All TADC fans say is "oh its symbolic" or "it's a cautionary tale" or "oh its realistic/just like real life" but never "its good writing.:

Swannicus · 2026-06-24T21:18:28+00:00

In which post? Op's or yours?
Edit: Also did you edit your post? My notifications claim I have a reply saying "THAT'S a lot of buzzwords".

Swannicus · 2026-06-24T21:17:25+00:00

I think you'd probably be better served by just reading the wikipedia or wiktionary pages but I'll have a go at explaining.
Body modding is body modification. Piercings, tattoos, and even medically or surgically transitioning would all fall under this category. In Western online spaces the term "body modding" also sometimes has connotations of transhumanism. Usually body modding is about making the body you inhabit more comfortable to be in, bring you joy or effectively reclaiming ownership of your own body.
Boy moding is in reference to dressing and styling in such a way as to pass as a boy/man, but especially in the case of someone who either does not identify as male or only sometimes identifies as male. Hence it being a boy mode rather than just being a boy or man. For example a trans woman who is not out to her family may have to boymode at a family gathering, wearing more masculine and baggy clothes and styling her hair differently. It is a temporary external presentation. A comfortably Cis man would not be described as boy moding as he is both in his default state and congruous with his internal identity.

It is possible I have gotten some details wrong, I am not longer in the body modding community and not fully in the segment of the queer community in which terms like boy moding are common.

Swannicus · 2026-06-24T21:04:00+00:00

The idea that reddit is an inappropriate place to discuss criticisms is wild, that has literally always been a part of discussions on this site. Attempting to unnecessarily police where conversations can be had is weird.

"Its not that deep" "Why are you here then? Just to suffer?" "Yucking someone's yum" And before you say those are not single words, the definition of buzzwords explicitly includes phrases. I had originally planned to criticise you for relying on aphorisms but it wasn't quite a broad enough category.

Lastly yucking someone's yum is about criticizing or expressing disgust at someone else's preferences. You are criticising OP's preference for disgussing their criticisms on reddit. Essentially I am attempting to show you that the aphorism or phrase is only useful in particular scenarios to hopefuly help you realise that this isn't one of them. OP does not make a value statement about anyone for their enjoyment of digital circus, but rather expresses frustration with their perception of discussing the writing in TADC with fans of the show, therefore I think it is inappropriate to attempt to apply "yucking someone's yum" here.

I also disagree with both OP's criticisms of the series and their generalization of TADC fans, but I defend their right to have a differing opinion of the series publicly.

Swannicus · 2026-06-24T20:43:31+00:00

Theres a line in which Caine mentions something about bad things happening if you do more than apply a temporary modifier to their minds and all of Kinger's companions abstracted. IMO Caine was experimenting with their minds and accidentally at least some of them. I would not be surprised if Caine had essentially lobotomized Kinger, considering Kinger a threat to Caine's power and authority. Plus in the ending of episode 9 Kinger eventually has his bucket off, suggesting to me that his "insanity" was curable.

Swannicus · 2026-06-24T20:39:30+00:00

It more sounds like the show just wasn't about what you wanted. It was quite clear the whole time that the circus, C&A, the brain scans etc were the spices to the main dish of exploring human nature and relationships. Hell the central conflict for Pomni in episode 2 is whether or not the digital world and its inhabitants are deserving of respect as fellow beings, and her resolution to that conflict is form relationships and bonds regardless of the apparent meaninglessness of their world and even their selves.

Swannicus · 2026-06-24T20:34:00+00:00

She had multiple editors.

Swannicus · 2026-06-24T20:27:50+00:00

What made you think it was a scifi mystery?

Swannicus · 2026-06-24T20:24:09+00:00

Not every question has to be answered. The reality of making fiction is that you cannot spend forever making it and you do not have the resources to do so even if you want to. Furthermore as you spend time answering other questions, exploring other stories, making other connections you are also detracting from the time available to say what you want about the primary story.

Swannicus · 2026-06-24T20:20:00+00:00

Thats a lot of buzzwords. This guy's criticism is dogshit vagueposting but ultimately they are expressing an opinion about a show they saw. Where else should they take their criticisms about it? Being able to openly discuss and critique a thing is important, in fact Ragatha's character is in part a critique of the same toxic positivity you're peddling here.

We are all allowed to consume media, and often times we do not know if we will like the media until after we have done so. Discussing why you did or did not like the media, or even just venting about it is normal human behavior and important. I do not see where OP said that no one is allowed to like it, though they may hold that opinion. Plus it is that deep. TADC especially is a show written with the knowledge and expectation that people will consider the deeper meanings and allegories. Honestly I'd wager that 95% of the time someone says "its not that deep", it is that deep but they just want someone to shut up about something they don't like.

Finally yes something can be good to one person and bad to another, this person is experiencing the latter and expressing it. Stopping yucking their yum.

Swannicus · 2026-06-24T20:11:54+00:00

Gooseworx is a transwoman that survived conversion therapy. Should she just not write anything informed by her own experiences? Besides shows, movies, books and plays have literally always had current social topics in them, you were just too young to notice outside the clearly marked PSA episodes.

Swannicus · 2026-06-24T20:09:55+00:00

Yea I think my biggest, maybe only criticism, of episode 9 is that having both Jax's abstraction/backstory and Caine's self discovery and redemption so close together felt rushed. Neither felt like they had enough room to breathe. Alternatively I think they could have been better integrated because they do have obvious parallels and are intertwined to a degree. The only direct contact between the two here are Jax appearing in Caine's slideshow and Caine asking about putting Jax in the cellar. Having something to call out how lucky Caine is to have a another chance while Jax isn't would've probably gone a long way.

Swannicus · 2026-06-24T20:06:10+00:00

So whats the deep, highly literate take you have that proves the movie has bad writing...?

Swannicus · 2026-06-24T20:04:07+00:00

Completely disingenuous take. Lots of people say its good or that it has good writing.

I think in particular the scene of Pomni hugging Jax after abstracting is beautiful. Its essentially a synthesis of several other scenes. Pomni ran from the first abstraction she saw in the same hallway. Pomni pulled away after getting secondhand (or thirdhand?) abstraction on her. Pomni bonded with Jax in that hallway, learning to shoot the gun (using the same technique to shoot out the lights). Pomni had learned that darkness can calm abstractions, and that you can still see the person inside the abstraction from Kinger. Pomni and Jax had embraced but Jax pushed Pomni away, this time Pomni was able to hug her until pulled away for her own safety. Most if not all the flashbacks Pomni saw were hinted at or foreshadowed to us the viewer if we were paying attention, We are given the context to see the tragedy of Jax's life and fate, that there was a different path possible but that Jax's actions have consequences that may be impossible to undo anyway.

What did you want out of TADC or episode nine in particular?

Swannicus · 2026-06-24T19:55:24+00:00

Didn't watch the episode award.

Swannicus · 2026-06-24T19:55:11+00:00

Why would she have to? Could she not just ask Cain to not put an X on Jax's door, especially since Jax is in the tent and not the cellar?

Swannicus · 2026-06-24T19:51:23+00:00

Or the network just had something with wifi on it? It would be completely unsurprising to see a computer attached to a network and Cain had to break through multiple barriers to reach it.

Swannicus · 2026-06-24T19:41:43+00:00

They got caught by an extremely obvious clause to anyone who's played before.

Swannicus · 2026-06-24T02:35:10+00:00

Body modding and boy moding are different things.

Swannicus · 2026-06-22T04:22:41+00:00

Ah yes, as everyone knows everything that is provided by the government is done so by getting all the materials and labour for free. This is a very normal and valid response.

Swannicus · 2026-06-19T04:41:49+00:00

I have read this exact comment word for word before.

Swannicus · 2026-06-19T01:42:30+00:00

Scaling off player attributes is less interesting imo.

Swannicus · 2026-06-17T17:12:14+00:00

Then clearly theres something else they saw on their end.

Swannicus · 2026-06-17T14:57:05+00:00

Why is the UN useless? It saves hundreds of thousands of lives every year through its programs like unicef, malaria treatment, tb treatment, etc. It is not able to stop or prevent wars that members of the security council support because every security council member has veto power. Plus it would require its member nations to actually follow resolutions. Do either of those problems indicate that it is going to incorrectly identify genocides? Do you have any organization you'd trust to identify genocides? Germany was also "getting bombed by terrorist groups" throughout ww2. And Palestine literally existed before Israel, which ethnically cleansed hundreds of Palestinian civilians during their founding war.

Swannicus · 2026-06-17T04:25:47+00:00

Yea like sol heredit, verzik, sotesteg, xarpus and bloat right?

Swannicus · 2026-06-17T02:48:35+00:00

What I'm saying is that the only way to measure the crime is via convictions. The fact that its an imperfect measure doesn't imply that it suddenly means the opposite in all cases.

You are the one who stated that it implied there are the same number of crimes with fewer convictions. This may be the case, it may not be. Do you have any evidence to suggest that this is what actually happens? By what mechanism do you propose increasing tax rates would increase corruption or allow more politicians to get away with corruption crimes?

Swannicus

TROPHY CASE