#either way Lily orchard is terrible

[arielgrace15]

Lily Orchard, a person I used to look up to from 2017 to around 2020, the one person I can thank for getting me introduced to liberal politics and got me to think critically about things, just gave VELMA a better rating than OWL HOUSE.

……………….

(Inhale)(siiiiiiiigh)

You know, I already stopped watching her a good while ago for much better reasons than this (just look up “lily orchard Stockholm”)(also, I came to realize around 70% of what she says is just BAD) but this really puts the final nail in the coffin with too many final nails.

Go to hell, Lily, and take your spite with you. You’re dead to me.

[nov4-rocket5]

Okay, so a lot of people are saying that Joon The King deadnames and deliberately used unflattering photos of Lily Orchard in his latest video.

The latter is pretty subjective, all the photos were of Lily post-coming out that she posted herself (and she really hasn’t changed much since posting them either); and the former claim is just… blatantly incorrect.

Joon clarifies Lily used to go by a different name once, and he says this because a lot of the archived footage and chats come from Lily pre-transition, and didn’t want the audience to get confused. He uses Lily's preferred name and pronouns the entire video, even when chats he's reading are of Lily's previous identity.

Keeping archival information unaltered is super important, both for the sake of Lily’s timeline, and the validity of Joon’s research. You start changing details out of a sense of 'respect' and you open up the question of what else you’re willing to change and censor. Maintaining the integrity and trust in your research is vital for communicating points. Especially when those points involve very heinous, very sensitive topics. If Joon had edited/censored the footage and chats, people would have searched for, found, and posted it anyway. It also would have probably led to Lily just claiming Joon falsified/doctored shots to make her look bad.

Joon isn't a DramaTuber, he's a documenter. And as a documenter, Joon presents information, in this case about Lily's online history and actions, and leaves it to the viewer to decide what to make of it. Joon doesn't moral police his audience, he set up that she is Lily and only chose to highlight her previous identity when it was relevant as a side fact (Joon doesn't even call her a cis male, just that she was still presenting that way), and trusted the audience he’s cultivated to not bully and harass people.

Current footage is used of Lily, current names and pronouns are used for Lily, and he makes it clear that Blake is a person who doesn't believe Lily's really trans but makes a brief counterpoint to Blake’s stance, and leaves it to the audience to make their own conclusions. Joon’s video is purely informational and intends to inform people about Lily and her long pattern of established behavior even before her current channel and Tumblr.

Joon encouraged discussion with Lily's current name and identity intelligently and gracefully. Knowing Lily’s deadname is just that - a name Lily was once known as, but she is Lily now. Since most people aren't rioting in the comments and keeping a level-head saying "she's Lily, these are her terrible crimes not just as a trans woman", Joon was successful. Only idiots and douchebags will directly harrass Lily with "hurr durr you will never be a yadda yadda". And Lily will no doubt just make those strawmen herself. Lily routinely thrives off chances to use her status as a trans woman “of color” to prove all her critics are just mean ol’ racist phobes.

And the simple truth of the matter is, Lily isn't some delicate ornament that will shatter to pieces at the slightest bit of transphobia; Lily is an easily-angered, pathological liar and manipulator who would hurt anyone in any way if she sincerely believed she could get away with it.

[trickstarbrave]

i think one of lily orchard's biggest problems is her black and white thinking. someone is either a good person who was forced into terrible circumstances due to abuse/trauma or an irredeemable monster. someone is either right or they are wrong. you cannot write about this one thing ever and have it ever be okay or you're a massive shithead who should be personally attacked and publicly ridiculed.

it is honestly not surprising she hated pokemon black and white whose moral lesson was "the world does not exist in black and white and any extreme moral positions are inherently flawed, you need the ability to see other perspectives in order to make correct judgements" but yknow written for 10 year olds. way too complicated for someone like lily orchard who prefers putting people and characters into neat little black and white boxes of right and wrong or good and evil

[autistic-ben-tennyson]

PoE: Actual Thoughts

This is going to be my last post regarding the discourse that I was responsible for starting. A lot of people probably think I hate the movie and am Lily Orchard 2.0 because of what those like spot-the-antisemitism claim. I’ll be leaving my actual opinions on it as well as the fandom and why I don’t love it as much as I used to. Contrary to what Zionists like Emperorsfoot claim, I can think for myself and have my own beliefs.

TPoE used to be one of my favorite movies. I wrote an essay back in 9th grade encouraging people to watch it because it had great music, great animation and an emotional story one could appreciate regardless of their religious beliefs. I still think it’s a good piece of filmmaking and has its place in theological and historical discussions. James Baxter worked on some of the animation sequences and would later create iconic moments from shows like Adventure Time and Steven Universe.

So what’s the problem? Well, the reason my opinion towards has soured is multifaceted. Being an anime fan has played a role in me seeing it as just another movie as opposed to the greatest animated film ever due to watching movies such as Spirited Away, Suzume or The End of Evangelion. Its fandom is another thing I dislike. Some say you can’t let fandom ruin something for you but if a majority of the people in a fandom are jerks, then it’s valid to not want to engage.

While it was wrong for me to call it “Zionist propaganda”, I have gotten anon hate from its stans including suicide bait. So many of the people in the notes of the post as well as the OP were either transphobic radtrads like griseldafury21, “vote blue no matter what” liberals like Short-wooloo or all the fandom Zionists like Prismatic-bell. YouTube comments are full of “anti woke” creationists using it to trash modern Hollywood, which is terrible but not for the reasons they claim. Liberal Zionists do use it to support their view of themselves as perpetual victims who can do no wrong. Killing people is okay as long as they’re oppressive in their eyes, whether Egyptian or Palestinian.

So maybe I do dislike it but not because I think it’s a bad movie or propaganda, but because it’s fandom has soured me towards it. One could certainly use its liberation message as a commentary on the oppression of Palestinians but that probably won’t get any support from the movie’s top fans. The behavior of the hardcore fans is what has turned me off to it, especially their concern trolling over gofundme scams. Same reason why I’ve been less enthusiastic towards Steven Universe. Still has a place in my heart and was a big factor in my anime obsession but the amount of fans who are racist milquetoast liberals has pushed me away from the fandom. I don’t single out Jews for being Zionists either. I would be disappointed if Rebecca Sugar supported Israel but I’d feel the same about Makoto Shinkai, Hideaki Anno or Dwayne McDuffie, if he was still alive, and others I admire. I judge people based on their actions and principles, not their religion or ethnicity.

So that’s what I actually think of the movie and it’s fans. Some of the songs like “When you believe” are pretty emotional and as someone with a complicated relationship with my brother, the conflict between Moses and Ramses does get a tear out of me, even if that’s not what happened in the Bible. I still have fondness for it, but many of its hardcore fans have ruined it and people’s lack of willingness to criticize any aspect is disappointing. Criticizing it or SU does not make someone Lily Orchard or Lindsay Ellis as people can develop their own opinions without influence. The Prince of Egypt is a great work of art in my opinion but it’s not above criticism and the way people use it as well as other “wholesome” media as a shield should be talked about more.

[calebwittebane]

i have either great or terrible lily orchard event news for you; 6hr pokemon retrospective where nearly everything she says is wrong

my fave was the idea that b/w's story was an anti-critic screed from masuda himself (ft. "debate me bro" incel N)

oh, golly... i appreciate the news you bring me, royal messenger. honestly even if i had the time i know better than to engage with something like that. good lird, 6 hours. but to be honest i was already somewhat familiar with her takes on N and ghetsis, in particular them being Worst Antagonists Ever in part because they "talk too much"--as well as her deeming b/w as petty Anti-Critic non-storytelling--as i had stumbled across her tumblr posts about it once upon a time. calling N a debate bro just feels very in tune with that. overall when it comes to her pokemon takes its all just so flaccid it almost feels like half-hearted rage bait. just very very weak as far as "bizarrely bad takes on what should be quite easy to comprehend, on account of being major plot points in a very popular piece of media that appeals to most age groups, including, if not primarily, children" go.

by comparison, her takes on steven universe were groundbreakingly bad, and let me give you an example that really seared itself into my brain. it is widely known that she was very very insistent on comparing the diamonds to nazis specifically--in what i can only see as a combination of not knowing shit about history or geopolitics beyond an offensively shallow pop-culture-based idea of it, and extremely malicious digs at the jewish showrunner that lily held (holds?) a frankly concerning type of hatred towards. however, at one point she actually made a comparison, or more accurately implied an intentional analogy, between the star symbol that the crystal gems made the symbol of their rebellion, and the yellow patch. like, specifically making that comparison almost off-handedly while quickly giving a list of the reasons why the diamonds (who are, in case its not clear, cartoon villains who are big alien women who function as an allegory both for a strict traditionalist family and for the powers that be destroying the environment and people in it for resources, regardless of ones opinions on how well said allegories are executed. but i digress) are obviously stand-ins for nazis, and why the shows final message obviously ends up being that you have to be nice to nazis. man, just recounting all of that really makes me grimace in pain and second hand embarrassment. to say it was in bad taste is honestly an understatement. and once again, some the points she repeatedly made about the show having made their way into the general bunch of commonly regurgitated statements just makes me wonder what the hell people think was going on in that show.

i am sorry. there is no hope. kids media youtubers--when will they learn?

[perenlop]

not defending her in any capacity here bc shes still a terrible person either way but its weird to me that people insist that lily orchard “fetishizes lesbians”. not just bc she is a lesbian/wlw and that kinda gives me “ew lesbians are disgusting bc they objectify women” vibes but also bc i think its wild to claim that about the woman who clutches her pearls when women do anything more than lightly kiss on tv

[queenofthursday6599-blog]

The older I get the more and more I realize I'm what can only be described as gender blind about a lot of things.

Mostly because I'll hear like a transvastigator say something is a trait that only happens in one sex, or a trans person saying something gives them dysphoria and I'll be completely caught off guard because I had no clue that was even like something tangentially thought of as associated with one gender over the other.

Like eyebrow ridges. I had no idea a lot of people consider a brow ridge that like sticks out and makes your eyes look shadowed a masculine thing, and a flatter brow ridge feminine, until like a few weeks ago.

Mostly because I a cis woman have an eye brow ridge that sticks out and makes my eyes look shadowy, along with a large number of other women in my family also having this trait.

I've also similarly met multiple men with flatter brow ridges a number of times in my life.

So the idea that how much your brow bone sticks out of your face being a gender thing was a complete surprise to me.

Or certain nose shapes.

I still don't understand why a lot of transwomen get nose jobs as part of facial feminization surgery.

So you don't have a tiny little button nose, neither do most women, not naturally anyways.

Also it happens very frequently that I'll start watching like a new youtuber, who I'll have no idea is trans until they either mention it directly, or someone else mentions it directly.

Like there's been multiple instances of me watching a youtuber for a while, and me finding out they're not cis by way of them saying they don't pass very well. Or them returning from facial feminization surgery with a new face and then explaining the things they got done during the surgery and why.

And I'll just be completely shocked because it didn't even cross my mind mind to even guess they were AMAB.

I'm like the opposite of a transvestiagtor. I just tend to take people at face value when they tell me what gender they are, and not really give it a second thought.

Like when I heard Lily Orchard's voice for the first time (I think it was a clip of her talking in a video of someone responding/reacting to one of her videos), and heard her referred to as a woman, I just kind of defaulted to "oh a deep voiced lady" and then thought nothing more of it.

And was then surprised when it was mentioned she was trans later that same video.

And it's not like I'm oblivious to trans people existing, or anything. It's more that I don't tend to be terribly curious about people's past unless they themselves bring it up, which inadvertently can include their past as an egg.

I'm nosy in a lot of ways, but not that way specifically. I feel like it's because I was raised in a family where we were encouraged not to try to pry into people's past because my family has a large number of both addicts and recovering addicts (because generational trauma), and it's seen as rude to try to dig into someone's past which can potentially trigger them to backslide.

So I tend to just assume whatever version of you I meet first is the default and anything that happened before is irrelevant until you bring it up to me personally.

But learning someone is trans isn't like earth shattering, just surprising to me.

I'd say the surprise level is roughly equivalent to the surprise I feel when I learn someone can juggle, or skate board, or any other skill I personally do not have.

There's a long list of things that would shock me more than finding out someone has been trans this whole time, and I'm apparently too gender blind to clock them.

Like if I found out you're trans and you have a pet savannah cat the same day, the bigger shock is that you own a savannah cat. Because only crazy people want to bring a wild animal into their home and treat it like a domestic cat.

Does that make sense?

[saiscribbles]

Correction, apparently it was when she made "Steven Universe The Movie Was Hilariously Terrible" and we all know how much she lied about the movie from my section in the big SU video on it:

So either way, Lily Orchard was making videos trashing Steven Universe at the end of 2022 and in 2023 without having rewatched it at all in several years. She made her recent claims that lead to the discovery of her plagiarism without having rewatched it.

And she made the "Garbage" video before the show was even finished.

We'll see what she had to say about Change Your Mind when I get to her lost SU video I recovered. But that will probably be later this month 🤫

And here we have Lily Orchard admitting that when she made "Steven Universe is Garbage and Here's Why" she hadn't even watched the show in 3 years.

Was the plagiarism I found in the video not enough, Lily? Just wanted to drive the stake into it's credibility yourself?

[ephrom]

Lily Orchard's Totally Noncontroversial Opinions

One of the things Lily Orchard does that actually pisses me off about her is she constantly tries to paint herself as the totally normal and reasonable one--while the fact that everybody else dislikes her is merely a coincidence. It's part of the "silent majority" framing used by such people as Richard Nixon. This notion that actually everybody agrees with me but the vocal minority is drowning out their voices for one reason or another.

This is the same woman who just a month and a half ago released a video where she said the reason lesbians write about abuse so much is because of an anime from the 1990s.

I commentated on this video awhile back, and it's currently my most popular commentary and my only one with over five thousand views.

Seriously, to give everybody an idea of how far this video has spread compared to my usual work, MangaKamen--somebody with over one hundred thousand subscribers and who I previously had a relationship with made up of nothing more than me insulting his girlfriend--found it and liked it.

It's actually funny, by the way, because this video took off at around the same time the entire slideshow commentary community was grilling me for an admittedly terrible commentary on Fractured Light which I will not be talking about further in this post. If you want to know more about that situation, I'd recommend just watching Berylchord's video, as it goes into every reason why that commentary was so hated and deserved to be.

Anyway, I mention this because Beryl's video on me really deserves more views than it's gotten. It is by far the best commentary on me made so far--and I hope it remains the best for quite a long time. (Because I hope in the future I don't need nearly hour long commentaries made on me.) Oh, it also started the meme of Toganium being my boyfriend, and that alone is worth Beryl getting to at least one hundred subscribers.

Okay, back to Lily Orchard. In my commentary on her, I point out that the actual reason for this is most likely because lesbian relationships have a higher rate of domestic abuse than any other form of relationships. This is for several reasons, among them that society as a whole really only views men of even being capable of abuse (and even then, usually only against women) so the idea of a female abusing somebody is already questionable to the majority of the population. Put that together with a dogmatic demand from a handful of LGBT rights groups that no abusive homosexual relationships be shown in mainstream media and you end up in a situation where both women engaging in abuse and homosexual abuse are seen as basically non-existent. The general population could hardly imagine either of them happening on their own, let alone both happening at the same time.

This was talked about by TheMysteriousMrEnter back in 2015 in a video I highly recommend watching.

I also know for a fact that Lily has admitted to the second one, saying so in her two hour video on Steven Universe.

This is a fairly common view among LGBT social thinkers--but Lily's view that it's because of an anime is supposed to be the non-controversial one? This is also the same woman who not only hates The Rocky Horror Picture Show, but also has compared those who enjoy it with those who suffer from Stockholm syndrome. (Side note: Do not look up "Lily Orchard Stockholm" ever.)

Don't get me wrong, Lily Orchard has every right to not like this movie and argue its aged poorly in this or that way--I'd argue those reasons are poorly informed--as I have in another commentary that can be viewed here:

You know it's good because it caused some weirdo on the internet to unofficially transvestigate me--in a comment I couldn't find. I could find my reply pointing out that a surprising amount of people think I'm transgender though.

This is something Lily has done for years, by the way. In 2016, she released a 3AM Ramble criticizing the idea that she's polarizing.

To be fair, she does make some good points--mostly regarding how most criticism of her critical skills at the time was little more than "you're so arrogant"--but her attempts to prove that she's not controversial simply fall flat. The most she gives is that there are other more controversial things you could do (which is the fallacy of relative comparison) and that most of her videos don't have more likes than dislikes. Of course, even if you are a controversial figure, it's more likely that a fan is going to watch any of your videos than somebody who is critical of you, so the ratings are naturally skewed to be on the higher side.

I also want to note this video is one of many where she calls the YouTube audience, and even her own audience, a bunch of vapid morons that she is better than. On one hand, she'll say she's not actually as arrogant as she pretends to be in Glass of Water, and then she'll say that most people are idiots and she's one of the cognitive elite.

What's especially notable is she denies her work being controversial, all while claiming that Glass of Water is contrarian as a series. If an opinion being expressed is different from the mainstream, then by definition it's at least somewhat controversial. And again, what's especially notable is the fact that Lily does not even have to hide this--she's literally saying this and not understanding how it disproves the other things that she says.

Mind you, the point is not to actually think about how people respond to her opinion, it's just to make herself look more mainstream than she actually is. Lily is supposed to be the person who talks for everybody but who mainstream culture just won't listen to. She's another member of contrarian counter-culture, and everything she does should be seen as such.

[oblivionbladetd]

Lily Orchard's writing tips, a brief epilogue.

That took so much more out of me than I thought it would. Like I've watched Videos on the list and managed to get good quality screenshots from one, specifically the Diregentlemen's Two Professional Writers react to her thread. Great video btw look it up. But anyway just giving that god awful list a fair shake with my own critical chops is just... Ugh... So much of it isn't even writing advice, it's just a few takes that didn't end up in a Glass of Water and A LOT THAT DID.

I used to be a fan of hers, I didn't want her list to be this fuckin bad. I've seen all of her glass of water vids I've seen her Korra and Steven ar trash and here's why. I didn't make this because I wanted to sit here twirling my dastardly mustache until it catches flame from the friction, I made as a reminder to myself and to warn others. Lily Orchard is not a good critic, she's not a great writer. From a list I think I might have inspired she can't even follow her own advice.

Having watched here latest Steven video, you could use the same absolutionist logic on most of her works and drudge the horridness straight to the surface. As an easy example the poke-madhouses mating bond concept and even Bonnie. There was no consent either time, but fuck it G just knows what's best for her and lily and nobody will ever be upset with that implication... But both that and her Steven is the worst video are cans of worms I don't particularly want to rip open right now, leaving the Steven Universe defense at none of the diamonds knew better, just like 90% of the gems they made. Probably recontextualizes that video a bit.

I'll admit now that I am a bit embarrassed with how clear it was that I lost my patience near the end of the list, but will leave it be as it is my truest felling on the matter. I do sincerely believe what I said In the beginning, sifting through her content for meaningful takeaways is filtering a sewage outflow pipe for clean drinking water. Believe me it is perfectly possible, but the effort it takes is better spent looking for cleaner water. The way she structures her everything is so absolutist it make her good takes only decent because they heavily miss the qualifiers needed, and the bad takes are said in such an unwavering confidence it comes off as just outright stupid. The dire gentlemen said that only 15 tips were good advice, but I'd argue that you could pair it down further as only like 5 are just that good right out of the box no extra thought needed. That's 5% basically golden rules, 10% things you'd really need to think on though are otherwise good and 85% padding, ranting, or just straight up bad advice.

In summary, Lily Orchard is a hack critic, a hack writer, and honestly a terrible person if you've seen anything about Lily she can't carefully curate. If you're gonna trudge through the sludge bring a good pair of waders, because to get her nuggets of gold you'll have be up to your tits in bad takes.

[weaselbeaselpants]

I mean it, regarding Lily Orchard

Adding onto the last few posts I made/rbed from myself, I’m dead serious about Lily Orchard. She’s toxic and a terrible critic, not because her advice is always bad, but because she’s so volatile and absolutist about EVERYTHING she likes/dislikes.

Personally I’m still hurt by the mutuals who have told me they think critic is “hurtful” and that I’m only ever out to make a scene when I post about shit I like. I’m not. I just have an opinion and want to share it in my own space in my own way with people like me. Critique NEEDS to exist and yes - it will sometimes be mean, petty, biased, or poorly researched. Othertimes it won’t be. Everyone’s a critic. Consider that my absolutistperspectivehottakegarbageoftheday.

Lily Orchard is why people don’t like critics and where some critics get the idea being an “anti” is okay or on par with being just a critical fan.

She acts so absolutist about how and why people like things in media; Them liking or disliking something seems genuinely indicative of how good a person they are in real life, and I’m sorry but that’s just not true. I’m 100% Rebecca Sugar doesn’t condone forgiving genocidal dictators. I’m not about to insist to those who see the Diamond arch of SU that way that they let it go and enjoy the wish fufillment. Fuck no! You prolly have a point to be made there.

But, just like the people who insist that fiction NEVER reflects or affects reality, she has a parasocial relationship with fandom and writing. She sees any defense for problematic aspects - which ARE OFTEN THE CONFLICT WITHIN A STORY - to be in agreeance with the act rather than the nuance within a story.

---

I don’t want her on either sides of the Hazbin community. I really hope she’s not dming any of the SpindleHorse staff or getting in fans faces about what they should or shouldn’t do. It’s not her show. As for when/if she gets on the criticalHazbin bandwagon train -

[dianasson]

Happy Cerealia!!!

Today is the Roman festival of Ceres. Above are couple photos from the ritual, and while I recover in my cozy bed I will share a story with you. This is from Ovid's Metamorphoses, Melville's translation. (TW: Abduction, Rape)

The Abduction of Proserpine

"The land of Sicily quakes as Typhoeus the Giant buried beneath the island heaves and even Rex Silentum (the king who rules the land of silence) shudders lest the ground in gaping seams should open and the day stream down and terrify the trembling Umpire. Tyrannus had left his dark domains to and fro, drawn in his chariot and sable steeds, inspected the foundations of the isle. His survey done, and no point found to fail, he put his fears aside; when, as he roamed, Erycina from her mountain throne, saw him and clasped her swift-winged son, and said: ‘Cupido, my child, my warrior, my power, take those sure shafts with which you conquer all, and shoot your speedy arrows to the heart of the great god to whom the last lot fell when the three realms were drawn. Your majesty subdues the gods of heaven and sea... Why should Tartara lag behind? Why not there too extend your mother's empire and your own? The third part of the world's at stake, while we in heaven (so long-suffering!) are despised - my power grows less, and less the power of Amor. Do you not see how Pallas and Diana, queen of the chase, have both deserted me? And Ceres' daughter, if we suffer it, will stay a virgin too - her hope's the same. So for the sake of our joint sovereignty, if that can touch your pride, unite in love that goddess and her uncle.’ 

So she spoke. Then Cupido guided by his mother, opened his quiver and of all his thousand arrows selected one, the sharpest and the surest, the arrow most obedient to the bow, and bent the pliant horn against his knee and shot the barbed shaft deep in Dis' heart. Not far from Henna's walls there is a lake, Pergus by name, its waters deep and still; it hears the music of the choiring swans as sweet as on Caystros' gliding stream. Woods crown the waters, ringing every side, their leaves like awnings barring the sun's beams. The boughs give cooling shade, the watered grass is gay with spangled flowers of every hue, and always it is spring. Here Proserpina was playing in a glade and picking flowers, pansies and lilies, with a child's delight, filling her basket and her lap to gather more than the other girls, when, in a trice, Dis saw her, loved her, carried her away - love leapt in such a hurry! Terrified, in tears, the goddess called her mother, called her comrades too, but oftenest her mother; and, as she'd torn the shoulder of her dress, the folds slipped down and out the flowers fell, and she, in innocent simplicity, grieved in her girlish heart for their loss too. Away the chariot sped; her captor urged each horse by name and shook the dark-dyed reins on mane and neck. On through deep lakes he drove, on through Palici's sulphurous pools that boil in reeking chasms, on past Bacchiadae, where settlers once from Corinthus' isthmus built between two harbours their great battlements. 

 A bay confined by narrow points of land lies between Arethusa Pisaea and Cyane. And there lived Cyane, the most renowned of all the Nymphae Sicelidae, who gave her pool its name. Out of her waters' midst she rose waist-high and recognised the goddess. ‘Stop, stop!’ she cried, ‘You cannot take this girl to wife against Queen Ceres' will! She ought to have been wooed, not whirled away. I too, if humble things may be compared with great, was loved; Anapus married me; but I was wooed and won, not, like this girl, frightened and forced.’ She held out her arms outstretched to bar his way. But Saturnius restrained his wrath no longer. Urging on his steeds, his terrible steeds, and brandishing aloft his royal sceptre in his strong right arm, he hurled it to the bottom of the pool. The smitten earth opened a way to Hell and down the deep abyss the chariot plunged. But Cyane, heartbroken at the rape of Proserpine and at her pool's outrage, in silence carried in her heart a wound beyond consoling, and in endless tears she wasted away. Into the pool - her pool and she but now its deity - she spread dissolved.

Ceres Searches for Proserpina

Ceres meanwhile in terror sought her child vainly in every land, o'er every sea. Never Aurora (the Dawn) rising with dewy hair, nor ever Hesperus (the Evening Star) saw her at rest. She lit pine-torches, one in either hand, at Aetna's fires, and through the frosty dark bore them unsleeping. When the friendly day had dimmed the stars, she sought her daughter still from sunrise until sunset hour by hour...

Through what far lands and seas the goddess roved were long to tell; the whole world failed her search. She turned again to Sicania and there, in wanderings that led her everywhere, she too reached Cyane; who would have told all, had she not been changed. She longed to tell but had no mouth, no tongue, nor any means of speaking. Even so she gave a clue, clear beyond doubt, and floating on her pool she showed the well-known sash which Persephone had chanced to drop there in the sacred spring.

How well the goddess knew it! Then at last she seemed to understand her child was stolen, and tore her ruffed hair and beat her breast. Where the girl was she knew not, but reproached the whole wide world - ungrateful, not deserving her gift of grain - and Trinacria in chief where she had found the traces of her loss. So there with angry hands she broke the ploughs that turned the soil and sent to death alike the farmer and his labouring ox, and bade the fields betray their trust, and spoilt the seeds...

Then that fair Nymphe Alpheias rose from her pool and brushed back from he brow her dripping hair, and said : ‘O thou, divine Mother, who through the world hast sought thy child... The land is innocent; against its will it opened for that rape. While beneath the earth I glided in my Stygian stream, I saw, myself with my own eyes, your Proserpina. Her looks were sad, and fear still in her eyes; and yet a queen, and yet of that dark land Empress, and yet with power and majesty the consort of the Tyrannus Infernus (Sovereign lord of Hell).’ The mother heard in horror, thunderstruck it seemed and turned to stone.

The Return of Proserpina

Then as her shock so great gave way to grief as great, she soared borne in her chariot, to the sky's bright realms and stood, with clouded face and hair let loose, indignant before Jove and said: ‘I come to plead for my own flesh and blood, yours too; and if the mother finds no favour, let at least the daughter move her father's heart; love her not less because I gave her birth. Behold the daughter I have sought so long is found, if found is surer loss, or if but to know where she is finding her. Her theft I'll bear if he'll but bring her back; a thief, a kidnapper's no proper husband for child of yours, even if she's mine no more.’

And Juppiter replied: ‘The child is yours and mine, our common care and love, If we allow things proper names, here is no harm, no crime, but love and passion. Such a son-in-law, if you, Ma'am, but consent, will not disgrace us. To be Jove's brother, what a splendid thing! - if that were all! What then, when that's not all, when he yields place to me only because the lots so fell? But if your heart's so set to part them, Proserpina shall reach the sky again on one condition, that in Hell her lips have touched no food; such is the rule forestablished by the three Parcae.’

So Jove replied; but Ceres was resolved to win her daughter back. Not so fate permitted, for the girl had broken her fast and wandering, childlike, through the orchard trees from a low branch had picked a pomegranate and peeled the yellow rind and found the seeds and nibbled seven. The only one who saw was Orphne's son, Ascalaphus, whom she, no the least famous of the Nymphae Avernales, bore once to Acheron in her dusky bower. He saw and told, in spite, and by his tale stole her return away. The Queen of Hell (Regina Erebi) groaned in distress and changed the tale-bearer into a bird. She threw into his face water from Phlegethon, and lo! a beak and feathers and enormous eyes! Reshaped, he wears great tawny wings, his head swells huge... a loathsome bird, ill omen for mankind, a skulking screech-owl, sorrow's harbinger.

That tell-tale tongue of his no doubt deserved the punishment. But the Acheloides, why should it be that they have feathers now and feet of birds, though still a girl's fair face, the sweet-voiced Sirenes? Was it not because, when Proserpine was picking those spring flowers, they were her comrades there, and, when in vain they'd sought for her through all the lands, they prayed for wings to carry them across the waves, so that the seas should know their search, and found the gods gracious, and then suddenly saw golden plumage clothing all their limbs? Yet to reserve that dower of glorious song, their melodies' enchantment, they retained their fair girls' features and their human voice. Then Juppiter, to hold the balance fair between his brother and his sister in her grief, portioned the rolling years in equal parts. Now Proserpine, of two empires alike great deity, spends with her mother half the year's twelve months and with her husband half. Straightway her heart and features are transformed; that face which even Dis must have found unhappy beams with joy, as when the sun, long lost and hidden in the clouds and rain, rides forth in triumph from the clouds again. So Ceres had regained her Proserpine."

[pocket-luv101]

Home Sweet Home ‖ Part 1

Summary: Mahiru hasn’t returned to his family’s old apple farm since his mother died. When his father tells him that he plans to sell the farm, Mahiru returns to the country to stop him. He thought the memories and past would be difficult but Kuro helps him. (KuroMahi, Western AU)

(Part 1) // Part 2

“Home sweet home,” Mahiru stepped out of his car and looked over the humble farmhouse. The building hadn’t changed since the last time he saw it as a child. When his mother died and his uncle adopted him, he moved to the city. His uncle would offer to take him to the farm to visit but the memories kept him from returning. The years he spent with his mother were wonderful yet painful to recall.

Ironically, those memories were the reason he returned now. His absent father came back with the intention to sell the apple farm. Mahiru didn’t want his childhood home and his memories there to be demolished for profit. The land belonged to his mother and Mahiru inherited it after her death. His mother’s will had a clause that Mahiru must live in the farmhouse for a year or else it would go to his father. She wanted to ensure that someone lived in the home and cared for it.

He pulled his luggage from his trunk and carried them up the porch. Mahiru peered inside the window but he couldn’t see anyone inside. He placed his bags on the ground so he could take out his keys. Before he could find them, there was a voice behind him. “We don’t want to buy anything, Sir.”

“I’m not here to sell you anything.” He turned around and saw a tall man. He stood a few feet from him but he could see how stunning his red eyes were. Mahiru took out his keys from his pocket and jingled them. “My name is Mahiru Shirota and my family owns this farm. I sent an email to a man named Kuro and told him that I would arrive today. Is he inside?”

“I’m Kuro. With that fancy suit of yours, I thought you were one of those city folks who wants to sell us insurance or something.” He said and closed the space between them. Kuro unlocked the door and let him into the house. As Mahiru stepped inside, Kuro couldn’t help but notice that Mahiru appeared out of place.

“Is this your family?” Mahiru asked and stared at the photograph hanging on the wall. Since they lived in the city and couldn’t drive to the farm often, his uncle hired the Servamps to manage it for them. The family could live in the house during their work. He could tell they kept the house well maintained and loved. “I hope we can get along since this farmhouse will be both of our homes now. I can’t wait to meet everyone.”

“They’re in the orchard right now. You might want to change out of your suit and into something more comfortable first. Dry cleaning a suit like yours must be expensive. I’ll show you to your room.” Kuro picked up his suitcases to carry it for Mahiru. He followed him and thought of how strong Kuro was to carry the heavy bags so effortlessly. He wondered if it was from all the work on the farm.

As they walked down the hall, Mahiru paused in front of a door. Kuro noticed him stop and looked back to him over his shoulder. “Your room is the master bedroom at the end of the hall, Mahiru. If you’re looking for the bathroom, it’s to your right.”

“This was my bedroom when I was a kid.” Mahiru spoke in a soft voice. He didn’t know if the words were meant to answer Kuro’s question or if he was simply musing to himself. He shook aside the memories and forced himself to smile. The last thing he wanted was for Kuro to see him sad the first day they meet. “I’m just a little nostalgic.”

“If you want your old room, we can trade. We thought you would prefer the master bedroom. It wouldn’t be any trouble to switch though.” Kuro offered and his kindness touched Mahiru. He shook his head with a small smile. The soft expression he had made Kuro’s heart flutter slightly and he blushed. He changed the subject and said, “The lawyer talked to us yesterday and told us about your mother’s will. I’m sorry for your loss.”

“Thank you. She was a wonderful mother.” He said. He opened the door and Kuro set down his suitcases in front of the bed. Mahiru noticed a cardboard box on the desk and he questioned if they forgot to move the box. He voiced the thought to Kuro and picked it up. “I’ll help you carry it back to its owner. This is a good ice breaker.”

“The box belongs to you.” Kuro opened the lid and Mahiru found framed photos inside. He explained, “When we first moved in, there were still some photos on the wall. We wanted to mail them to you but we couldn’t find your forwarding address. We still kept them in case you ever came back to pick them up since they looked important. This seemed like a good time to return them.”

“I was just a kid then and my uncle packed everything for me. I didn’t check if he forgot anything.” Mahiru thought his grief would fade with time but he realized that he merely avoided it. Now that he was home, he was forced to face those feelings. He took out a photo of his family and placed it beside his bed. “Thank you for keeping these for me.”

“It was Lily’s idea to clean the dust from them before you came.” Kuro shrugged. The lawyer spoke with his family and told them that they would have to leave the farm if Mahiru didn’t fulfil his mother’s will. The farm would go to Mahiru’s father who wanted to sell the land. They decided to make Mahiru as comfortable as possible so he would stay for the year.

Mahiru stepped to the window and pulled up the screen to feel the cool breeze drift in. He took a deep breath and thought of how refreshing the country air was. The wind pushed his bangs into his eyes and he smoothed his hair back. Kuro stood next to him and Mahiru asked, “Is that your family down there? Picking apples must be heavy work.”

“We’re used to it. Apple picking season gives us a little break since families come to do our work for us.” He joked and made Mahiru chuckle. “The lawyer said you have to live here but you don’t have to force yourself to do any heavy lifting. It’s November so we’re almost finished harvesting everything anyways.”

“But I want to help. This farm will be my home for the next year and, thinking simply, I should do my part. Anyways, I would feel terrible if I see you guys working while I sit around. You might call me a city boy but hard labour doesn’t faze me.” Mahiru told him with a confident grin. Kuro was slightly surprised by his words since he didn’t think someone from the city was willing to work on an apple farm.

“They say you can’t judge a person by their clothes.” Kuro mused and stared at Mahiru’s suit. He pushed himself away from the window and straightened. “I’ll wait in the hallway while you change and get settled. Then, I’ll introduce you to my siblings.”

“Can I ask you another question first, Kuro?” Mahiru stopped him from leaving. When he nodded, he asked: “When is dinner and what does everyone like to eat? I want to cook for your family. My uncle says that the best way to get to know someone is to share a meal with them.”

“My siblings love ramen.” He told a small lie but he doubted his family would be too angry at him. Kuro walked into the hall and closed the door between them. He leaned against the wall and waited for Mahiru to change. He spoke through the door: “After you meet everyone, I’ll give you a tour of the farm and house. Oh, dinner’s in an hour.”

“An hour? I need to get everything ready properly right now.” Mahiru rushed out of the room with his clothes disheveled. He took Kuro’s hand and pulled him towards the kitchen. He hadn’t been to the farmhouse in ten years but he still knew the layout well. “This might be better though. I can meet everyone over dinner and not interrupt their work.”

Kuro stared at their joined hands and thought of how Mahiru was different from what he thought he would be. He assumed he would be a cold city person since his emails were short and simple. In contrast to that, Mahiru was warm and honest. Mahiru wore his emotions on his sleeve when he looked at his old room and the photographs. Returning must’ve been difficult for him and the easy solution would be to sell the land like his father wanted.

For his family’s sake, Kuro was glad that he decided to come. It would be difficult for them to find a new home and jobs if they were forced to leave. After he met Mahiru, he also hoped that the apple farm could help Mahiru’s grief fade.

“This is the barn.” Kuro showed Mahiru around the farm once they had finished dinner with his family. Beside him, Mahiru lifted a camera to take a picture. He was a photographer and he hoped the stay would be a little easier if he focused on his work. “We don’t have many animals aside from a few horses. We keep our equipment here like the trucks and dirt bikes. The apple orchard covers a few acres so it’s a long walk. It’ll be better if you can use one. Do you know how to ride?”

“A horse or a dirt bike?” Mahiru answered his question with one of his own. He walked to one of the stalls and looked at the horse inside. The horse approached him but Mahiru hesitated to pet the large animal. He made a sheepish smile and admitted, “I don’t know how to ride either one. Can you teach me? I’m a quick learner so I won’t take too much of your time.”

“Dinner’s in an hour so I can give you a short lesson right now. The dirt bike might be easier for you so we should try that first.” Kuro reasoned because Mahiru appeared nervous with the animal. As he took down a helmet from a hook, he said: “You should leave your camera on the table. It might break if you fall off the bike.”

Mahiru didn’t answer him and Kuro looked back to him. He continued to stare at the black horse before him. The horse leaned over the stall’s door and nudged Mahiru slightly. Hesitantly, he lifted his hand to stroke its dark mane. “You’re a well-behaved horse, aren’t you? What’s your name?”

“Ash. He’s trained so you don’t need to be afraid of him. I try to take him out for rides often but I don’t have the time. During pony rides, most of the kids are scared of him because he’s so tall.” Kuro patted the horse’s back. For a moment, Mahiru appeared deep in thought. He held out the helmet to him and said, “Do you want me to teach you how to ride the bike or the horse?”

“The latter.” Mahiru said and put on the helmet. He watched Kuro slip a bridle over Ash’s muzzle and then lead the horse out of its stall. As he placed a saddle on his back, Mahiru stroked its muzzle. “I had ridden a horse once at a carnival. When it was my turn, another kid spooked the horse and it threw me off its back. I wasn’t hurt luckily. I’m not afraid of horses or heights but the memory just came back to me.”

“You can trust Ash. I won’t let anything happen to you either. I’ll be riding next to you and leading him around the farm. For our first lesson, all you have to do is sit and become accustomed to him.” Kuro reassured him. Beneath Mahiru’s hand, he could feel how calm the horse was and that was reassuring. He gestured to the stirrup and asked, “Are you ready?”

“I trust you two.” Mahiru felt a mix of excitement and nervousness in his stomach.

“Okay, put your left foot in the stirrup, grab the horn and pull yourself onto its back.” Kuro instructed and Mahiru followed the steps. He placed his hand on the small of his back to help him. Mahiru sat in the saddle and the height was taller than he expected. He relaxed after he left a warm hand on his leg. “Are you okay? You can come down anytime and switch to the bike.”

“I’m not scared.” He smiled down at him to reassure Kuro. Once he saw that Mahiru felt safe and relaxed, he left his side to get another horse. He was only gone for a moment before he came back on a horse. Kuro reached across and took Ash’s reigns into his hand. He tied them to his horn and said, “This is just a walk for you two to get know each other. The real lessons start tomorrow.”

Ash slowly walked forward and Kuro gave Mahiru instructions on how to balance on the horse. Once he became accustomed to the pace, they rode in silence. Mahiru enjoyed the relaxed pace and how beautiful the view was on the horse. It was impossible to find such a scenic sight in the city. He couldn’t help but take a picture with his camera. He glanced to Kuro next to him and he hoped they could get to know each other through the lesson.

“I forgot to warn you but horse riding can make your legs sore. You should take a warm bath after this.” Kuro suggested.

“Are you saying that because I’m a city boy to you? I don’t think it can be that bad. Right, Ash?” Mahiru thought he was exaggerating and laughed softly. He reached down and stroked Ash’s neck fondly. “Let’s keep going.”

“You two came back awfully late, Nii-san.” Hyde said as he and Kuro sneaked an extra helping of noodles later that night. His brother merely shrugged in answer. A teasing grin spread across his face. “You just met but you two hooked up already? I didn’t think you were the type, Nii-san.”

“What?” Kuro choked on the noodles he was eating. He blushed and quickly corrected his brother, “Mahiru asked me to teach him how to ride.”

“Your coc—”

“A horse!” Kuro stopped him before he could finish his sentence. His face felt like it was burning. He loved his brother but Hyde could be troublesome. “I’m teaching Mahiru how to ride Ash so it will be easier for him to get around the apple orchard. He wants to help with the harvest and he even talked about baking pies to sell in the winter. He might be from the city but he has a good work ethic.”

“It sounds like he made a good impression on you. Not many people can do that.” Hyde mused and sipped his soup. “This year might be more interesting with him around.”

[nbapprentice]

Okay, having not heard of Lily Orchard until I came across your blog, and looking into her more on my own (checking out her videos, reading up on things she's been called out for, etc), she seems to make videos with certain opinions for the views, and not because she genuinely believes in said opinions? Like, saying Steven Universe is Garbage gets her a ton of views from both crits who agree and stans who will hate-watch it. Same with praising stuff like Star Vs, Hazbin, and even Family Guy. :/

thats.... pathetic

and i mean if shes willing to endorse terrible opinions for the views then she’s still endorsing them either way. 

[monkey-network]

?Does SU is Garbage¿: A Measured Response

or THE TROOF ABOUT STEVEN UNIVERSE, PART 7

Hello, ladies and gentlemen. Monkey of the Makaveli, coming at ya live, once again, through the power... of the internet. And this rant is quite menial, especially since the topic at hand is over half a year old now, but I’ve been sitting on it recently and I wanted to get it off my chest. 

Back in 2017, I talked about SU’s handling of villains and how the show was plotting up to make them sympathetic, thus neutering the sense of dimension that can come with developing a villain, especially when you initially make them out to be very fascistic in their approach. Over a year later, Lily Orchard released a video essentially touting the same with the addition of saying the show unintentionally bears a theme of nazi apologia thanks to Sugar’s ambition for character redemption, thus making the show objectively bad. I didn’t agree to this but I didn’t have as good of a case then so I left it alone. Cut to winter where I saw a response from her talking about Robobuddies’ video on SU, considering it good but “malnutritious” compared to hers. Again, I didn’t agree with this sentiment but I didn’t have as good of a case then so I left that alone as well. Cut to April this year where, after learning quite a bit about objectivity vs subjectivity, I went back to that response and rereading this one quote, something clicked:

“No criticism of anything should leave out the themes and whether they actually panned out the way the creator was hoping they would. If all you care about is story structure and animation, Robo goes in an impressive amount of detail about those two specific things. But that kind of hyperfixation on these two things while ignoring the themes is malnutritious criticism.“ [December, 2018]

So with all consideration, the analysis of themes seem important to Orchard when it comes to objective criticism, especially when her video was out to prove the why in “Why Steven Universe IS Garbage.” And this isn’t a one time thing, I remember her covering before that the themes are what can make or break a show, episode, what have you. I would agree, but I hate to say this, given that I tend to be quite a writer/critic myself, yet it should be a given:

Themes should not and are not the end all, BE all to objective criticism, because it is an inherently subjective concept.

Now with that said, I’m not saying she doesn’t bring up good points, but for all the talk of whether the themes actually panned out the way the creator was hoping they would, this talk of fascist apologia in SU is not so much discussing Sugar’s intention but second guessing it based on personal hindsight and bias. In all fairness, I’m not above this since, again, I too felt this way beforehand and after watching SU the whole way through, my perspective has certainly changed.

So permit me, if you will, to go on one final SU rant, not only deconstructing that headline statement above, but objectively analyze Orchard’s idea of SU being apologetic to fascism in addition to reflect off of my previous stance for the villains. Prepare yourselves, this is quite a read...

The Themes, Mason

Keep in mind, I’m not saying discussing themes in media is a bad thing because it can enhance how you feel about it. As such discussing only the story structure, characters, the direction of the media isn’t bad either because you’re focusing on how the project came together and what is measurable in terms of good and bad content. But understand that while connectable, they are still separate types of criticisms. And while many writers can disagree with me on this, I feel like this has to be said: themes shouldn't be the point of the show. This goes for creators and critics equally.

I’ve discussed this earlier with someone, but themes are so subjective, you can put the content on a shelf that cannot be considered good/bad; circumventing any criticisms that could prove you wrong, and essentially deadlocking discussion since any opponent can’t really disprove your theme if proven enough and they either have to go along with you or argue to the death that it can be something else while you can sit comfortably in your generally subjective bubble, thinking you achieved objectivity.

You can give counters, but this is what people like Lily resort to define what’s good or bad writing in their eyes, and it can be frustrating trying to deconstruct because you can’t kill an idea. Not to say Rebecca Sugar or other creators can’t/couldn’t fall for this too because trying to contextualize themes over the actions of the characters and the flow of the plot, to force everything around the themes, can often lead to conflicting and sometimes frustrating thoughts as to what the show is trying to say. You will definitely see this with shows containing the most polarized fanbases, i.e. Voltron, GoT, Star vs. Evil, where it’s arguable that the creators trying to put the themes over the writing crippled people’s interest when they actually pay attention to the writing.

That’s not to say themes aren’t important or shouldn’t be important to you, but they should be the shadow that comes with the walking product, not the partner giving you the directions shoulder to shoulder as it goes along. Avatar The Last Airbender certainly doesn’t get the praise that it gets based on the themes alone, but of how well-written the characters were, how they’ve grown, what were their thought processes, and so forth; people love understanding the logic behind writing. Lily understands this. But on the flip side, I’m willing to bet she’ll use the themes as a defense to me saying Captain Marvel is objectively bad in terms of its writing quality. Whether it be their sacred cow or something they want destroyed, themes can be the go-to when trying to convince people that their judgement is concrete, when in reality it’s interpretive. 

Furthermore, saying “No criticism should leave out the themes” is the “you have to have a very high IQ” of criticism standards. Truthfully when it comes to objective criteria, the story structure makes the themes, not the other way around. As such what you experience from a movie/show can be different to how the movie actually turned out. Best example would be a look into Armound White, a staple critic infamous for his contrarian takes. Every movie considered great is bad, vice versa, with some even transcending his scale. For a perspective, this man thought Into the Spiderverse was bad and a majority of video games, aside from Detective Pikachu were great, so take that what you will. But if you read some of his reviews, it’s less about what the movie did and more of what it supposedly stands for; His Spiderverse review mostly talks about how, thematically, it’s indoctrinating people into the MCU’s commercial process:

Whoever says Into the Spider-Verse is about “fun” doesn’t understand movies or anything about how 21st-century media operates — particularly the exhausting Marvel franchise. Millennials, and others, delude themselves by accepting market promotion as part of a larger cultural narrative. [...] Marvel and Sony gamble on Miles to meet the identity-politics fashion that now dominates contemporary culture. (Consider that Spider-Man’s example overwhelms Miles’s school assignment, Dickens’s Great Expectations.) But this is not just freewheeling, imaginative, and progressive capitalism, as in Spielberg’s Ready Player One; it’s the worst social, artistic, ethnic, and political engineering.“ [Armound White, December 14, 2018, this is what most of his reviews sound like, FYI]

Now say what you will about White, his way of reviewing is remotely consistent and can somewhat be a nice measurement to what’s considerably good and bad. You can see his review of Man of Steel and take away that it probably isn’t the “Godfather of Superhero Films” or a movie like Suicide Squad where it’s terrible enough that he couldn’t defend it, all the while mostly discussing the themes in lieu of any concrete happenings from the movie. The same can’t be said for most others when they surely want something beaten to the ground or elevated as great. The standards you might have for one thing can be bent to things you like and don’t like if you so choose; warping the context around your idea. As such, you’ll generally find most wanting to enjoy their own perspective while telling others they’re incorrect for having theirs. But how might this collate with Lily’s case for SU bearing the theme of nazi apologia or redeeming the space nazis, making the show pretty bad? Well...

Sympathy and Redemption vs The Deconstruct of Viewpoints

I won’t deny that Lily’s point about the show bringing in the Diamonds as an overarching threat is touchy given what they’ve done and who they are vs how their character was slowly revealed. It was bold thinking that the Sugar gang were gonna offer these characters redemption or show them in a sympathetic light. But I’ll say right now, and I’m talking to 2017 me as well, this is admittedly surface level.

To preface this, I’ll say that Lily’s point amounts to a lot of pattern recognition. This is something people who criticize with themes use and I’m not above that, as I will be doing that soon. Another thing is that in trying to argue Lily’s point, this is in no way trying to defend Steven Universe’s writing; it’s generally just setting some things straight.

With this said, one pattern that she brings up is that the portrayals of the Diamonds is essentially the show trying to make you feel sorry for them. In addition, with Steven being Pink Diamond, it’s trying to justify that without this factor in mind, the diamonds should’ve been killed because they’re far from redemption or sympathy in any light.

Now, I won’t say the part of Steven being Pink is wrong because this opened a disconnect of Steven having to be the mouthpiece for someone that should’ve been alive to give her perspective to characters that deserve it, i.e. the Diamonds and the gems. In fact, Pink Diamond/Rose Quartz is honestly the main problem with this show as a whole and I could into extreme length as to why but I digress. But,,,, on talk of woobifying the fascists, there is a contradiction afoot. With this contradiction comes a question: are the Diamonds ever shown to be in the right?

Weird question but this is where I’ve noticed a contextual pattern that Homeworld’s ideology is always called out on its bullshit, understanding the fact that they’re truly nothing without their sense of superiority. This is with Peridot calling out Yellow Diamond after commemorating how much she respected her before. Blue Diamond getting a fucking farm and a hand dropped on her after stubbornly touting her grief over everyone. And in the end where all three diamonds, including the literal White Supremacist, fall before the fact that everything they thought was right turned out to be crap. Steven does lend a hand to these characters, but it is never shown that he or the show actively justifies their behavior, regardless of their power/status. If anything, the show constantly makes Steven look better than the Diamonds by comparison, while looking like he’s trying to reach common ground with them. 

Heck, I’ll go to where Lily talks of Uncle Andy and his episode in that part. There’s no denying that Andy’s retorts were highly xenophobic, but even when Steven and the others try to be chummy with him through dinner, the last third of the episode mostly involves celebrating each others’ presence without him, not once trying to bring him in on the conversation, not even Greg who’s actual family with him. This results in Andy storming off and later on admit that he’s rightfully at fault for not being susceptible to change, and this admittance comes before Steven offers him the opportunity to connect with the family more. Not saying this couldn’t have been tuned better, but we can’t deny that the show doesn’t tolerate attitudes like Andy’s and thus shows them that they’re wrong before Steven offers them the chance to better their worldview, unless you’re Kevin but he’s an outlier all things considered.

And in turn, this also brings in the pattern that the villains don’t submit so easily. The gems had to fight off the Diamonds before Steven got through to them, and even then it took some time before they actually sided with Steven over White Diamond. White Diamond had to be subdued more than once just for Steven to get through to her. While these moments vary in logic and pacing, again thanks to the PD = RQ twist, the point nonetheless rings home that the show isn’t much sympathetic to the Diamonds as much as it’s intolerable towards their stance and reacts accordingly. The only time the Diamonds are ever in the right are when they acknowledge they’re wrong, playing to the theme that no one’s above a change in viewpoint. Say what you will about what happened, it’s at least reasonable to say the writers provided a serviceable story that benefited from not killing anybody (sort of) while giving the heroes a struggle to overcome.

As with redemption, and I’ve mentioned this before, Sugar hasn’t actually redeemed them and the show more or less understands this. Change of viewpoint is one thing, but if they haven’t sacrificed anything beyond their ego or high ground, can’t really count that as them going through a redemption arc because they haven’t really given up anything sincerely valuable of theirs. Given that the show isn’t over yet, it would be premature to say that they’re in the clear and can’t be given time to repent heavily for their past. Just saying, for somebody that sought objectivity in my criticisms of SU for a while now, I’m actually willing to give Sugar a chance to finish her story before vilifying her intentions unlike some. And if I’m proven wrong, I will be happy to admit that.

Now taking everything into account, it’s reasonable to say that the show wanted to give the Diamond more dimension, make ‘em less like Disney villains. And it’s also fair to say that the show stumbles in conveying this rationally given the prefacing condition I’ve mentioned before. But is this prevalent theme of trying to make the space nazis sympathetic applicable to saying SU is objectively bad? Well, if you ignore most of the context, this is a probability, otherwise this is very discrepant to what actually happens in the story give or take its few hiccups. We can say Sugar’s development of the Diamonds comes from a fascination of trying to redeem them, hence trying to sympathize with space nazis, but given what we know and what we don’t know yet, I can’t help but say that this is trying to make it deeper than knowingly. Or if so, the writers are doing it at quite a distance, so to speak. 

“”The Argument””

Unfortunately, herein lies a problem I’ve noticed with how criticism is made and handled. Lily and others like her can be pretty inconsistent with their arguments that they resort to inventing quotes and problems to make their arguments look irrefutable and their opponents look crazier by comparison. Not saying Sugar hasn’t flubbed up a few times in the past with SU, but Lily is giving her a lot of credit for something she generally invented herself, only to then say Sugar is remarkably unaware of everything she’s doing like she’s Mr. Magoo. Doesn’t help that the woman offers no citations or references to Sugar providing insight on her intentions or goals in the show, no actual commentary on the matter even when such could exist, to actually make her stance objective. She just says that this theme for SU exists, ergo the show is bad for it... Do you now see what I mean when I say that themes aren’t the end all, be all to objective criticism? Especially for a show like Steven Universe where it can either be analyzed incrementally or as a whole when completed? It’s this dishonesty that stifles genuine criticism because whether or not you're in the right of something, this meshing of objective and subjective takes leads to misinformation and the lack of fair discussion because you can stubbornly keep to your stance. And for the fact that her video’s ratings are disabled and the comment section bears nothing but complete agreements with her, I doubt this troubles her.

Again, won’t deny that the Diamonds aren't fascistic in their character, nor am I saying that the story couldn't have been done better with them, but it should be said that this nebulous vitriol towards Sugar, regardless of her executive position, has lead to a far-fetched presumption that I doubt barely anybody is truly behind other than those who just agree with her. Yet this is what she considers the crux of her stance, an idea that hasn't been denied or accepted by anybody important other than herself. Or better yet a stance she finds irrefutable when in reality, it's a subjective opinion that nobody can or has to really deny unless they actually think about it hard enough. I won’t take away this theme, but if Lily’s seriously believing that this makes Steven Universe garbage... well, she is wrong. And you know what? That’s okay.

The Conclusion

With all this, like I said before, this was less about disproving Lily’s point and more about understanding my old perspective. Cuz when I think about it, critiquing media like SU among others helped me understand what I truly like, differentiate between what’s entertaining and what’s good, generally without having to be interpretive or try to make every argument I have “just my opinion.“ I’ve become more... aware of how see things and I’d say that’s better than trying to stick with a single viewpoint. Doesn’t mean I’m critical towards everything I watch, just feels like I’ve grown thoughtful in how I consume media.

Steven Universe is not a show I find to be a favorite anymore, but through many thoughts and realizations, it’s a show I’ll gladly stay tuned to because it is entertaining and makes me think about it in a nuanced way. Again, this response was in no way an active defense towards this show, but overall, I’ll say the show deserves a better look through than this, so to speak.

[annerbhp]

what would have happened if harry had died in the forest or on the run or elsewhere in your changeling/armistice series?

OH NO YOU DIDN’T.

Yes. You did. Okay. There are two ways this goes. One thatis tragic and one that is wildly tragic. Today I shall indulge you with themerely tragic version. (Because how can it not be?)

So. Harry dies in the forest and doesn’t come back. The onlyway that really works is if Voldemort doesn’t use Harry’s blood for theresurrection ceremony for some reason. So he doesn’t have Lily’s protection. Hegoes out into the forest and dies so that the horcrux will die as well.

There is no coming back.

Everything after that goes nearly the same.

Neville refuses to be cowed. Voldemort puts the Sorting Haton him. Neville pulls the sword and kills Nagini—the last horcrux. Everythingshoves back into motion.

Only there is no Harry under an invisibility cloak. Hagridhunches over his lifeless body, trying to protect him from the barrage ofspells and debris even if there is no longer any point.

Ginny floats along in a horrific sort of icy clarity,fighting with Luna and Hannah, refusing to think of the body still spilled outon the stones. You knew this wouldhappen, you knew what he was doing. She gets pushed back into the GreatHall. She nearly gets killed by Bellatrix’s spell. Molly still steps forwardand kills Bellatrix.

This is where everything changes.

Voldemort, enraged by the way his spells aren’t working—hemay be master of the Elder Wand free and clear in the timeline, he may havedefeated Harry, but Harry still died to protect the people in this castle and Voldemort’sspells just don’t work the way they should. He watches his greatest ally andsycophantic follower fall to a frumpy blood traitor and is filled withunparalleled rage—he killed the boy, this should be all done, why is therestill fighting?

He sends a nasty, inescapable curse towards Molly Weasley,hitting her square in the chest.

She goes down. Goes down and doesn’t move.

Ginny sees all of this. Sees it and feels it and is stillliving in a sort of icy clarity that makes everything possible. Her motherfalls and she thinks for the second time—Iwill end him, even if it is the last thing I ever do.

Ginny has become many things for the war, been many people,and in that moment as a sister to a dead brother and a could-have-been maybe girlfriendto a dead boy on the stones and daughter to a mother fallen in defense ofher—Ginny snaps and becomes something else.

She yells his name—his realname, his Muggle name—like a curse and steps forward, wand raised, screaming,“Avada—” It’s more than enough, she truly means it, has more than enough hateto make it count and absolutely no compunction about it, but Tom gets therefirst, his powerful wand slashing and disarming her.

Her wand lands at his feet and he snaps it in half with hisheel, the sound loud in the terrible hush that seems to fall over the hall. Tomlets out a roar of sound, her body lifting with his rage and his power andflying across the room into his outstretched hand.

Ginny finds herself held by the throat, feet dangling, airstolen. She stares into his face and realizes this is how it ends. For all hehas changed, she can still see Tom in that grotesque face, the boy hiding undereverything.

“You stupid, silly girl,” he snarls. “Did you really thinkyou could harm me?”

She didn’t think anything, truth be told, but here she is,staring into his face, everything slowing down. She doesn’t see him anymore,but her brother, lying still. Her mother, falling. Harry, tumbling to thestones.

I wish, had beenhis last words to her, this boy she maybe could have loved, had she ever beengiven the chance.

Time seems to stretch infinitely long as Tom decides how tokill her, but all she hears are the words stupid,silly girl echoing over and over again,and she thinks, you really never knew meat all. Because he has taken so much from her, too much, and she will notgive him a single thing more.

Could you kill, if youhad to? she hears Harry’s voice asking, his face contorted with sadness andfear of a destiny he never asked for but faced until the very end.

Harry isn’t a killer. Wasn’ta killer.

But she could be. She willbe.

Tom thinks she’s helpless. He think she has no wand and socan’t be a threat to him.

She isn’t weak.

With her last strength, she wraps her hand around his wrist,the skin cool and clammy under hers, as if he is already dead, has been deadforever but it just hasn’t stuck.

She’ll make it stick.

Ginny starts to gather energy in her hand. Her small,helpless hand.

Careful, Nymue’svoice cautions, never give too much ofyourself.

Ginny will give absolutely everything she is.

It builds and builds. Not fear or sadness or rage, but puremagic, her soul, her essence. She lets it build and build, the air seeming tocrackle with it. 

With one last breath, she shoves it all out of her skin andinto his.

There’s a scream of rage and pain, Ginny’s feet hitting theground with an unpleasant lurch, but she holds tight, nails digging in untilthere is blood, pouring her magic into Tom, letting it ravage through himindiscriminately.

There are other screams, spells impacting near her, but sheignores them. Ignores everything but Tom and the magic she is not afraid of. Stretchingout her other hand, she digs her nails into his face, pressing out yet moremagic, no need for wands or spells, just her bones and her flesh and herdetermination. A woman’s magic, toppling a man who never even thought to fearit. Never even deigned to know it existed, for all it nearly killed him oncebefore. He buckles in front of her, his face confused and childlike as she burnshim from the inside out.

He’s still hanging on, just barely, and so is she. Maybethere’s no more room left for either of them. Maybe they’ve always been thesame person since she let him twine himself into her soul at the age of eleven.

“Goodbye, Tom,” she says, and lets go of the last sliver ofherself she has left.

They both hit the stones and lie silent.

*     *     *

Ginny wakes slowly, the light above her blindingly bright asit filters down through the trees. She can feel grass under her legs, the brushof wind across her skin.

She is filled with a buoyant sense of everything being okay.

Turning her head, she can see that she is in the orchard,the Burrow hazy in the distance, bleached nearly white by the intense summersun.

“Here she is,” a familiar voice says. “The Dark Lordslayer.”

“Fred?” she asks, looking up.

He smiles, crouching down next to her, looking whole andwarm and alive. “I always knew youwere fierce, little sis. But that was something else.”

He helps her sit up, one hand slung across her shoulders,and she leans into him, hugging him tight. “I thought you were…”

“I am,” he says.

The truth of it hits her low in the stomach, like a breaththat can’t be caught.

Peering over his shoulder, Ginny can make out Remus andTonks sitting together at the base of nearby tree. They wave at her. A few feetbeyond, Caroline stands, barely visible in the shadows, Colin Creevey nearbywith Lavender.

There are more, mere shades in the distance. 

The dead.

I’m dead too, she realizes.

“Is Mum here?” she asks Fred.

He shakes his head. “No. She’s made of firmer stuff thanblowy old Moldyworts.”

Ginny closes her eyes, relieved. So relieved.

“He’s waiting for you.”

She frowns, wanting to ask who, but when she turns andlooks, there’s the dock stretching out into the pond. A boy with wild blackhair sits at the very end, bare feet swinging above the sparkling water like achild.

She looks up at Fred, her heart pounding away in her chest.

She expects teasing, but he just gives her a little nudge.“Go on.”

Getting to her feet, she walks slowly down the lawn, thegrass cool between her toes.

The wood planks creak quietly under her weight, the waterlapping against the shore.  Loweringherself, she sits next to Harry, letting her toe dip into the water.

“Is he really gone?” she asks.

“Yeah,” he says. “He’s really gone.”

She nods, looking back out over the water, the way itsparkles with light. “I killed him.”

“You did.”

It’s so peaceful here. But there is also something hardbuilding in her chest. “You wouldn’t have done that.”

He shakes his head. “You don’t know that. That was a choiceI never had to make.”

But he’s looking at her like he always has, nothing changedthere.

“You saved a lot of people’s lives, Ginny.”

“Not yours.”

He smiles, something soft and regretful. “This is how it hadto be,” he says. “You’ll have to ask Ron and Hermione to explain it to yousometime.”

She looks around, alarm jolting in her stomach. “Are theyhere?”

He shakes his head. “No. No. I mean when you go back.”

“Go back?”

“Of course,” he says. “It isn’t really your time.”

Because maybe that is it, the hardness in her chest, thetiny tether to the world they’ve all left behind. “And if I want to stay?”

Harry doesn’t answer, just looks back at her, his smilesoftening, as if he knows her better than she knows herself.

There are people who need her. There are things she hasn’tfinished. But it is so nice here. She closes her eyes.

Back there, people call her so many things. Heir ofSlytherin. Mistress. Monster. Captain. Leader. Sister. Terror.

And now there will be one more.

“I’m a killer,” she says.

He reaches out, fingers brushing hers. “You’re Ginny,” he says. “That’s the only oneyou need to hold on to. It’s the only one that matters.”

She opens her eyes, looking at his face, the way all thedirt and wounds and weight are no longer there. Even the scar, his famous scar,seems gone. She reaches out to touch his forehead and he doesn’t flinch awayfrom these hands that have killed, that have used magics some would claim shehas no right to.

He is warm and solid, the feel of it washing away the memoryof Voldemort’s skin.

“I wish,” she says. Not a hesitation or a beginning. A fullstatement.

He nods, fingers on her chin, and then he’s kissing her. Thereseems to be a lifetime of memories and possibilities in that kiss, flashing byso quickly she can’t absorb them. But maybe they’re real. Maybe that kiss doeslast lifetimes. Maybe there are other ways this all happened.

Harry rests his forehead against hers. “I can’t wait to seeall the amazing things you’re going to do, Ginny.” 

The calm of this place seems to be dissipating, tearsprickling her eyes.

Her fingers tighten on his arms. “Will I see you again?”

“Of course,” he says. “But not for a long while, I hope.”

It’s time, she knows. Time for her to go back. He doesn’teven have to say anything.

Pulling away, he gets to his feet, reaching to help her up.

They walk down the dock hand in hand.

“Could you tell Ron and Hermione…tell them how nice it ishere. Tell them that I’m okay. That there was nothing they could have donedifferently. They were…they were the best things in my life.”

She nods, the emotions coming back now, seeming to overwhelmher. “I will. I promise.”

Fred hugs her. “Tell George that I know he’s doing the besthe can.”

She nods, trying to hold on to her brother and the warm handin hers.

They begin to fade, to slip away from her.

She looks at Harry, panic swelling in her chest. “What do Ido?”

“Just wake up, Gin,” he says. “Just wake up.” 

The bright light slowly fades, leaving behind pale green wallsand a horrible ache deep in her bones. It all settles on her again, the weightof her flesh and the world and even the air hard and harsh against her skin.

There are cards on the walls. Many, many cards. Most coveredin crude writing and crayons. And even, for some reason, a toilet seat.

One has a drawing of a girl with flaming hair and lighteningflowing from her fingers.

She Who Saved Us All.

Sounds settle in next, and there’s a voice nearby, someonereading words. Words that are familiar.

“You know I loathe Hemingway,” she rasps, voice weak andunused.

In his chair next to her bed, Tobias’s head lifts with ajerk, his eyes widening almost comically. “Yes, well,” he says, clearly tryingto recover, “I figured if anything could wake you from a three-month coma, itwould be pure spite.”

She closes her eyes. Three months. She would have guessedlifetimes. “Well played.”

“You’re not dead.”

“No,” she says, the feeling of that other place fadingslowly. She tries to hold on, tries to remember every nuance.

His hand touches her arm, and it hurts, hurts so bad andfeels so real and makes her want to weep and shout. “Thank you for not beingdead,” he says.

She forces her eyes back open. “Is it all over?”

He nods. “Yes. It’s all over.”

“Good.” She doesn’t need the details right now.

“I need to send for your parents. They’ll want to…”

She nods, knowing what has to come next.

People begin to arrive, so many people and voices andnoises, but she still feels in a bit of a fog. There will be time later to talkto George, to Ron and Hermione. To learn all she needs to. To keep herpromises.

The mediwitches and healers are wary. She isn’t so blind notto see it.

They all whisper behind their hands.

“How are you?” the healer asks.

“Still thirsty,” she says, her earlier request having beenignored.

Her mother moves to get the glass for her, but the Healerlifts a hand to stop her. “We just need to ask a few questions first.”

“Such as?” Ginny asks, noticing that there are Aurors in thehall.

Killer.

“How are you feeling?” the healer asks again.

She ignores him, looking at the glass on the table acrossthe room. Lifting her hand, ready to demonstrate just how she is. She hasnothing left to hide behind anymore.

The glass flies into her hand.

The mediwitch takes a startled step back, something likefear in her eyes.

Ginny takes a deep drink of water, her deep thirst finallydissipating.

“Now, I feel fine,” she says. “Anymore questions?”

Nothing is ever going to be the same again.

But that’s okay. She’s Ginny. She’ll see them all again.

But for now, she is going to do amazing things.

.fin.