I took the time to catch up with SFSX’s full Volume 1 for a feature I’m writing and while I don’t want to give away the full angle (and don’t want spoilers in the piece) I do gotta talk about my favorite character

Spoilers

Or should I say villain. My god, she’s brutal

Jones plays such a fascinating and integral role to the story not just because she’s the sex worker among sex workers that inspires the rest of the cast but she also 180s so hard after her capture that it’s horrific. She’s literally detattooed as a symbol of how she’s dequeered

But what really sticks out to me is not how she becomes brainwashed — which is horrible enough — but that it’s unclear if she really *was* brainwashed per se. The Party leadership talks about how all she really needed was to have someone tap into her shame. That was the key.

The reason why I’m caught up in this is because of Sylvia. Jones is the only character shown having sex with her (IIRC) and it’s VERY queer. (This scene, btw, was something @tinahornsass and I chatted about in Dec — I encouraged her to be unapologetic about it & it’s SUPER hot)

It’s sort of a wink to the series’ sexual politics that cis/trans lesbian sex as it happens is not just shown but depicted as simultaneously desirable and commonplace. This is how Jones and Sylvia fuck. It’s beautiful.

Then Jones tricks Sylvia by kissing her, shoots her in the leg, and this happens. However it’s for this very reason Jones’ betrayal is extremely painful for trans readers in particular. I’m not sure if it was intended but this scene is gutwrenchingly sad if you’re a trans lesbian

The sex worker among sex workers who loves topping a trans woman of color 180s into a fascist and uses their relationship — something a trans woman would cherish and mourn more than ever given its validation — against her.

Beyond evil. Sincerely one of the most fucked villains

And I love it

I’m actually not sure if this juxtaposition was intended, but it doesn’t actually matter to me if it was or wasn’t. I think it’s such a beautiful example of how writers can create deeply meaningful relationships and metaphors with trans characters and for trans readers

Jones is sort of like the elusive secondary trans lesbian representation — the cis woman who fucks trans women — and having her past robbed from you in the present is a metaphorical mindfuckery that adds so much depth to the plot. Like, I want a redemption arc

In conclusion, Jones is such a fucked up villain & her relationship with Sylvia throughout the narrative becomes a knife twisted inside you. But that’s what makes it good: in this dystopia trans women can’t catch a break, nor can the reader. Shit sucks. Do something abt it.

The end. We stan anti-fash version of Jones