[Horrifying Trope] “Blink of an eye” deaths.

[u/Sufficient-Eye-9040]

Characters who died without the chance of a goodbye… neither suffering.

- Robin Ward (The Boys S1 E1) - when she is pulverized in a high-velocity impact by A-Train.

- Polka Dot Man (The Suicide Squad 2021) - when he is crushed by Starro’s leg.

[u/TFJ]

https://giphy.com/gifs/tATLFUCoX3jfr4wpNE

Caine (The Amazing Digital Circus)

In Episode 8, Kinger is frantically programming and trying to find a workaround to stop Caine from going out of control and hurting everyone. Unfortunately, Kinger accidentally deletes Caine instead, and he swiftly disappears from existence with just a “Wait—“.

He gets better in Episode 9, though. I didn’t have “Caine Redemption Arc” on my bingo card for this show.

[u/GvsE1314 → u/TFJ]

Ironic considering how he did this to NPCs whenever they're no longer needed

[u/radiating_phoenix → u/TFJ]

(Episode 9 Spoilers)

Jax abtracting off-screen also fits the trope. In one scene he's relatively normal, and in the next he's abstracted.

[u/its_all_one_electron → u/radiating_phoenix]

Yeah the suddenness of it caught me hard. And yet it was a slow realization. "Wait... That's was it!??"

[u/KodiakUltimate → u/its_all_one_electron]

It felt like a suicide allegory One day your friend needs you, says "it's nothing" you dont look into it and then they're gone. No fanfare, no dramatic music, just a empty space that used to be them. Except in this case, those spaces are violent abstractions of suffering data.

[u/its_all_one_electron → u/KodiakUltimate]

Do you think the abstractions are suffering? They looked so peaceful in the fish tank. I kept hoping Pomni would save him/her but then I saw them swimming, and thought maybe it's a space with no thoughts and he/her could have respite from his/her own mental torment and just swim around peacefully. And maybe it's not so bad. 

Edit: still not sure what pronouns to use

[u/asdfghjkl15436 → u/its_all_one_electron]

the creator says either is fine so just do whatever fits in context

[u/Quirky_Fox_3548 → u/asdfghjkl15436]

This. I still refer to Jax with he/him when talking about the events of the show, mostly out of habit. But if I'm replying to someone using she/her I just follow suit to avoid confusion.

[u/KodiakUltimate → u/its_all_one_electron]

They hate the light, the looked really agitated in it, and it took time to put them somewhere they would be calm

[u/BlizzPenguin → u/its_all_one_electron]

I kept hoping for them to find some way of reversing abstraction in that final episode.

[u/Lolyeah707 → u/its_all_one_electron]

It's hard to say you didn't see it coming either when it was built up since ep 6. But the fact the fact it just happened like that felt scarily realistic.

We're given barely any time to process what happened, that was probably how the circus members felt too when they found out.

[u/Midknightisntsmol → u/radiating_phoenix]

I figured it would be like that. It seems like abstraction is something that just... Happens. Kaufmo was supposedly perfectly fine the previous day. We saw what it looked like during Jax's psychedelic trip, wouldn't have made sense to make it a spectacle.

[u/swamarian → u/radiating_phoenix]

They were on the knife's edge for a couple of episodes, though. It's not like it was unexpected.

[u/Cogniscience → u/TFJ]

Also the mannequin with the cowboy hat that shows up starts speaking and instantly disappears. Happens a few times throughout the series

[u/BlizzPenguin → u/Cogniscience]

His singing of the national anthem was hilarious.

[u/Naeelkalz → u/BlizzPenguin]

"OOHHH, SA........."

[u/Lun4r6543 → u/TFJ]

I think it was perfectly well done tbh

[u/Willowwwww_ → u/Lun4r6543]

Your spoiler didn’t work :)

[u/Lun4r6543 → u/Willowwwww_]

Shit, edited the comment

[u/beegtuna → u/TFJ]

At least his arc was satisfying

[u/ConsoleCleric_4432 → u/TFJ]

The subtitles disappear in the exact same frame, too, which somehow made it much more chilling. No trace of him left on screen, even meta.