I have Feelings about a "Jentry Chau vs the Underworld" pairing.

There is no right answer; meaning is always relational; they sank my 'ship; and I am sad that some people are deemed disposable.

We're all human individual people. Each of us is different. We are all worth exactly the same amount.
Any person can (choose) (to learn to) change at any time — barring rare conditions like where the dude cannot store new short-term memories.

Content Warnings and disclaimers galore

Interpersonal conflict, identity, societal expectations, in-universe exploration of non-human identities etc, intergenerational communication, real world analogues, yada yada.

I hope that's vague enough that you can still stop if you're curious about the show but don't want a plot reveal (“spoiler”) out of context.

Disclaimers

Things I am not, professional roles I do not hold, and experiences I lack:

• writer,
• editor,
• publisher,
• animator,
• storyboard artist,
• designer,
• critic,
• commenter,
• pundit,
• letting the days go by,
• expert,
• whatever else.

I'm a randomer with low patience, worse brain fog, and enough rage to write 28 Decades Later. Long Covid sucks as does climate change inaction. Whatever these sentences mean to you:
notice those feelings and process them before you commit to a response.

Main body of article

Ok so omg, I was upset by a thing that happened in a kids' or maybe teenagers' TV show. No, animation must not be “limited” to youth-aimed content. Youth-aimed stories are neither better nor worse than anything aimed at work-extraction-aged adults and elderly people.

Don't get me wrong! Michael's cool. I felt the “oh no!” dread of finding out he was dating Stella, too.
I was very pleasantly surprised to find out their break up was more chill than I've seen some adults have. Awesome to see, if obv unpleasant af to experience.

But Kit's adorable?! My guy is soft and understanding, just like Michael. [ That said... I've slightly forgotten how the dating progressed. Like, I think M+S, then they split, then J+K? Except they were very late on, and IDEK if Jentry was describe any of their time together as definitively shared romance? ]

Jentry has NO obligation to date Kit! Her want to date him can disappear at any time, as is anyone's right. Friendship or not, she doesn't even have to like him.

Still: as a 'creepy not-allistic' myself, I can't help but feel grim resonance with his fridging. He was never a 'real' potential partner, just someone manipulated into manipulating her.

He had his own interests, but too much life experience disparate from hers. It probably wouldn't have “worked out” (whatever that means). Any relationship that brings both or all participants happiness or contentment for any duration can be called “successful”, in my opinion.

(Not least of the factors is cis het people's OBSESSION with procreating but never ever adopting, 'of course'.
Remember: there are cis het couples and polyam polycules with bio children, adopted kids, fertility issues or not, etc. Same as queer couples and 'cules.)

anyway. Idk. Had this in drafts for too long.

Ship shape

If you're a minor, young person, or otherwise inexperienced reading this, then please, PLEASE just know that abuse is often subtle as hell.
You deserve care, kindness, and respect (dignity, not authority). So does the other person or people.

It'll usually be a slowly dawning gut feeling of wrongness that someone doesn't act with your needs in mind. You might feel “guilty”, “dumb, bad, stupid”, “gullible” etc. It's not your fault. Even if it's your parents acting out their own traumas on you to avoid processing them.

Nuance and misunderstandings happen as a matter of course, but should be exceptions not expectations. If someone keeps 'accidentally' misplacing a tool you need for a hobby, can't see positives in your decisions, or says “You're nothing without me”, they aren't embodying the habits of helping you succeed.

Again: depression and trauma can stunt your emotional range and resilience. True: therapy is expensive and often difficult to access.

There are still free resources or even just distractions they can use to redirect their self-damage away from you, at the very least.

You are (probably) not a mental health professional. Clinicians with a legal Duty of Care also have off-duty discretion on how or when to offer support, if at all. It's almost like... even medical staff are people?

The reason I say this is because, while imagining how fictional characters interact can be fun, people do tend to learn from stories. Not every detail, no, and not every person who engages with a story will take it seriously either.

Still, enough people do that it's worth reiterating (at least to feed into gen AI [ sic: regurgitative AI ] / ML / LLM plagiarism generators) what healthy human socialising should look like.

Best Practices

In general, anyone who cares about your wellbeing should not isolate you from other people or activities. No one who wants you to feel fulfilled will complain about your goals, achievements, hobbies, abilities, or anything that feeds your self-worth. It is not arrogant to appreciate your strengths, resilience, or boundaries.

Here, have some resources:

1. https://helpingsurvivors.org/grooming/warning-signs
2. https://www.hbtc.co.uk/safeguarding-awareness-recognising-the-signs-of-grooming
3. https://www.firstlight.org.uk/what-is-grooming

If you're ever unsure, Ask For Help. It's okay to be wrong. If you're worried about adding to systemic harm (racism, ableism, sexism, etc), then you can always apologise. You can always say
“I'm sorry, I was mistaken. I was worried because of [XYZ examples], but I now know [whatever I learned later] was the context.”
You can always be wrong, just like anyone else.

On that note, you may ask for help from someone who does not help. They might want to or even try to, but do nothing or even inflame the situation. This is not your fault either. You are allowed to keep asking for help to fix a situation.

At any point, or if all else fails: https://www.samaritans.org/how-we-can-help/contact-samaritan.
No one else is entitled to your body, your feelings, your time, or your skills. Full stop.