The good ending! I admit as a cis guy I’ve struggled about how to approach Jax’s pronouns. I’ve heard mixed things about using a trans person’s correct pronouns if they aren’t out yet - and Jax never got the chance to open up about that. But if Goose refers to Jax as she, that works for me!

You're great at making things subtle, people are just transphobic as hell

Exactly.

I kinda of assumed both worked since circus jax never got to go on that journey while leeroy will eventually

Leeroy frequenting Riley’s queer-friendly bar gives me hope that maybe he’ll talk to them and eventually express his/her true self. I honestly thought that bit was a bigger hint than the Ribbit ribbon scene. It was then when I really thought about it being canon.

Yeah; me as well. I ofc read into it under the context of my own life, but sometimes I view Jax and Riley as opposite sides of that constant struggle between knowing if I’m really a girl inside, or just guilting myself over being bad at being a man, yk? Needless to say that episode made me cry

I'm genderfluid and relate to Jax heavily, so even though I didn't cry, still same. It made me emotional and I like that interpretation is being left open like this.

The people still not getting it at this point are probably the same people who watched I Saw the TV Glow and went “I don’t think there’s any trans subtext here, it’s about growing up!” Media literacy, we hardly knew ye…

I literally never clocked jax as trans the entire story or after the movie. I clocked them as a violently insecure, closeted queer person of some kind but not specifically trans. and i say this as a trans person as well. i feel like throwing around comments about "media literacy" is kind of silly.

did you miss the part where they play a cover of "isn't she lovely" over a montage of exclusively shots with jax

they're mostly shots of jax WITH pomni specifically which some could possibly interpret as some kind of "funnybunny AMV.wmv" (if they decide to completely ignore what the song lyrics are)

yea.. the specific lyrics make it more likely that it's about jax, not Pomni. The song is about Stevie wonder's love for his newborn daughter. Perhaps in that moment Jax realized her wrongdoings idk

Gonna be honest, that was my first time hearing the song.

i haven't heard it much before, but i enjoyed learning more about it and how it came to be. also this

Mind if I ask, do you think "gender fluid" would be a valid interpretation of Jax? Or is Jax firmly a trans woman, in your mind?

Non-bunnary, obviously.

Profoundly underrated comment

Death of the Author be like

(In case it needs to be said I’m absolutely here for she/her Jax even if I think it’s more complex than that)

Yeah it did kind of feel like the Ribbit scene was you hitting me in the face with a pipe with “Jax is Trans” written on it, not to mention the choice to use “isn’t she lovely” cementing that so much further

*Hits u with a pipe* jax is trans *Hits u with a pipe* sorrgy jaxccident.. *Hits u with a pipe* *Hits u with a pipe* *Hits u with a pipe* *Hits u with a pipe* Why r u crying ...

I’m not crying because of the pipe, I’m not crying because the Trans reveal. I’m crying because, you KNOW why I’m crying

Gender is a fuckshit as we all know so I think the vague and subtle approach was the correct one

every journey is messy and blurry and thats okay

So basically Jax is whatever you want him to be?

Pretty much yep !

No, it really isn’t, Jax is transfem one way or the other

her identity she unfortunately didn't get to live out is more important than pronouns, and i think you've made that abundantly clear to anyone with braincells, especially with this art. tysm for bringing such a tragic beautiful personal character to the world 💜

ppl are already misusing this

Goose you gave us a glimpse of your own demons with Jax I feel like respecting her pronouns is the absolute least we could do to show respect for what you did with this series

Goose let's be real here you can't be subtle about being trans. Like everyone in this community (myself included) knew she was trans right from the jump. But either way it's amazing that you went through with it cause the ending is all the better for it

I’ve been using he/him because Jax never had a chance to come out, and thus never changes pronouns- so like, I’m a trans Jax truther but thats my pronoun reasoning. Idk if thats a valid reason though if you think she/her is your intent as the creator! If you can clarify I would be so grateful 🙏

I feel the same. For a lot of trans people, staying in the closet is safer, so matching pronouns just cause more discomfort! It's a perfectly valid reason since Jax is fictional and the creator left it to fans! (I'm trans and have experienced that gender discomfort first hand.)

Yup! And not only that, but sometimes people just don’t vibe with certain pronouns at different stages in their transition. For example, I’m nonbinary and on HRT, but I don’t like being called they/them despite that being the “standard” nb pronouns.

And not exactly pronouns, but I have a close friend who is a binary trans woman but she likes her birth name a lot and so her name is Jacob. She doesnt want to change it! Theres so many different ways to be trans, I can imagine theres trans women out there who prefer he/him

Regardless, I’ll use whatever pronouns gooseworx prefers for Jax. He’s her creation, after all. Goose knows best what pronouns Jax uses 💪

I concur, thank you goose for appeasing both sides

It was subtle as an airhorn but honestly kind of necessary imo. It’s refreshing. Messy & explicit queer stories are few & far between. 1- Are you cool with the/them pronouns for Jax? 2- Is there anything/anyone that could have actually gotten through or was she lowkey doomed from herself

Idk maybe the airhorn wasn't loud enough because there are trans jax deniers who, even after seeing Goose's drawing, deny it as evidence because of "well this is clearly a shitpost as Jax's dialogue is a joke and not serious" or "well that's not jax as we see them in the show so..."

Does she have a new name or is Jax still hers ?

i mean my friend goes by a name similar to jax and shes trans so...

Before this artwork, I viewed it as somewhat up to interpretation but heavily implied to be trans or some flavor of queer but it is nice to see confirmation that like... yea- she's trans. Leeroy may not be there yet but probably will soon, now that his life is more stable but thats just my read

You were actually very blunt, it’s not your fault people are stupid

I actually think the vagueness was a very interesting approach, it makes sense that it wouldn't be clear cut with how complicated her backstory was, the ending being essentially "she is still figuring it out" is hopeful. But having confirmation is nice too.

Hii goose ily your writing is insanely good ❤️‍🩹

It was so subtle and vague that I missed it. I had a different interpretation but that's just me. I like the story you had to tell, genuinely. I'm sad Jax only realized how far he had fallen and how much others (Pomni) had hope for him after he had ruined his chances for change.

you know people are gonna use this to be transphobic and invalidate her identity right

I personally loved the decision of showing not telling, it wasn't subtle, but it was a very beautiful way to show Jax with the bow and the tragedy that follows with her pushing Ribbit away. Very 10 out of good

Unfortunately if the bow was like a subtle way of saying it, a decidcated Jax montage to a rendition of "Isn't She Lovely?" is a shotgun blast ;w; I am sorry but that made me burst out laughing with how on the nose it was meant to be

same tbh

I sincerely don’t know what people thought the bow and the issues with her father and all that meant if not “trans”

I took it as a rough experience with toxic masculinity. Jax's dad made him feel lesser as a man. Then Ribbit giving him her bow is her giving him something that's part of her as another way to tell Jax he can tust her. And Jax is embarrassed because he fears being seen. That was my reading.

So the different interpretations we have of him are all valid, right? For example, I see him as straight, since he has never come out of the closet. What do you think?

Well I mean in this regard you're the boss. I think you're the closest to actually being in Jax's head. Which is really weird, how do you fit in there?

I enjoyed how artfully subtle you were about it, it's just that a lot of this goddamned fandom (and the internet as a whole) can't seem to be trusted with anything other than black-and-white topics.

I appreciate the vagueness and the freewill to call Jax either one. I will personally still use he/him and draw him as such; but will still respect those who want to do otherwise. In the end, Jax is a fictional character that a multitude of people can relate to, viewing everything in different sense

I actually appreciated how ambiguous it was presented, I personally interpeeted it as jax still hiding it from others even as she was opening up. Despite relenting and letting someone in she just couldn't bring herself to open THAT up again.

Nono you did really well just a lot of TADC fans are illiterate

I think most people got it! You guys did a really good job with this last episode

WE LOVE YOU GOOSE

So... technically, Jax TransBoy/TransMasc can still exist without problems?

You could still use it as a genderbent I think. It's not like an individual's au/alternative reading dismisses the full canon

It certainly was subtle in my personal opinion. Then again, my autistic ass requires foghorn levels of messaging, so I'm probably not a good barometer.

That sucks. It would've been nice to have solid trans rep involved with such a large project, but I guess we still get regulated to being vague and dismissable.

Does Glitch have the same restrictions to apprase foreign markets? I always thought they wouldn't. Implications and metaphors were sadly the only way writers were able to put queer themes in their projects for ages but was that done here by necessity or by choice?

Stupid question but I'm curious why the vagueness?

My guess is to decrease harassment in the community by having it be publicly ambiguous. People are allowed to relate to the character however they see fit, taking legs away from fandom keepers. It allows more people to find comfort in Jax guilt free!!

Looking at enough comments and I honestly felt like I'm not allowed to relate so thanks for this comment.

I'm glad I was able to help. 💕 Comfort characters are so important for so many people and it hurts seeing them get put down for loving a character in a different way. Keep relating! It's good for your brain. 🫠

It helps expand empathy and you're never too old to learn how to be more kind. I'm glad people are getting a rep they want and need and I'm glad I can relate to that and experience just a small part of it! You're the best, thank you ❤️‍🩹

I think one of the most impressive things about the finale for me is how good it was at show don't tell. That being said I think it's kinda good for a theme such as that to stick out more lol. I loved the show so much, I only just watched the series at the end of May but it all means so much to me ❤️

I think we should debate whether Jax is AGP or HSTS to truly settle on pronouns. We can't be giving the unethical transsexuals she/her now, can we? /s

So does that mean that their case is sort of to interpretation (not cis OFC) and we can see Jax as genderfluid in this case ?

No, Jax is a still a girl, lol

That's not what I am reading

Jax is a trans woman but because of her closeted status in the show and not wanting to spoil people on the series it’s okay to use she or he. I’m glad I could help!!

She literally said, it was mean to be vague. They don't make vague thing for shit and giggle. They're canonically not cis thanks god, but it seems like their case is for us to interpret it how we want. Well at least that's how im reading this :)

Her status as a trans woman was meant to be subtle, yes! But people clocked it pretty early. But yes, Jax is a girl! :)

Mean to be subtle for obvious reasons. I think queer people can interpret their case how they want since it was meant to be subtle and we can use any pronouns. unlike Zooble who's confirmed non binary in a very explicit way. So everyone can find themselves in Jax which i think is a great

No, I mean Jax is literally confirmed to be a trans woman. Amanda Hufford confirmed during the QNA a few days ago that Jax is a direct stand-in for Gooseworx’s life and experiences, and Gooseworx is a trans woman. I think it’s great that you can relate, but Jax is still a woman!

I know, i love Amanda. But it likely explicitly said by the creator herself here that she made them subtle in purpose. Which mostly mean any interpretation is canon (except denier c*s str*ight) Otherwise she will explicitly say it, Goose made a great job anyway specially on pride month

oh i see, you’re a new account here to start arguments

Well, hopefully this means the fandom can at least chill out with the infighting on the subject.

Sooo is Jax's pronouns she/he now?

So are you saying it’s up to the viewer if Jax is trans?

i think ( he) is not a trans.. im not transphobic.. thats just i saw in the show! I see as a male in the show! He also said he hates women, so he's not trans.

Nooo goose people are using this as an excuse to say she isn’t trans noooooooo

My main question is why keep it vague? It was like, if you know about common trans experiences and/or go into the episode expecting Jax to be trans, then you'll have no problem finding the clues. But if not then I can totally see this going over people's heads. There were several scenes where...

...a more direct confirmation in the episode itself would've been possible without disrupting or changing the story. It's the vagueness that started a very predictable discourse online that would then require outside confirmation like this to settle. What was the reason behind the subtlety?

To allow more people to relate to the character, foster creativity, and increase the reach of the message. There's a lot of identities that can fit like genderfluid and demi-girl. Just picking the most popular one and forcing it to stick does a disservice to the character.

I guess I could see that but I could also see the opposite being true, where it being implied feels like it's serving nobody in particular. I guess it depends on the person. But what I've seen as the outcome from this choice is that people are fighting about wether or not Jax is even trans.

People fight anyway. The comments under this show a majority people glad about the subtly as well as some people with lesser known identities feeling better about relating to him! A lot of people already got harassed for picking other identities for Jax like genderfluid. This gave them comfort.

I can't speak out of personal experiences on these things and I am glad for every person who found comfort in this regardless of their identities. The TADC fandom at large isn't particularly known to handle subtlety very well as you're probably aware. So maybe that was a factor in me being worried.

It's a valid concern! The Internet is a cesspool unfortunately. 🥹

She/he Jax is kinda a vibe I'll be real

fwiw I saw it, but didn’t feel 100% certain how much was projection (I’m trans) until I thought about the last episode a good bit if not for the bow scene, I don’t think I would have been 100% certain what Jax’s gender was so much as that she was trans

so if you ask me, it was conveyed both clearly and without being artlessly blunt

thank you!! people are getting angry at me for referring to Jax as a ”he“ online, because they say I’m misgendering her… I love the idea of a transfem Jax, but we also never used she/her pronouns for him in the show, so I figured it was just implied and not completely canon

it did come off as "either interpretation is valid" to me. don't personally think it's a big deal given who you are irl as one of the biggest cartoon creators globally at the moment that tons of young people look up to including trans people

Honestly I think it was subtle enough people open to it could talk and piece it together pretty reasonably. But a show this popular you also get a lot of media illiteracy if it isn't told in the most bluntforce way. I wasn't 100% what, but felt strongly it was a coming out+rough parent situation.

yeah that is what I was thinking, the whole allegory was up for viewer interpretation.

Ykw this means Thomas still a little gay

But you're really good at making things

No offense, but if your trans character is not made clear to the viewer, despite all the clues and "obvious" giveaways, it will give anyone the excuse to pretend it is not there, along with you doubling down and allowing it to be "up to intepretation" defeats the entire point. This hurts as a queer.

Thank you so much for speaking on this! I've been kind of appalled at some people's behavior over this. For the record I absolutely think it was successfully subtle and vague, and well done at being so.

I didn't clock it as trans subtext until after reading about it and realizing how valid an interpretation it was. Seeing many people be toxic about it was very off-putting though, saying if others didn't consider it 100% canon based off what we got than they were media illiterate or transphobic.

Obviously now it's clear it's intended to be canon, but you successfully threaded the needle in a way that even if someone didn't interpret Jax as being trans, Jax's narrative still makes complete sense. You made Jax's characterization both universal and super specific.

I personally don't feel comfortable using she/her pronouns with Jax yet because Jax didn't yet get to that place of self-acceptance, paired with how vague and subtle you made it out to be in the show. I also think it's completely fine for people to use she/her, because it's well-founded.

All this to say, I think this post of yours does a lot to (hopefully) quell some of the more toxic behavior in the fandom discourse about this, and at the very lease makes me feel less stressed about engaging with the fandom lol. So thank you again, and thank you for making such a tremendous show!

Well it went WAAAY over my head so you were probably either subtle enough or too sublte :V

we live at the worst point of the worst possible timeline to be vague about a fictional character that IS meant to be trans.

There's so many trans identities that there's no reason to specifically say "trans woman". People of a variety of genders find comfort in Jax and I personally think it's better to allow people to project themselves onto the character without putting them at higher risk of harassment.

she/he jax truthers PARTY @ MY PLACE

Thank you for adding this. I didn't know what the pronouns should be after seeing the finale early so I didn't want to say the wrong pronouns. having some answer to what they are helps a lot.

Right lol I saw people on Twitter saying if Jax is trans why didn't you just out right say he was trans in the show

Is this about Jax's pronouns when still in the closet or after coming out? Becuase in context I understood this as still in the closet, but I want to be sure

I think the level of argument proves you are phenomenal at making things subtle and vague. Don’t doubt your mind goose

So personal interpretation would be okay for fans in this case?

What Goose means is that the pronoun choice is yours, but Jax is trans.

Ah.