#it was just such a wild 'defense'

[rmorde]

It's fucking wild to see someone defend Mei Mei and demand people to blame Gege instead for her pedophilia and grooming.

WTF?

If you love a dark character, then accept everything that they are in the story. Mei Mei is one. She is a side character that is dark despite being on the heroes' side of the fight.

I appreciate what Gege had done to her character. I like it because thru her we see how rotten the modern jujutsu society is - that the heroes' side is not exactly great especially with the likes of Gojo and Nanami being gone.

A lot of people already pointed out that Mei is used as a foil for Nanami. I agree. She is everything he is not: - Nanami left stock trading. Mei is doing insider trading. - Nanami fights for the greater good. Mei is only in it for the paycheck. - Nanami protects children. Mei exploits children. - Nanami continues to fight even if he is half-dead. Mei retreats even if she is still perfectly fine. - Nanami has morals. Mei is immoral.

But why did someone good (Nanami) die a horrible death while someone bad (Mei Mei) got rewarded (practically highlighted with her escaping to Malaysia -which was Nanami's dream retirement place)? It's to highlight how broken and bleak jujutsu society is - bad people benefit but good people suffer. It also shows how the only difference between the sorcerers (sans our "heroes") and the curse users are just rule compliance and pay checks.

Speaking of which:

What Mei Mei is doing to Ui Ui is exactly like what that Granny Seance did to her Tojified Grandson. Both women are grooming boys younger than they into perfect tools to complement their CTs. They don't see them as brother or grandson respectively. Those words are mere "titles". It's like how you would call an giant axe "Axe" and straw dolls "Dolls."

Mei is the perfect example of what a peak sorcerer is in modern jujutsu society - strong and smart but selfish, self-absorbed, exploitative, and immoral.

I like Mei for what she delivers in the story: 1) A very dark character that represents the rotten core of the jujutsu society. 2) A complex female character - she is on your side but she is definitely not an ally you'd want. However, you need all the help you can get so you are forced to accept her but deep down you want her to get some comeuppance for all she's been doing. 3) Despite her... Mei-ness, she still has a really cool character design and powers as well as really badass scenes. 4) An excellent foil to Nanami (and maybe even Gojo if I stretch it a bit). 5) A great reminder that with the exception of the sorcerers within Gojo's close circle (Tokyo Tech staff/alumni + Utahime & her students), sorcerers are absolute scumbags. Mei's principle is pretty similar to Sukuna's! They're all about: Me, Myself, and I living it up and having fun at everyone's expense.

6) She is the closest I could get to a "villainess" in JJK. The villains in JJK is male-dominated with 2 gender-neutrals (Hanami + Uraume). Geto's family has very little screen time for me to get something out of them (Lady Secretary, Nanako & Mimiko). Yeah it's shonen but still... Gege is starving me with good villainesses 😭.

So TLDR: Mei Mei is not defensible but feel free to like/love her anyway. Being a fan of villains or dark characters is not a representation of a person's morals after all. Do not blame Gege for using her as a narrative tool to remind people again ( because we have to admit that we always kinda forget): the world of JJK is unfair and it really fucking sucks being a nice person there. Not that Gege is a perfect writer at all. There are plenty of other stuff to be angry about in his work like the pacing for example or the underutilization of interesting side characters or the story being so "scattered" into various mediums.

[eclipseclan]

Damn I completely forgot about this scene in “Into the Wild”, absolutely blew me away on reread.

[ofswordsandpens]

im sorry but I do think its a little funny that there's maybe like... a handful of people actively critiquing the show compared to the overwhelming praise its receiving, and yet there's a portion of the fandom acting like they're either being held at gunpoint and forced to read every criticism, or that they've personally been appointed by RR himself to defend the integrity of his works, and I promise you, you really don't have to do either lol <3

[front-facing-pokemon]

[quotidianish]

They’re twinning!!! 😁☺️ (all three of them have deceased fathers 🤓😁)

[cryptocism]

I love the comic book writing sensibility that Frequency has, like how Three and Five's ending is great for the story being told but if it were a published comic it would still leave them on the table for if a future writer wanted to use them.

whats funny is that despite doing my best to keep in line with dc comics/comic writing sensibilities throughout the fic (staying as comics-accurate as possible in terms of continuity/tone/characterization/story elements etc) that particular comic writing reality was one that was like. kind of a genuine anxiety that i didn't know i had until i started writing this thing.

ive said before that in the original concept for Frequency all of the clones (besides Thad) were going to end up dead. whether it was via killing each other or unintentionally being the instrument of their own demise (disney villain style). obviously it changed because creating an entire narrative about this one character's redemption arc and then not allowing any of the other villains to have a shot at redemption felt hypocritical and like. mean. not to mention antithetical to the whole ethos of the story.

but the reason why killing off all the other clones was my first instinct is partially because i had this kinda subconscious recoil to the idea that any of them would actually continue on after the story was over.

like, because i was trying to stick to canon so much, while figuring out the story a thought came up a couple times that basically went like, "okay, well, if this was a real comic, then...". and inevitably i had a realization that if this WAS a real comic, my original clone characters would be canonized, and therefore available to any future writer who wanted to yank them out of their respective endgames and inject them into other stories. which i Did Not Like the Idea Of.

classic "making up a guy to get mad at" except it was more "making up a reality to get anxious about". because obviously no matter how much it sticks to canon, Frequency still exists in a fan-created space.

but! i'd never made up original characters to put in my own fanmade stuff before and was definitely feeling protective. because all those original clones i made had yknow: a story purpose and narrative function to facilitate the actual key characters, Thad and Bart. the idea of them being removed from that context in any capacity, even if it was in the hands of a good writer, made me have this gut "no STOP you're ruining it!!!!" reaction.

they were all made for Frequency, and to foil Thad as a character, i didnt like the idea of Three being brought back as a one-note villain or Jude and Nathaniel getting folded into the wider Flash cast of allies. and none of them were made to be main character material. plus the character roster at DC is already uhh Extremely Stacked i genuinely did not want the takeaway to be "and here's the nEW ADDITIONS TO THE FLASH FAMILY!" because that wasnt the intention

anyway i got over it lol. i still did my best not to leave any loose ends, and have each ending be wholly satisfying on its own, and ideally the oc clones basically continue on offscreen while the true adventures are based around Thad and Bart. but yeah it felt right to leave off on that note (and served the story much better than killing everybody off)

[shatterdome-underscore]

I know we're all collectively sold on "Sparrow takes a d100 of psychic damage when oakworthy happens" but have we considered Jodie or Scam taking one look at Normal and telling their son, who is half chaos deity and also the prince of hell, "you know you could do better, right?"

[ringzgukgak]

“You simply must honor the cock.”

Fantasy High: Junior Year | ep. 16

[sluttylittlewaste]

One super fascinating thing about Kristen's current arc in JY is how much it reflects real-world conversations I've been following about effort and consistency and reliability in relationships. Specifically, I've been reading about the resentment in (primarily het) relationships caused by uneven distribution of mental load and repetivite, constant labor between partners.

Follow me now-

I've seen a few posts on here from people who have ADHD highlighting how realistic it is to their experience that Kristen is SO GOOD for doing grand acts and big miracles, but struggles so deeply with "the boring stuff". Upkeeping social media for Cassandra/YES!, consistently holding meetings to maintain whatever following she does develop for her gods, even just bi-weekly essays. I can't speak to the ADHD experience myself. However, from my relationships with people who have it and a decent amount of the posts I see on this website, that is a consistent manifestation of the disorder.

Dovetailing from that is the very real conversation I've heard time and time again about people whose family/friends/partners refuse to help with the little tasks of keeping a home in order or a project on track, but will pull through for big events under the assumption that it balances things out. It's a conversation that occurs a lot in spaces of studying gender dynamics in relationships - i.e. In a dynamic where the wife is responsible for doing all of the cooking/cleaning/grocery shopping/organizing, the husband will do a singular, high-effort task or grand gesture, "I built you an armoire!", "I took the kids out for a full day so you could relax!" and reference that singular event or task as a counterbalance for smaller tasks they do not aid in (daily dishes, laundry, running errands). This can also take the form of one partner doing grand gestures on occasion, but not showing up in smaller ways throughout the relationship on a day-to-day level.

-Ex. Partner A indicates that would appreciate more frequent affection in the relationship, such as date nights, flowers, non-sexual physical contact, etc. Partner B responds by planning a fancy dinner, gratuitous non-sexual contact/complements, and buying a lavish gift - but they do not increase displays of affection in their daily lives. Partner A mentions that though they appreciate the gesture, it didn't solve the initial problem, and Partner B doesn't understand why all of the obvious effort they put in isn't enough. The cycle continues and resentment grows as both people feel like their needs aren't being met/their efforts aren't being appreciated.

(Sorry if that's an over-explanation, I'm trying to be clear lol)

I think a lot about two things Cassandra said to Kristen:

"You're unreliable." and "It's not fair." in the context of these dynamics.

I've seen a decent number of people talk about how mutually unfair bringing Cassandra back was for both her and Kristen. I have also seen a lot of very valid arguments about Kristen being a LITERAL CHILD who makes a lot of impulsive (re: bad) decisions because she cares so deeply about specific things. We've also seen that Kristen CAN be so good in the little ways (Giving Lydia Barkrock the Help action, supporting Tracker through her bullshit, trying to do okay in school to help Riz). For all intents and purposes, there is no actual lack of effort on Kristen's part - she very obviously cares deeply. However, those efforts are more occasional and case-by-case than something constant, like going out every day to spread the word of Cassandra or doing something boring like homework.

Cassandra, whose entire thing is that she's always there to offer support -"I'm there holding your hand in the dark"- knows these things as well. She knows what Kristen is capable of. The hurt, then, doesn't come from the fact that Kristen can't but because, for some reason, she won't.

In conversations about how certain partners... underperform in relationships, one theme that often arises is that of, "I know he can do it, he simply doesn't." Whether that be daily chores or consistent acts of affection, Partner A has seen Partner B be helpful or put effort into things that they find interesting. There is no question of capability - Partner B can do whatever it is Partner A requests. Partner A thus concludes that Partner B doesn't because they don't want to. -Ex. "He refuses to help me because he doesn't care about me/He doesn't think I'm worth the effort."

While I obviously cannot make a true 1-to-1 comparison between this particular manifestation of Executive Dysfunction in people with ADHD and lackluster partners in relationships (I am aware that it is deeply harmful to imply that being a "bad" partner is in any way correlated to any singular disability), this is a degree of parallelism to be found in the Kristen/Cassandra dynamic and the type of dysfunction I reference in above examples. There is the caveat that if you have ADHD and know you struggle with doing things that are smaller or more tedious/repetitive, you can work with the people in your life to accommodate that. Additionally, men (at least in the US) are traditionally socialized to undervalue the traditional female labor that is caretaking.

That said, in universe, Kristen doesn't seem to know she has ADHD and thus could not articulate her limitations to Cassandra - and even if she could, it might not have solved the problem ( though it could have kept Cassandra from getting so upset).

The entire reason I wrote all of this is that I've seen several responses to the most recent preview for FHJY wherein Kipperlily Copperkettle accuses Kristen of not caring (and, to be clear, Kristen fully does not care about the Presidency. That is very likely what KLCK was referring to, and she is not wrong in being upset if Kristen wins this thing she hasn't even bothered to campaign AT THE SCHOOL for). The trend in the responses has been people listing Kristen's miracles more than anything, and while those do prove that she does CARE about SOME THINGS, it doesn't address the fact that for most people care is displayed through active, consistent, reliable effort rather than big dramatic displays: While the shrimp jump was cool, it does nothing to prove that Kristen gives a shit about student government.

[glaciem-draco]

Jeff really said self-love.

And horses.

[have-kake]

Reading other people's LU fics is so weird sometimes. Like I operate w/ a very concrete idea of what all their ages are, so seeing the dude I headcanon as 22 be 16 in a fic is jarring haha

It's not a bad thing, but it's kinda funny.

That's kinda what I like abt LU tho. The only Link's age we know is Wind. Everyone one else is an unknown. We know Twi was 18 during TP, but we don't know how long it's been so he's also an unknown. It lets us imagine what we believe to be appropriate. I hope we never get their current ages

Edit: turns out I deadass forgot abt Wild who says he's 117. but he got memory issues so is he really lol

[skyloftian-nutcase]

I posted a sketch of Abel being happy so now I guess the tax must be paid and he must have angst again

It didn't take long for the excitement to wear off.

The outburst started gently, at least. Link wandered anxiously, hands held out in front of him as if he were going to grab something or play with something, and then he wrung them nervously. He sniffled, eyes widening and watering.

"Link?" Abel prompted, putting the last of his armor on his bed.

And that was all it took. Abel stared in alarm as his little boy burst into tears, catching the attention of their roommate, Norri, who flinched.

“I want to go home,” Link cried.

Abel knelt down to be at eye level with the boy, trying to settle him quickly. “Link, we can’t go home.”

“But I want to go home!”

“I know,” Abel acknowledged, putting his hands on the little one’s shoulders. Link’s eyes were puffy now, his face red as he stood there and sobbed. “I know you do. But we can’t go home. We have to stay here.”

“I want Mama!”

Abel’s heart clenched. For a moment he couldn’t speak, emotions drowning his voice, but Link’s wails pierced through the fog, and he felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up as Norri began to look agitated.

Quickly picking his boy up, he hastened outside, pressing Link’s face to his shoulder both to wipe his tears and try to muffle his cries as he whispered again, “Link, calm down. We can’t go home. I told you we would be here a while.”

It was ridiculous to assume a four-year-old would truly understand his words when he had explained the trip and he knew it. It was foolish to think this was going to be fine. But he had hoped… after running into the king himself had managed to not be disastrous, and after Link had spent two days wandering without incident, he’d hoped it would be all right.

Link cried louder, legs wiggling as he started to progress to a full-on meltdown. Abel held on to him helplessly. Tilieth always had more patience for these moments, always knew how to soothe their child when he himself didn’t know how to do so. Abel was of no use in this situation – he expressed his emotions so differently, so quietly in comparison to that of a child. He tried to remember what his sisters did, but Ama always focused outward on their younger sister, and he’d never really figured out how to calm Shola down so much as just argue with her. So he… had no experience in this.

“Link,” Abel said helplessly as he finally made it outside to avoid causing a ruckus in the palace. “Link, settle down. We can’t go home; you have to accept that.”

No matter what words Abel chose, Link wouldn’t accept that. He repeated his displeasure continuously, so much so that Abel was afraid he’d wake all of Zora’s Domain. He tried to hide in a corner somewhere, climbing one of the passageways that twirled around the Domain, ignoring the damp chill that began to settle through his light undertunic and trousers. Link didn’t seem to notice it, though he felt the little boy’s fingers steadily turn to icicles.

Frustration started to pull at him. He couldn’t calm his child, he couldn’t get him to be quiet, he was screaming in his ear—it wasn’t as if Abel himself didn’t want to see Tilieth, as if he weren’t worrying about his wife who was on death’s door with illness—

Abel, stop. He’s a child.

And? He’d stared at his dead father’s face, smelled the stench of rotting flesh despite the perfumes liberally poured around him, all when he was a child. He’d watched it kill his mother slowly for two years before she finally joined him.

You were eight at that point. He’s four. He doesn’t understand and you know that.

The frustration grew, though, despite his arguments, despite him knowing that his boy couldn’t help this. Perhaps it was just because he was angry at himself for even thinking about this, for ever suggesting and fighting for bringing a four-year-old child to a diplomatic mission, for having to shoulder the responsibility of the entire family while his wife was dying—

Abel bit his lip until it bled, trying to ignore the sobs coming from his son. Instead, he held him tightly, rocking back and forth, out of words, out of patience, out of emotions, out of everything. His repeated whispers devolved into hushes, offering what little comfort he could. It didn’t feel like nearly enough. It never felt like enough.

Link cried himself into exhaustion, his wailing finally settling into hiccups, and Abel released a full breath, having been rigid as a board for what felt like an hour. Slowly, hesitantly, he started making his way back to the central part of the Domain, thankful for the lack of people in the area, but hesitated before going to the palace. He himself was too full of emotions and energy now, and he knew he couldn’t sleep. Instead, he tucked Link more closely to the center of his chest, head right under his chin, and continued to sway back and forth with a light bounce to his knees. He wandered aimlessly, mind helplessly full of cotton and unable to process words anymore, before he found himself in front of the statue of Hylia.

It was a small statue, carved in the luminous stones of the area, giving it an ethereal glow. Some aquatic plant was adorning her head like a crown. It was lopsided, like a child had placed it there and wasn’t quite tall enough to get it right.

Abel slid to the ground, back against the railing behind him, Link held ever so closely. The boy was limp with exhaustion, asleep and warm in the embrace. Abel shivered.

He had no words to offer in a prayer. Instead, he just stared. Hylia smiled serenely back.

Abel stayed there, in a strange trance, overwhelmed and underwhelmed, energized and exhausted, until the sun started to reflect on the sparkling stones.

[secrettastemakerland]

nick and judy sharing drinks and, thus, sharing indirect kisses and everyone looking at them like they're crazy (they are. for each other) and they have no idea what's going on. thank you for coming for my tedtalk

[pocariesweet]

when actually it means :

[deniigi]

haha hi, so i spotted a fic that said they got permission to yoink the ball idea from you, and i'm just here to ask if you generally mind people using the idea because i firmly believe it could be made into the funniest fucking trope in existence, no questions asked

Oh I def don't mind this when it comes to tropes. I do think it's important to credit folks who borrow headcanons etc, but they don't even have to ask as long as they credit me!

For making whole other transformative works based on mine though, I do want to be asked, but yeah for the ball? Go ham.

[emotinalsupportturtle]

not me sitting her after watching THAT episode of the campy cosmic horror sci-fi show that is extremely traumatizing on so many levels, taking one look at the 2000+ year-old eldritch horror in it, who (in his words) needs at least a million years to recover from the all the trauma , and going "oh he's just like me fr"

by that i mean gay, depressed, has ADHD and is prone to a mental breakdown whenever his best friend is taken away from him