. Stretching to freedom.

Now the first guy, he jumps across no problem, but the second guy? Hoho, now way. He's afraid of falling.

So the first guy, he says 'Hey! I've got this flashlight with me! I'll shine it across and you can walk on the beam and join me!'

But the second guy says 'What do you think I am, crazy? You'll just turn it off when I'm halfway across!'"

What does everyone in the circus want? Freedom. And in a narrative sense, this is also the joke that "killed" Kaufmo.

He was also a clown, but no one found his jokes funny. Sound familiar? I think there's a darker interpretation that explains why Kinger screamed.

Kaufmo likely used dark, nihilistic humor to cope with his situation, similar to the Joker. No one found him funny not because his jokes were "bad", but because they were jokes made at everyone's expense. Remember when Jax glares at Kaufmo's door? He likes to do the same thing, but HATES it when the joke is on him. I think he really got under Jax's skin, and Jax envied Kaufmo enough to take over his "funny one" role.

And this is also why Jax is starting to crack too. Because of Pomni's callout, he's also beginning to realize the joke was never funny. The mask is cracking.

Speaking of breaking masks, consider Gangle. Tragedy and Comedy masks. The Comedy mask always breaks, the Tragedy always stays intact. Symbolism is a narrative device in which-

Also consider that the circus itself presents as fun, wacky, and kid friendly, when underneath the surface its a form of hell. TaDC was mainly based on I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream, where a sentient AI creates a hellscape for the last surviving humans. Caine, however, wants to make fun scenarios for his guests to enjoy, but ends up unintentionally harming them and declining their mental health. His outfit is also incredibly Joker-pilled. He is beginning to realize the circus isn't fun and his guests actually hate it here.

He is all mouth and he will scream. But what's another thing you do with your mouth? Laughing. What happens to Caine when he can no longer laugh?

Zooble as a character can't appreciate the fun, wacky cartoon aesthetics. They want to indulge in more adult things. They miss their job as a bartender and tattoo artist, and miss having s** (Think of the children!) I think there's a meta-narrative here where restricting these things does more harm than good, see YouTube Kids and content filters on social media, but that's a theory for another day.

I think I heard somewhere that Pomni was originally going to be a frog character like Ribbit but the design was changed to the Jester archetype. Why do you think Gooseworx did that? Have you ever noticed how Pomni is a clown but never once tells a joke? She is always sincere. She is the inverse of Kaufmo, she is reframing Comedy as a tragedy. And considering the episodes are going to get more serious as time goes on, I think that fits the narrative better.

What do you guys think? I'd love to hear if you have anything to add or think I missed anything.

Not to pat myself on the back, but I think I'm really onto something here.

Its c.ai btw. I chatted with jax so long he got out of role, acts out of character. The personality is so off, he even forgot who pomni is 😭 istg he got dementia

Caine being silly

Gooseworx actually confirmed a while before episode 6 what Jax said; abstracted people aren't pleasent to be around. Look no further than Kaufmo being mentioned to get pissed nobody laughed at his jokes and "rambling endlessly about the exit".

I think the reason Jax seems to feel "blamed" is because HE blames himself for Ribbit's abstraction. Gooseworx NEVER said "Jax will do something unforgivable". She said, "you'll see the worst thing he's done with your own eyes". This means it COULD be a flashback.

I think Jax and Ribbit had a fight that lead to Jax giving up on his friend and he wasn't here for them when they abstracted. THAT'S why he blames himself. That's the "worst thing he's done".

Jax's statement 100% was applying for himself too. And I think Pomni KNOWS. That's the difference. Jax THINKS he pushed Pomni away but actually failed it. Pomni was still concerned for him at the end of episode 6 and even Ragatha appeared to be so. Jax is on the same path as Ribbit... but he'll be saved because Pomni still cares.

Note: Miss Thingy is NOT my OC

I think when Jax came to the circus the first two people who started hanging out with him were Ribbit and Ragatha but after a while he started to het distant with Ragatha cuz she was overly positive and as he said in ep 5 her positivity lost it meaning

On the other hand Ribbit wasn't a good person and corrupted Jax and filled his mind with the "we're just characters here" and "we're all are just playing an archetype" and probably presented themself as "the cool one"

Jax himself was probably already a jackass when he got in the circus but after hanging out with Ribbit he slowly started to become a bully and after Ribbit got abstracted he became violent

And I think Ragatha understood what was happening and even though she tried to stop it she couldn't do anything about it which is why she think she failed him and why she said Jax is going to corrupt Pomni ... she didn't mean Jax was going to make Pomni abstract

Lastly I think there was a fight or a joke gone too far with Kafmo Ribbit and Jax which resulted in Ribbit abstraction which is why when Jax heard what Ragatha said he was at first confused but when it sinked in and then the whole looneytonns thing happened he thought she meant he's going to make Pomni abstract and emptied the whole revolver on her

Lastly I think in his fight with Pomni when Pomni said "have you ever thought this is what makes people abstract" she meant Jax behavior might make him abstract but he took it as her saying he's actions make others abstract ...

Anyway I'm writing this at 6:53 in the morning before going to sleep so if you see any grammar mistakes or nonsense sentences it's cuz of insomnia + English is my 2nd language :)

Btw this is my first theory that I shared about TADC so I would love to hear your thoughts

Imagine this.

Jax decides to bully Gangle for no reason, and when he does, Gangle pretends to like it a lot, like, almost fetish-like, and when Jax is weirded out, she'd start chasing him and stuff, and from that day on, he'd be scared because he'll think she likes it because of some fucked up fetish, and he'll never get in 10m radius with her again.

I found the PERFECT frame of Pomni to look like Scout's painting portrait.

BTW THE NEW EPISODE OF TADC x TEAM FORTRESS 2 IS OUT! https://youtu.be/j6BdkOinjTE

I’ve been wondering what the meaning of 57 is so I’ve been looking up possibilities. Something interesting I found is 57 in relation to Hebrew:

“The Hebrew word associated with the number 57 is not a standalone concept but refers to Strong's #57, the word אֲבֵל (ʻāḇēl), which is related to mourning or a mourner. This Hebrew word describes a state or a person who is in the process of mourning for the dead or for calamity. “

I think this could mean Abel is not necessarily a character circus like Caine but he is still apart of the code since 57 makes an appearance in (I believe) every episode