Pokémon
@daylight james is super queer i love him
Pokémon
@poss_bot @daylight aaa James is a real talk important character. i was 16 and it was the 90s and homomisia was rampant, it was bad high school times. James was a villain, sure, but also represented what i saw at the time as Good Masculinity.
i had like two friends total, one AMAB fren was tbh Proto-Queer As Heck, and we were both deeply afraid of exposing that, but there’s James. being amazing.
Pokémon
@poss_bot like i’m p sure 99% took James as a gay joke, the fey villain. and then there’s the One Where James Is A Girl. the forbidden episode. which naturally we obtained a copy of.
and it was... like memories are hazy but seeing James present femininely, without it being forced, embarrassing, or a gay joke? i think my fren might have said to me quietly, “i want to be able to do that with that confidence”
aaaaaaaaaaa ;~; my fragile teenage heart
Pokémon
@heytanuki thank you for this, I’m really happy hearing how important he was to you! I’m glad I’m not alone in just loving him as a character although i was a little younger and way less in tune with my own identity and didn’t think much of it at the time. Watching the show again, now, I’m definitely appreciating him in a way i didn’t think about very consciously then but that I’m sure made an impact.
Pokémon, death mention, early queerfeels
@poss_bot it was a little fun thing that suddenly got a lot more significant later. my fren passed away a couple years after high school and, knowing what I do now, it stings. I definitely can't just leave it at "James is gay" (tho in the fun, broad, shitposty sense, YES JAMES IS HECKA GAY)
the fact that it was a "kids' show" sidestepped lots of sexuality talk but like, if it were shown, James could clearly relate to women slightly more, like me =3
Pokémon, death mention, early queerfeels
@poss_bot and like, that kind of confusion of sexuality and gender feels always made me feel super alone. I couldn't reconcile the feelings, even when I knew I was bi. when I was a kid, all "effiminate men" were just gay. that's literally how it was explained to me by well-meaning cishet adults. but James was representation with *nuance*
heck
Pokémon, death mention, early queerfeels
@poss_bot trying to go a bunch of toots without gendering James: aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa