a dyke to watch out for

First of all I’m incredibly flattered to be asked this!! I love GX so so much and I’m guessing you found me through my Ike post which is also flattering. :)

There was a user I used to follow a couple years ago that had really good posts on this, but I tried to find her via old posts and it seems she’s deactivated. (yuzuhiragay if ur out there…) I don’t have the time or the memory (my last GX rewatch was years ago) to go through specific episodes and look for screencaps like she did, so here’s what I remember from her posts and my own interpretations!

- One thing that stands out is Jaden/Judai’s (I’m gonna call him Jaden bc I grew up on the dub) lack of interest in women. Even when Syrus and Hassleberry are fawning over cute duel monsters or irl women, Jaden seems largely uninterested in any of it (see: the Blair duel, for example). Same with Alexis, she seems to definitely have a crush on him, but Jaden remains oblivious to the point of outright ignoring the fact.

- You could argue that this is the shounen protagonist eschewing romance in favor of “his dream” (ala Luffy from One Piece), but it’s still notable, especially since other boys in the show DO show obvious interest in girls, and there was a very easy choice to pair Jaden up with romantically (Alexis)

- This argument also falls apart bc aside from a disinterest in women, Jaden also seems to have an interest in men. This is made pretty blatant by his interactions with Jesse/Johan, to the point where when I was a closeted 14 year old watching this show, I went on long tangents as to “why didn’t they just make Jesse a woman?!” and how much more sense the show would have made if Jesse had been a woman. I’m not even saying this from a spiritshipping point of view, since I’m largely neutral towards the ship itself. The hugging each other, the sacrifices Jaden made for him, even down to Jesse’s effeminate clothing and voice in the Japanese version.

- Speaking of Jesse/season 3, I think probably the biggest argument for Jaden being gay/queer is Yubel themselves. Again, it would have made exactly as much narrative sense for Yubel to be wholly female–the narrative would’ve played out the same, as it did in the 4kids version. However, why did 4kids censor/change this? They purposefully drew Yubel a second breast and gave her the same voice as Alexis, to give the impression that she was a woman. However, in the Japanese version, they are bigender/intersex/whichever and in the past life with Jaden, they are explicitly a boy. A boy who became a genderfluid monster who is still in love with Jaden, and who Jaden eventually accepts as a part of himself. Hmm. And this is all apart from the fact that Yubel purposefully chose Jesse to possess–so even if you say “well, it’s not Jesse confessing his love, it’s Yubel!” the writers (and Yubel themselves) chose Jesse’s body for a reason.

- But enough about season 3…I really appreciate that you mentioned Aster in this message too because that’s one of my favorite ships (and my fiancee’s all-time fave for GX)! With Aster I think upon first watching it’s easier to interpret it as “Oh, they’re just obsessed with each other because they’re both the chosen ones. And Aster’s jealous. They’re two sides of the same coin, both being played by Sartorius in different ways,” but equipped with all the other subtext (and text!) in GX regarding Jaden’s sexuality, I think it’s very easy to make the case that Jaden had a crush on him, and Aster fell for him eventually as well. Particularly how after Sartorius beats Aster, he collapses into Jaden’s arms and entrusts the fate of the world to him. Then Jaden goes on to be torn about weighing Aster against the keys (fate of the world), and which is more important to him. Then in season 3, we get Aster spying on Jaden from afar and Zane remarking that Aster had grown “soft” (after his encounters with Jaden). 

- One other thing that bears mentioning is weighing Jaden against other Yugioh protagonists. With Ike, something that stands out is that even if you say he’s the celibate hero, you have to consider that that is just not a trope Fire Emblem ever employs for its protagonists. Jaden’s predecessor, Yugi, had a crush on Tea/Anzu. His successor, Yusei, I think has a crush on one of those girls (am not well versed in 5Ds)? Yuma was also gay with his alien bf, and Yuya has a crush on Yuzu (and I don’t care about Vrains so idk). So if most of our heroes are not celibate, then why would Jaden be? Just bc his close relationships are with men? Maybe…there’s another reason.

Finally some non Danganronpa content!

Here is a recent piece I made of my girl Rena from Higurashi, one of my top favourite anime ever!! I wanted something cool and played around with light and glass shards.

as a more practical supplement to my earlier reflection on being the non-birth mama, i thought i’d share the things i did/do to feel more involved in the pregnancy and to bond with our baby from go. some tips are uniquely queer, while others i got from my male friends who often felt left out during their early days as papas. these won’t be right for everyone. 

without further adieu:

1. have an amazing partner with whom you communicate early & often sounds obvious, but this is everything. my wife knew before she got pregnant what i was nervous about (feeling left out). the world knew she was pregnant, so she in part became my advocate. she constantly talked about her wife (me) and that WE were expecting. be open. be honest. have each other’s backs.

2. be actively involved in choosing a sperm donor again - sounds obvious (this is your family!), but i’ve heard of non-birth partners being disengaged during the sperm selection process. this is where the journey went from a ‘one-day thing’ to an imagined reality. bonding starts with dreaming up your baby.

3. attend everything you can alongside the birth mama i went to every doctor’s appointment, blood draw, and ultrasound while my wife was pregnant. not everyone can do this, but it underscored a broader principal: i am an equal part of this. 

4. get loud and persistent about your role as an equal parent it was awkward, but it got easier. a lot of times, i felt in the way. i often felt like the medical world ignored me. some of it is understandable – my wife was the patient as the pregnant one. but often, i felt like if i had been “the dad,” i would have been addressed directly. it’s a shitty feeling. so get brave, even if it starts as a shaky whisper. 

5. find a role: spoil the birth mama sure, i wasn’t the one growing our son, but i made myself the one who cared for my wife. growing & birthing a baby is hard work! so it felt like a perfect fit to be my wife’s advocate at this time. i made it my mission to ensure she was well-cared for - lots of food, water, massages, and general TLC.

6. find LGBTQ-inclusive medical providers once my wife was pregnant, we prioritized finding a doctor who would be warm & welcoming of our family. it made all the difference in the world. they made notes in the file to include my name & that i was the other mama so that nurses would know to address me.

7. get in the trenches after birth it was tough when Dashiell was first born. breast feeding can be really challenging & there’s very little sleep happening. i changed every diaper when Dash came home until i went back to work. and while i wasn’t his food source, i carved out the role of putting Dash to sleep. i spent the first month of his life rocking him to sleep while reading aloud Joan Didion to the whole family. it was exhausting and romantic and one of the best times of my life. 

8. have the baby take your last name not for everyone, but this one was important to me (and my wife was happy to go along). but let me tell you, seeing my son’s birth certificate with my last name on it - my heart burst out of my chest.

9. control the narrative early and often and to anyone who will hear, i’ll tell people about my wife and our son. this is to try to hedge the stupid fucking questions from nosy strangers. you know the ones: “who’s the real mom?” “ what’d the donor look like?” these questions suck and they will happen. so have responses ready. “We are both the moms.” “That’s private.” “He’s ours.”

Maji Love Kingdom International Screneing Official Survey

As some of you may have already seen, Sentai has an official survey to determine where they will play the movie! Thank you so much to everyone who contacted them, I dont think this would have been possible without you all! The survey automatically lists American States, but there is also a section to this what country you live in, so it’s not America-only.

Please fill out the survey here and reblog to spread the word!

my fav smash boys have something in common

alternatively: