In case you needed a reminder, Symone is THAT girl!
The Drag Race season 13 contestant has been consistently serving flawless looks all season long, proving that she is definitely not a queen to be underestimated! But Symone's best ensembles aren't just reserved for the werkroom or Ru's runway! She shares a ton of her most awe-inspiring creations on social media as well, and one that caught our eye recently was her cosplay homage to queer Pokémon icons Jessie and James of Team Rocket!
"Prepare for all the trouble, baby! And while you at it, make it DOUBLE!" Symone captioned the pic where she served her best, fiercest Jessie, and her friend, artist Hunter Crenshaw, served up some James. (We love when our queer, nerdy interests intersect!!)
In case you were wondering, it's no secret that the gays love Pokémon. Every time a new addition to the Poké kingdom is announced, all you see on Twitter for the next few days is a bunch of super dedicated stans freaking out (in the best way) about it. Maybe it's the gender-bending, drag-filled dramatics of Team Rocket? Maybe it's the flamboyant colorfulness of the Pokémon themselves? Or maybe it's something deeper? Whatever it is, there's just something about the beloved, long-running anime series that has queer fans absolutely hooked!
"Pokémon puts a heavy emphasis on community, as the games encourage playing with friends and sharing memories," Get in the Robot's Dorrie Sacks said in a video essay about the reason why queer people are so drawn to the long-running, Japanese media franchise. "Lots of weird little kids, like me, who felt like outcasts were able to find each other and bond through Pokémon, and among those outcasts were a generation of queer youth."
Sacks later goes on to cite Team Rocket's Jessie and James, the loveable, goofy Pokémon villains who were often depicted dressing up in drag and not giving a single f**k about gender norms, as some of the show's lasting LGBTQ+ icons.
"They breathe so much life into the repetitive Pokémon formula with their extravagant personalities and love for the dramatics," she says. "Think of all the disguises these two put on and how many of them involved drag! Any time I saw Jessie in a suit and James in a poofy dress, I never thought of that as something that didn't make sense. I just accepted that was who they were. And I thought they looked fabulous!"
And Symone & Crenshaw channeled that fabulousness absolutely perfectly! In case you didn't already know, this is both a Symone and Pokémon stan account!!
