I'm very fruity

Just wanna know your opinion on this. Personally, I feel like it generalizes the people who dislike Jax as a character.

"isn't perfect" "pushes people away" "bullies someone" see how they still refuse to call her what she is? "you can't handle complex characters!" and they can't even call an abuser an abuser.

this has always been the argument of fans who don't want to take a moment to understand why their favorite blorbo is being criticised. it's not about moral complexity or flaws. it's about the framing and narrative.

there are plenty of morally grey, complex and flawed trans characters who are still well-written. i've already talked about Alice Dyer from TMAGP (highly recommend, for those who haven't heard of it!) and there's also Lake from Infinity Train, who's not canonically trans (likely due to restrictions) but is very heavily nb/trans-coded.

both these characters are flawed and complex but the difference is that their actions are not justified or glorified by the narrative. in any situation where they've hurt people, it's not played off as a joke.

there's also, of course, the matter of stereotypes too. surely Gooseworx, as a trans woman, should know about the false stereotypes and propaganda trans people, transfems especially, get saddled with. especially in this political climate, it is just extremely tone deaf to create a trans character who is openly an abuser who sexually harasses her victims i.e. cis women.

it's not that trans characters can't be flawed or portray any negative emotions. it's just about being wary of what you write. Jax almost feels like an offensive caricature of trans woman, and the fact that the finale doubled down on this by showing her having sexual fantasies of Gangle is just inexcusable.

it's the same with any stereotypes. it's fine to write flawed black characters, but making them the typical "aggressive black man" or "angry black woman" is questionable. it's okay to write asian characters who are soft-natured but if you veer too much into the "submissive asian" archetype, that's problematic.

but then I realised that same challenge would be infinitely more funny with folks who have atypical or horror OCs

Made this back in July and decided to post it.

"Jax wearing the maid outfit and getting embarrassed, but saying in her head she likes it in the promos"

I've already talked about my issues with the maid dress, but I'll repeat them: The fact that Glitch is profiting off of a trans character being deeply uncomfortable with wearing a sexualized, hyper-feminine maid dress out in public (that was only meant to humiliate them and be the creator's kink) to the point that it seemed like they were on their way to abstract is NOT a good thing. If Jax was just an average Joe with toxic masculinity, I still wouldn't like it, but Jax being a trans woman makes this whole thing even worse

Why would you do this to your transfem character? Jax is not only poorly written, but also treated poorly by both Glitch and Goose

Also, 1) Can't men like dresses and still be men? and 2) Aren't the promos non-canon? If they're somehow canon, why do we need to look outside the main show for clues/answers, not only on Twitter, Bluesky and Tumblr, but apparently in PROMOS TOO?!

"Bonus art of Jax saying she takes progesterone"

These doodles? That's artwork shown outside the show. It could have also been a callback to the fact Jax was apparently originally a cis girl, or just Goose messing with her OC. By the way, I hate how Gooseworx treats Jax like an extension of herself and a vessel for all her internal issues instead of treating him/her as their own character

"Jax confessing something to her mother that made her mother upset, after her mother kept comparing her with her dad"

Possible deep and personal things Jax could have said:

"Maybe I don't want to be a man at all!"

"I know you'll think I'm a sissy, but.. I'm gay, mom!"

"I don't want to be the kind of man that dad was! It was your fault he left in the first place!"

"I don't want to look like a typical manly man! I like dresses and makeup, mom!"

"Jax blushing when she gets the bow, and Ribbit saying Jax's secret is safe with her"

Say it with me, kids:

Bow ≠ girl!

Bow ≠ girl!

Bow ≠ girl!

We all hate stereotyping objects!

Also Ribbit apparently decided that they should just assume what that "deep and personal" thing was even about instead of, y'know, interrupt Jax and ask him to talk about it: "What... what was that deep, personal thing?" Jax would hesitate but reply: "...I told my mom I didn't want to be a man in the first place." It would have made more sense for Jax to then push her away, since from his perspective, Ribbit DID pry too hard to the point that he ended up revealing his biggest secret. As it stands in canon, the bow can symbolize Ribbit's friendship/acceptance/the fact that Jax is safe to let his guard down and be feminine and emotionally open in front of them. She won't tell anyone about his secret (divorced parents, bad deadbeat dad, emotionally inconsistent mom who Jax had possibly killed)

"Jax saying she's not "a chicken fetus in an egg waiting to be hatched" (this is transgender slang) + many mentions of eggs, including Jax’s peeled self looking like egg yolk"

The "chicken fetus in an egg" line again and eggs in general, huh. Yeah... I thought Goose used that specific wording not because Jax himself was trans, but because Goose thought to herself: "Yeah, I wanna showcase that Jax is more than a jerk and the funny guy, and I'll use a trans slang to convey that message, because why not? There's nothing wrong w/ me using a trans slang in a non-trans context" Not only that, but most people aren't familiar with "the egg" referring to closeted trans people or trans people in denial!

"Jax’s ears getting forcefully ripped off when he gets peeled referring to the first point)"

Can also symbolize his vulnerability being exposed and his "macho man" exterior revealing his feminine, "weak" side

"Jax always getting upset at mirrors and her appearance"

There are only 3 instances where Jax looks in the mirror: the first time, it's after a severe emotional breakdown. He says tiredly "God, you look stupid," and the problem here is that the most logical conclusion to come to is that Jax said this in a "I hate the way I look after a meltdown" way

The second time, he touches his cheek when looking in the mirror after he first enters the circus, paralleling Pomni

The scene reads as "Jax is tired, new to all of this and traumatized, and also it's a Jax/Pomni parallel because they're the main characters" more than "I wish I had spawned as a girl." If the show wanted to communicate dysphoria more clearly, why didn't they have Jax touch his chest, or even his eye, only to look back at Ribbit, notice that, unlike her, he doesn't have eyelashes, and look back into the mirror in disappointment. Have his face STAY heartbroken till the next scene instead of having it turn into a frown like in canon

The third time is right after Kaufmo's death (during yet another emotionally charged moment)

It reads to me as "You're gonna cry after fucking up yet again... all while looking like this stupid cartoon bunny? Just like you used to cry in the real world as a human? You're pathetic."

"Jax complaining that Zooble is upset over their ability to change her body"

The line above can imply how Jax's problem is that he, unlike Zooble, can't accept contradictory parts of himself. Either that, or he's jealous that Zooble managed to solve their main problem (gender dysmorphia), while he hasn't solved his own, whatever that may be

Him saying this could mean that Jax is perceptive and knows stuff about others and how to push their buttons (he did remember that Ragatha's only fear were centipedes, that Zooble wanted to leave their mark in the world, and that Ragatha had an abusive mother)/push them away. Or he wished that he had gotten a more masculine avatar due to fragile masculinity (in a transmasc Jax reading, it makes sense that he'd want to look less "girly" and weak than he was forced to look like)

"Jax having a locked-away section in her mind"

This doesn't point strictly towards him being transfem. That room could have hidden anything behind it: him being trans, him being gay, any one of his deepest fears, embarrassing interests, insecurities, bad memories etc. Again, this is a clue only if you're already looking at the show through a transfem Jax lens

"Having a room that looks like a little girl’s"

I've already mentioned my problems with equating femininity with womanhood, but also... this "proof" of Jax being transfem also works if we imagine him as transmasc (the room reflects his insecurity in regards to his birth sex) or a femboy (the room reflects his insecurity in regards to his femininity). It can also simply mean that he hides his vulnerability and kindness behind cruelty, nihilism and jokes

"She has the colors of the trans or transfem flag in her eyes when she almost abstracts. She also has those colors in her room"

Whyyyyy do we have to pauseeee and search for this stufffff.

My thoughts on the flag thing (again): Blink and you'll miss it moment. When I first watched Episode 7, I didn't even notice the trans flag colors in Jax's eyes, and when I eventually did, I just assumed it was an Easter Egg that Gooseworx put in there because she's trans

My thoughts on the colors in Jax's room thing: You mean the rug and the floor? Again, it feels like you'll only notice the pink, white and blue colors if you're consciously looking for transfem Jax clues, and even then, I've never seen this point brought up before. It wasn't like most viewers were focused on the fact that Jax had almost abstracted, instead on the color schemes in his dimly lit room. Could also be another Easter Egg from Goose

"One of Jax's internal personas always wearing the maid outfit "as a joke" (trans people use this excuse when repressing often)"

Why does the casual viewer or a child need prior knowledge about how trans people act when repressing. The scene can also imply Jax doesn't want anyone to know that he enjoys feminine clothing (while still feeling like a man). And him wearing the maid dress during Zooble's funeral can be interpreted as him genuinely doing that to make fun of them for being non-binary just bc he feels like it/has internalized transphobia unrelated to his own transness because he grew up in a household that was against anything lgbtq related and he picked up on that, consciously or not

In ep 6, Jax's mask of indifference slips off briefly before the creepy grin returns, and, well...

...as it turns out, he never even saw anyone abstract. I thought this was him not only showing genuine anger, but also being honest. But nope. Still someone who lies through their teeth to justify their own actions. What I'm trying to say is that there is always a chance Jax is an unreliable narrator, even in situations where it might seem like he's telling the truth

"I Saw the TV Glow references"

I have no idea what these references are, but why do I have to watch another show to understand the core hidden aspect of your main character

"Goose being transfem and saying Jax is a self-insert"

A thing said outside the show. Also, just because a character is your self-insert, that doesn't mean they have to be based off of you in every way (which Jax unfortunately is, like creator like character I guess. I honestly feel bad that, ever since I've read the Bluesky confirmation about Jax being transfem and Gooseworx's problematic tweets, I can no longer separate Jax from her. Jax no longer feels like her own character to me)

"The song "isn't she lovely" about the birth of a daughter playing over footage of Jax"

Me whenever I'm reminded of how tadc ruined this song's reputation

Not only is the inclusion of it terrible ⬇️

"Isn't She Lovely?" is a song that a Black man sang to his Black daughter when she was born. Using the cover of a non-black man (who's also uh... problematic) and putting it in the context of a "rebirth as a woman" (which in canon changes nothing abt Jax or Leeroy, neither are explicitly revealed to be trans after it) scene doesn't sit right with me, especially since the finale aired on Juneteenth and Gooseworx is racist, just like some of the VA's. I will never forget the "NEGA" situation where Michael and Ashley laughed for a long ass time because someone posted a pic of a black shirt during a livestream with the word "NEGA" written on it in white letters

and you know what? if you had that experience, good for you. i'm not here to tell you that you can't feel happy about queer representation or see yourself in a particular character.

if you relate to Jax as a trans person, that's great. if you saw Catra and Adora, and felt seen as a lesbian or otherwise queer person, that's wonderful.

but that doesn't mean said shows or characters are perfect and can never be criticized. it is an unfortunate truth that we still don't have enough queer representation, so even crumbs of it feels like a big deal to people who have never seen their identities represented in media.

Steven Universe was the first queer show i watched and such, it has a special place in my heart. it taught me a lot of valuable lessons, and helped me feel more secure in my gender and sexuality.

but that doesn't mean i'm blind to its flaws. there were a lot of things it could have done better and i'm still mad at the way it ruined a lot of character's arcs. there's a reason why i haven't rewatched it ever since the first time, and it's because i know some of the writing decisions are gonna make me angry and upset.

does that mean J.K R*wling or her racist fantasy series shouldn't be criticized? are we queerphobic or racist for saying that Harry Potter had a lot of problematic elements? no.