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mandareeboo · 3 years

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SU Music Rankings

Bc I can and I wanna start some Disk Horse rip. These are all in order of preference, with explanations, etc. It’s a long bitch. That said, I’m not counting little short jingles or small joke songs like Little Butler. This is the meat and potatoes of SU music- just under 30 songs. I might do the rest if people like my takes lol.

I scored it mostly on three bases- how dear it was to my heart, how much/often I relisten to it, and also what it means to the plot. That said, little fun songs don’t automatically go farther down than big, plot-heavy songs either! It’s a strange little balance.

Special Note: I don’t dislike any of this music! I love SU and that includes its bumps and glitches. I just pick favorite children lol.

1.) Change

Was there ever a more Steven moment than when he wiped the blood off his face and kissed it into sparkles? I think not.

If “Be Wherever You Are” is an ode to young Steven, then this is teen Steven’s. Talking about change, and how much and how little it can do. How he holds his arms up for Spinel to hug him, so trusting. How he seems able to just. Break into soft tears at will, and not to be manipulative- it’s just his kind nature. The warmth in his voice. Fuck yesssss.

2.) Change Your Mind

This song is only fifty five seconds and it’s EVERYTHING to me. It really felt like someone was speaking the words I’d always held deep inside of me, unsure of how to say. It feels like a goodbye to someone who never really loved me.

As much as I enjoyed Future, if this was the finale of SU, I would’ve been perfectly okay with that.

3.) Drift Away

This song gave me legitimate shivers the first time I heard it, and it still haunts me to this day. Spinel stayed, and waited, and all she got was a transmission thousands of years later. Fuck.

4.) Here We Are In The Future

THE MOVIE IS SU AS ITS BEST AND I WON’T BE SWAYED ON IT. Steven being a teen who loves his weird family but is growing just a bit sarcastic to their drama. The adorable love he and Connie share. His slow realization that he will always be working, always have things to do, is both somber and real. The Crystal Gems won’t be safe with one epic battle. They’ll be safe with years of hard work and love. HIS LITTLE HANDSHAKE WITH AMETHYST.

This is a helluva bop and a great way to summarize the main character’s backstories.

5.) Let’s Only Think About Love

Did ya’ll know that Zach Callison killed his throat with that last note? He gave his all for this performance in a vocal range he no longer comfortably do and by god did it SHINE. The FLAIR. The FORESHADOWING. All of the Gems all being awkward about Rose and Steven trying to bring them to the present. Peridot having a mini-existential crisis in a cute yellow dress. I love Zach Callison’s normal singing voice but man is that a fucking bop. Nothing will ever beat it.

6.) Here Comes A Thought

This bad boy helped me out a LOT with some mental issues I was dealing with in high school. I was unmedicated, unsupervised, and full of anxiety. I’d have break downs when I tried to speak about certain things. I couldn’t function. This song inspired me. It helped me feel okay with my intrusive thoughts.

And the episode! -chef’s kiss-. Once again bringing up the morally gray area of training child soldiers. Connie expanding her social group. Steven’s trauma hauling ass in that second half. The ANIMATION. Stevonnie’s gorgeous singing voice. GOD yes.

7.) It’s Over Isn’t It?

Just barely squeaking above Stronger Than You, this ballad is everything gorgeous. The whole episode is. I think Mr. Greg stands in the top five of my episodes for the entire show. It even got nominated!

There’s just so much about this song that I love. The gentle melancholy of Pearl’s voice. How the crew had to redo the shots for this bit bc Deedee went so fucking hard. The hard cuts between Pearl, remembering the love of her life, and Steven, who has begun to feel like he took her away. I’d recommend this song to anyone, regardless of what they do or don’t know about SU, simply bc it tugs so many heartstrings of love, loss, and responsibility.

8.) Stronger Than You

Did you realize this episode aired SEVEN years ago? This bitch was what got me into SU! Hearing about Ruby and Sapphire made my little gay heart so happy inside, and then getting a whole song confirming that they were a couple, that their love powered the strongest Gem on the team? Aaaaaaaaa

To this DAY I get excited when I hear Estelle start singing. This song is timeless. This song will live in media history. God I fucking love this song.

9.) Other Friends

I’m not the biggest musical person, so I hadn’t heard of Sarah Stiles before her casting as Spinel, but JESUS CHRIST the lady went hard. She went SO fucking hard. Sarah Stiles started on 100 and somehow just kept CLIMBING. You can just hear the sheer manic energy building in her voice, the anger and resentment. 10/10 Sarah Stiles is a queen.

10.) Independent Together

This made the list entirely bc the crew was like “you’re gonna get a himbo ass Steven-Greg fusion singing with Opal while Garnet flies across the moon on Lion while floating” and I am forever thankful to them for it

11.) Who We Are

Bismuth deserved more songs. ‘Nuff said.

12.) Peace and Love (On the Planet Earth)

It Could’ve been Great is EASILY one of my favorite s2 episodes. I love the entire concept of this song. Of Steven making music to reflect how much Earth means to him and his family. Of him teaching Peridot some self-care. Also Peridot’s singing voice is really cute and squeaky.

I know it’s silly, but I would’ve really enjoyed a flip around of this in Future! Like Peridot reminding Steven how much he loves music, that he needs to take time to relax for himself, maybe with a new verse or just a remix of the original song!

13.) Something Entirely New

I watched this episode as it aired, and I legitimately almost cried. I love Charlyne Yi’s voice so much ya’ll- her raspy, not perfect singing voice against Sapphire’s deep soothing lull is great.

And to have Ruby and Sapphire’s meeting be the way it was- for Ruby to bemoan Sapphire losing Homeworld, to being stuck with a single Ruby, while Sapphire is a noble who has always been taught everyone in her “caste” is vitally important (and has, in her own mind, taken that to mean every Gem, as she should) and how they come together and make each other happy. Good shit good shit.

14.) I’m Just a Comet

The fact that Greg’s music career never really blasted off pisses me off to this day bc Tom Scharpling’s voice is fucking BUTTER. Also the song really feels like a jab at his parents now that we know the kind of dynamic he had growing up. “This life in the stars if all I’ve ever known” is definitely him wiping away their existence after reminding them (and himself) the things they used to say about him.

15.) Do It For Her

This episode. This fucking episode. This episode got me permanently hooked on SU. I’d just binged season 1 and was kinda meh about it overall after the bop of Stronger Than You. “Oh,” I thought to myself, foolishly, “I’ll probably just casually watch this from time to time.”

Like three days later Sworn to the Sword aired and that was it. I was hooked! Pearl’s gentle training song turning darker and darker, Connie’s accompaniment from nervous to determined to fully into such a toxic mindset. The fact that SU had the BALLS to discuss the repercussions of training child soldiers, now and later. This episode was everything to me, STILL is everything to me.

Six years and well over 100 fanfics written later, I think it’s safe to say this show swallowed me whole and never let go.

16.) System/Boot.pearl_final(3)

I debated putting this on the list because it’s not anything crazy important, just a way to show things are Wrong, but I had to do it entirely bc Pearl is so damn SALTY.

Like telling us about the Gems makes sense, she felt like she was given a duty, but she went so damn petty. WHY is that Ruby alone. Gross. This Amethyst is a trash dump. Wtf are you people.

17.) Full Disclosure

This episode really feels like a turning point for SU. Before, the show had its dark moments- but now we’re in the thick of it, and it’s not going away. Full Disclosure felt like an rebuff to the idea of returning to any normal we’d established in season 1. Gems are actually a giant species now. Gems tried to kill us now. There’s this Yellow Diamond bitch who got namedropped. Something about a Cluster.

The song itself is BALLER, with its ingenious use of Steven’s ringtone and photos as he tries to decide whether to clue in Connie on all this nonsense. Meanwhile we, the audience, already know damn well Connie about to yeet some common sense into him.

18.) What’s the Use of Feeling Blue?

I’mma admit it- I’m a Yellow Diamond stan. I’ve always loved her- her anger, her poise, her hardworking nature. I actively argued against the “Yellow Shattered Pink” theories back in the day. But, man, when this arc leaked? I got so overexcited I was too jittery to watch it for like two days. It’s easily my favorite arc of the series. The sheer alien nature of the zoo, the Famethyst, and absolutely Patti Lupone’s beautiful ballad. Goddamn. Yellow singing to Blue to try and help her regain her old status, the warble in her voice as she reminds Blue she misses Pink too, the movement of the bubbles as she talks about attack. It gives me shivers to this day. FUCK.

19.) Tower of Mistakes

This is, fun fact, that only SU song I have completely memorized. The story itself is kinda funny! See, we lost internet at my house for a solid 5 to 6 months when these episodes aired, so I only got a very brief window to view them all. But this was the first Amethyst song in a long while, and I didn’t want to forget it! So I keep replaying it in my head for ages. And that’s still definitely a thing.

Anyway will never not be sad that this entire song was about making it up to Garnet for Amethyst’s perceived slights with Sugilite (which was a two-way road), only for Garnet to pressure her into fusion later when pissed and never discuss it again bc Garnet probably never thought twice about it and Amethyst has the emotional openness of a clam that’s just been told its ugly. Helluva way to make someone feel like shit, G. Helluva way to bottle that shit, Ames.

20.) On the Run

I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a million times: Amethyst! Needed! More! Songs!

The dichotomy between Steven’s play and Amethyst’s honest desire to run away from home is so well-done, especially when you consider a lot of Steven and Amethyst’s actions are playing together. The song is also near and dear to me simply bc it’s my favorite Amethyst episode to exist (well, maybe second to What’s Your Problem, but not by much). Moments like these are all the proof I need that they were right to fuse first.

21.) Be Wherever You Are

This tune really just feels like an ode to who Steven was as a kid. Trapped on an island with no way home, and he’s just happy to be with his friends. The stars are beautiful and not oppressive. Also that one animatic with Lars and the Off Colors playing in the Homeworld Kindergarten to this music was iconic and made this song get stuck in my head for a solid month.

22.) Familiar

I ADORE how the crew use bright neon colors to show how alien Homeworld can be. And Steven recognizing that the Diamonds treat him how the CGs used to, and how prepared he is to “fix” a broken family. It’s a soft, gentle tune about melancholy. Also the Pebbles are beautiful.

23.) Let Me Drive My Van Into Your Heart

Such a cute little love ballad, but every time I listen to it now I just imagine the heart attack Rose must’ve had at the line “And if we look out of place/Well, baby, that's okay/I'll drive us into outer space.” like there’s a Vietnam war flashback if I ever heard one

24.) What Can I Do?

I’m kind of neutral on this one? Rose and Greg both have great voices, but the song itself lacks many lyrics. I think it was definitely a good way to show Rose’s flaws in thinking.

Also, I’m shocked they managed cram that much vaguely sexual innuendo into two minutes, followed by how Not Hetereo that dance between Rose and Pearl was, and not get their asses chewed by it. You go guys.

25.) Cookie Cat

I love a lot of the vibes this song has. The lyrics are so damn prophetic, but they also sound like the kind of weird 90s commercials I grew up on. It’s been like two decades since I saw the Shirley Temple commercial but I’ll be damned if I don’t remember “Animals crackers in my soup! Monkey and rabbits loop-de-loop.”

26.) Giant Woman

I am. NOT the biggest fan of Steven’s original singing voice. I feel bad saying that, since it was just Zach Callison as a kid, but he never jived well with me for some reason. So I wouldn’t listen to this on the fly.

The song itself is still really good though, with all sorts of fun animation of Amethyst and Pearl being bitchy to each other. It’s a bit sad in hindsight to see tiny Steven trying to get his moms to get along. Ahh, season 1.

27.) Strong in the Real Way

This song has SUCH a strong start. Pearl reflecting on Sugilite’s problems, but the show making sure to show us that Pearl’s lack of enthusiasm towards her also lends itself to jealousy as well as just general malaise. How much she cares about Steven, and wants him to grow up strong.

And then Steven just kinda. Ruins it? I appreciate his enthusiasm for tryna bulk up but to take what was starting as such a rich, personal song and broadcasting it to random strangers just makes me a bit sad. Almost a bit angry on her behalf?

28.) That Distant Shore

I KNOW this is gonna create some discourse, but I’m just not the biggest Lapis stan. I love her voice. I love the visuals of the song. And I get why she felt afraid and needed to flee.

But Lapis never got to take responsibility for her own actions. And, in the end, the song feels hollow to me- because we all know she’ll never talk to anyone about it, know she’ll burst back in and destroy the barn, and no one will ever question it. I like Lapis a lot, but I feel like her arc never was fully finished. She never got help. She never learned to feel safe.

29.) Dear Old Dad

I’ve yet to meet a single human being who likes this episode tbh. There’s some great discussion about what kind of parent Greg is from it, and what kind of dynamic he has with the Gems that he felt he had to fake an injury to hang out with his son. Honestly the first half was fine and dandy. It’s just that then they Greg just went out of his way to drag Steven away from missions and such. It never jived well with his character before or after.

Also, is it just me, or does Zach himself sound like he hates the song as he sings it? There’s no passion or heart in his voice. It sounds like they told him to read off cue cards and he did. Tom Scharpling’s best attempts didn’t save this one for being a skipper. But the episode, unfortunately, isn’t, so it gets a spot on here.

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nachosforfree · 4 years

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Sorry if this is kinda out of the blue, but what's it like when two alters are fronting at the same time? ~Ryan🍁

Auuhh its kinda hard to explain since it does happen often for us but er... I think the best possible explanation is how Stevonnie from SU would have like, split thinking between connie and steven and sort of get confused as to who was thinking/speaking what?

#asks

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dogcopter · 4 years

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Rose is Lion Theory

Before Steven Universe Future ends, a consolidation of sprawling Rose Quartz endgame speculation into one post. Structured for story sense, but pulling from all points of canon throughout for context:

Mechanics/powers

Lion: secrets and behaviors

Suspicious characters, dreams and stuff

Future/speculation and arc implications

TL;DR: Maybe if she has the same abilities Steven does, Rose Quartz gave up her physical form to Steven, but did not die in the sense that her personality still exists somehow. Using the same sort of astral projection powers Steven has demonstrated, Rose has continued to watch over her son in secret after changing her identity, like she did when staging Pink Diamond’s shattering.

Image and text heavy. Potential spoilers for Steven Universe Future up to Bismuth Casual - This is long and I may add a few things to it.

Lion’s introduction in Steven’s Lion.

After they meet in the desert, Lion follows Steven home.

Lion approaches Steven after he lifted up his shirt, exposing his gem, so it’s possible he recognized Rose Quartz’s son. However, the Gems had never met Lion, and didn’t know he was connected to Rose.

From Steven’s Lion:

Steven: Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl are coming. Quick, put my head in your mouth! Pearl: Steven! What is that? What are you doing?

From Rose’s Scabbard:

Pearl: Does Lion have something to do with Rose? Amethyst: Ohh, of course! That’s why he’s pink!

...

Pearl: No, Rose didn’t have a lion, because if Rose had a lion I would have known about it!

How does Lion know where the Crystal Gems live? Where they’d take a corrupted Gem after destroying its physical form?

Lion doesn’t know where to find Steven/the Pink Diamond gem innately. In Jungle Moon, Stevonnie has to call Lars in order for him to find them, and Lars and Lion have identical powers from their pink revival.

Lars: Keep searching! We're not giving up on them, no matter what! Stevonnie: Lars! Hey Lars! Hey! Lars: There you are! We've been looking all over for you!

And Lars and Lion have the same magic abilities. Per SU podcast “The Fantasy of Steven Universe”

Anything Lion can do, Lars can do.

It’s possible Rose told Lion about the Gems and how to get to Beach City and where they live, but it’s likely he has never been there if they had no clue about him. He warps straight to the Temple.

The generally accepted explanation for Lion’s behavior is that Rose masterminded Lion’s knowledge and prepared for him to tell Steven everything, or at least told him her life story in enough detail, perhaps confiding in him, that his level of knowledge would make sense.

Almost anything Lion does can be explained that way, but Lion being Rose makes more sense as an explanation. After all, she was known for being secretive.

From A Single Pale Rose:

Rose: No one can ever find out we did this. I never want to look back.

From Now We’re Only Falling Apart:

Sapphire: She lied to us! She lied about everything!

From Rose’s Scabbard:

Garnet: Rose kept many things secret, even from us.

From Steven’s Dream:

Greg: There were some things your mom didn't like to talk about. I never pressed her for details.

Mechanics

How is it possible for Rose to be Lion? Steven’s mysterious extra OP astral projection/dream/possession spirit powers that came up again in In Dreams.

Rose’s absence is consistently described as “giving up her physical form”.

Body swap: Steven controls other organic beings in Super Watermelon Island, The New Lars, and Escapism.

Dream travel, lucid dreaming, and dream TV: Steven is able to travel in his dreams and talk to others in Chille Tid (Lapis while fused in Malachite), affect the content of other people’s dreams Kiki’s Pizza Delivery Service (Kiki’s recurring nightmare), change his own dreams and broadcast and record them in In Dreams (Camp Pining Hearts fanfiction)

Astral projection/”psychic ghost thing”: In addition to astral projecting in the above forms, Steven travels from Homeworld to Earth via astral projection in Escapism, and confronts the Diamonds via astral projection in Reunited. They can’t see him, but can perceive an “aura”.

If Steven can do this, and this ability was familiar to the Diamonds, Rose may be able to do these things as well. Steven’s ability to take over organic bodies explains Rose using Lion’s body because they’re related powers, which is made clear in Escapism when Steven astral projects to find Earth and ends up in a Watermelon Steven body far from home.

When does Lion act like Rose?

Secrets

The following section are things Lion knows that only Rose, or only Rose and Pearl know, including locations related to Rose Quartz and Pink Diamond.

Secret: Lion

Went over this above. Gems didn’t know about Lion himself.

Secret: Armory

Pearl: You must be thinking of someplace else. I’m the only other Crystal Gem that’s witnessed the Armory’s magnificence before now. Steven: Nuh-uh, Lion showed me.

On one of their first adventures together, Lion brings Connie and Steven to a place only Pearl and Rose knew about.

He also seems to know how the Armory works; he encourages Steven to activate the controls and doesn’t let the kids bail on training. Pearl had to climb a cliff to bring Steven there.

Secret: Mane

Lion’s mane contained Bismuth, Rose’s Crystal Gem keepsakes, including the sword that Pearl hadn’t seen. and keepsakes from Greg.

When Steven finally unbubbles Bismuth in Bismuth and frees her from the mane, Lion immediately looks at the Crystal Gems’ reaction.

The mane also held the tape “For Steven”; “For Nora” was abandoned in the desert. Rose gave up her physical form before she could have known the baby’s sex, as Greg explains in Lion 4: Alternate Ending.

Greg: When you have a kid, you have no idea who they’re gonna be. Even Garnet couldn’t predict it. That’s what was so exciting to your mom, that life is full of so many possibilities, and you would get to explore them for yourself. I mean, you could be Steven or Nora or anyone else. And you can always change your name; hey, I did.

Lion is able to remove the sword from his mane in Lion 2: The Movie, meaning he may have had both tapes in the mane at one point, ejecting the Nora tape after meeting Steven. Not necessarily something he’d have to be Rose to do.

Secret: Scabbard & Battlefield

Lion finds Rose’s scabbard immediately at the battlefield. From Rose’s Scabbard:

Pearl: That’s the scabbard for Rose’s sword!

Lion also knows where to find Pearl when she gets upset; the battlefield where the scabbard was abandoned. Even though Pearl introduces the location like this:

Pearl: This was the site of a historic battle. Every weapon here was left by a Gem over 5,000 years ago. I don’t like to disturb it, but Garnet said we can’t just leave these lying around.

Later, when Pearl is upset, Steven asks Lion:

Steven: Do you know where she went? Lion: growl Steven: I’m going to assume that means you do.

...then he warps Steven to the battlefield. After Steven chases her to a floating island, Pearl then says:

Pearl: Do you remember this place? Do you have any of her memories? We were right here, over 5,000 years ago.

Pearl recreates the moment she and Rose chose to stay on Earth forever. Another location specific to Rose and Pearl.

Secret: Moon Base

Lion warps Steven to the Moon Base in both It Could’ve Been Great and in Can’t Go Back. The Galaxy Warp was destroyed pre-corruption, so unless Rose wanted to visit and gave excellent warp directions, Lion could not have visited it before. But Rose spent some time there as Pink Diamond!

Secret: Landfill/Pink Diamond

Lion brings Steven to the landfill in Lion 4: Alternate Ending, when Steven is paranoid about his magical destiny.

He was excited to get Steven into the mane in Lion 3, but in Lion 4 he’s reluctant to answer Steven’s questions, and acts much more subdued and serious than usual when they get there.

He brings Steven to Greg to have his questions about “For Nora” answered, but leaves before Greg sees him.

One other thing that’s slightly different between “For Steven” and “For Nora” is Rose’s monologue in the tape. Two sections are slightly different. One of them is this:

“For Steven”:

Steven, we can’t both exist.

“For Nora”:

Nora, we can’t both exist, but I won’t be gone.

The other revelation in the landfill is Pink Diamond’s ship. Its location was known only to Rose, Pearl didn’t know there was still a working ship on the planet. From Space Race:

Pearl: It’s fine. I’ll always have my memories of other worlds. But now I’m here. On Earth. Forever.

Rose’s identity as Pink Diamond was a secret. In Legs From Here to Homeworld all it takes to activate the ship is an incidental touch from Steven:

Lion must have known bringing Steven to look for answers here would risk Steven discovering Rose’s secret identity?

Behaviors

Rose is not necessarily Lion full-time; Lion is a revived lion with the same powers as Lars.

Lion’s relationship to Connie or Steven isn’t in this post, although it’s significant to both of them; Connie, Steven, and Lion have closely related character arcs, but in terms of the theory I’m sticking to characters Lion would have known as Rose or as Pink. I do have this brief post about Connie knowing Lion and Steven well enough to figure out Rose is Lion.

Garnet is also missing from this post because Lion has spent suspiciously little time around Garnet, presumably because Rose knows how her future vision works.

Lion’s interactions with other characters:

Behavior: Amethyst

Lion seems to like Amethyst! He’s particularly affectionate with her, and she’s affectionate with him. They’re shown in the background being cuddly a few times. Amethyst feels an instant connection.

(Is this a family photo?)

Lion also keeps an eye on Amethyst's reaction during Cry For Help, while Steven is distracted by Sardonyx’s whimsy;

Behavior: Pearl

Notable Pearl and Lion scenes. In Lion 3 they watch Steven sleep together.

In Scabbard they interact a lot and it’s interesting. He’s amused by Pearl taking the scabbard from him and annoyed at being shooed away.

Then he’s mad at her for trying to get into his mane.

We don’t get to see his face once when Pearl gets upset in the living room, but when Steven asks where Pearl went...

Lion knows exactly where to take him, and feels strongly about it.

He lets Pearl put the sword in his mane and ride on his back at the end of the episode.

He has some reactions in the movie, like after Pearl sings her incredible verse about moving on from Rose, Lion wakes up with this look on his face

He also hangs around Greg and rejuvenated Pearl, although his face isn’t shown much.

Behavior: Greg

Lion loves hanging out with Greg!

Lion’s notable scenes with Greg include: that time he took Steven back to fight with the Crystal Gems in The Return, and then hid before Greg could see him in Full Disclosure.

Is this a family photo?

And at the very end of the series, the time he shows up to face Greg with a badly injured Watermelon Steven.

Greg greets him with a smile before he sees Steven - maybe Lion’s shown up to spend time with him before?

Character development. And of course in the movie, Lion gives Greg a little kiss in a Crystal Gem groupshot. Very cute!

Behavior: Diamonds

Lion has a visible reaction to the Diamonds and seems to understand their power, even though he would never have encountered them before.

In Reunited, Lion tries his hardest and he’s the first to charge Blue Diamond after a teamwork.

Makes sense for Rose to be angry with Blue

Also in Reunited, Lion is the only character who keeps an eye out for Yellow Diamond after the Cluster knocks down her ship.

In Legs From Here to Homeworld, Lion is making a face for most of the episode. He is not happy about this new development (asking White Diamond to help with corruption)

In Escapism, when Steven asks for help against White Diamond, Lion looks unusually worried.

He looks a little judgy when the Diamonds and Spinel sing in the movie.

Behavior: Spinel

Lion allows Spinel to ride around on his back, but he also shoots her dirty looks,

and leaves her behind at the Sadie Killer concert.

If Rose is Lion, oof. But hey, still in character based on past behavior!

Behavior: Jasper

We don’t know the nature of Rose and Jasper’s relationship, and Lion doesn’t interact with her much, but Lion is there to witness Malachite’s fusion.

In Crack the Whip we get a few Jasper clues. He reacts to mention of Jasper’s name at the beginning.

He also seems big mad at Jasper, who spends the whole time aggressing at Steven under the impression he’s Rose.

Curious to see if this comes back when we get to hear Jasper’s story in Future.

Unresolved Mysteries

Some things about Lion and about Rose that still lack answers and could affect this:

What Lion and Rose’s relationship looked like

how he died and was revived by Rose’s abilities.

Desert Glass gem.

The lizards he eats

Whether or how it’s even possible Rose gave up her gem to Steven while continuing to exist as a separate entity on the astral plane like this.

Suspicious Characters, Dreams & Stuff

Galaxy brain: if Rose is Lion, what’s to say she doesn’t have the other abilities Steven has?

Steven has Pink Diamond dreams when he needs the information in the dream. When animal sidekicks appear they lead him to his goals. If Lion is a mysterious animal sidekick who appeared just to be Steven’s friend, and he’s secretly Rose, what other convenient animal sidekicks are suspect?

If he doesn’t have a magical destiny, but does have a magical, secretive mom who can astral project and hijack organic bodies, maybe she’s been lending him a hand here and there.

The only time the mask slips is in Storm in the Room.

Steven: And that’s why I’m here, isn’t it? Did you just make me so you wouldn’t have to deal with your mistakes? Is that all I’m here for?

Rose: Steven, you know that isn’t true. In the tape I left you, I told you how much I wanted to have you and let you exist.

Ghosts

There are a few characters I call “suspicious ghosts” who aid Steven along his journey. They only exist to be convenient to Steven, even though Steven doesn’t have a magical destiny, and might be Rose:

Tiny Floating Whale: Has Susan Egan’s voice and appears before Steven hears her voice in Lion 3

Baby Melon: Is friends with Steven, punches Steven to draw the ire of the other melons and sacrifice himself.

Dream Dogcopter: Leads Steven to Lapis when he’s looking for Malachite. Tells Steven to “take a deep breath” when Lion is trying to get him in his mane.

Melon Dogs: Shows Steven Malachite is near Mask Island. Tries to distract and entertain Steven when he’s trapped in Pink Diamond’s tower.

Maybe Pink Steven? Maybe Cactus Steven? (They could be more Rose ghosts, given the way they behave, but could also be exactly what they appear to be)

Dreams & Memories

Like Lion, Steven’s dreams also seem to help him out with information his mom would have.

Steven’s Dream: Steven asks Greg if his mom ever talked about Pink Diamond, Greg tells Steven that Rose didn’t tell him about her past. Steven has a dream of crying in front of the palanquin, prompting him to search for answers there.

Jungle Moon: Stevonnie is stranded on one of Yellow Diamond’s Moon Bases and has a dream that is partially a memory of Pink Diamond’s. Using the code they see in the dream, they are able to unlock YD’s console and call for help.

Can’t Go Back: Steven dreams of Pink Diamond trying to save Earth and Pearl with Rose’s sword, prompting him to speak to Pearl and uncover her secret.

Masterpost of suspicious ghosts that goes into slightly more detail.

Rose’s Characterization

From Storm in the Room:

Steven: I finally know the truth. I know what you are! You’re a liar! I thought you’d never want to hurt anyone, but you hurt everyone! How could you just leave Garnet and Amethyst and Pearl and Dad? They don’t know what to do without you! Maybe they didn’t matter to you as much as hiding the mess you made!

My read of Rose choosing to be Lion but not tell the others is because she cared about them, but like other things she’s done, that doesn’t change the fallout.

The good news: If Rose is Lion, and she is still around in some fashion, if she can only overcome this pattern of behavior and face the truth... then, like everyone else in Steven Universe, she has a chance to change!

But...

Lion is pink because he’s like Lars: Yes. See above. I’m not claiming there’s an alternate explanation for Lion’s appearance or abilities, or contradicting his behaviors. It’s just that Rose is using his body.

Lion knows everything because Rose told him: I don’t think this makes sense given what we know of Rose. I don’t mind being wrong if there’s a better explanation.

Rose is dead My only response to this objection is yea, as far as we know, but there’s enough supporting detail not explained in other ways that I believe the theory has merit. It’s not like SU hasn’t misdirected us before.

Future Speculation

In the Steven Universe Future premiere, although Steven really doesn’t want to think about what she did anymore (and who could blame him?) we get a little bit of new Rose lore. Shy Rose Quartz.

I think this is Rose. I don’t know how she managed it, but I think we’ll learn soon. With the possibility Rose is Lion, and can inhabit other bodies, the whole vibe of Rose Buds changes. Here is a post dedicated to that: Shy Rose is Steven’s Mom. That’s all. From A Single Pale Rose:

Rose: Convincing? Pearl: Very much so, my DIamond. Rose: Soon it will be just Rose.

In Volleyball it’s also explained that she traumatized her former Pearl, and that Rose changed her behavior so much that it’s like Pearl and Volleyball knew two different people.

One last thing: Steven’s arc.

From I Am My Mom:

I get it now. I’m the only one who can stop what she started. I can stop all of it!

From Reunited:

Now all that’s left of her exists in me, and I think that we can all agree: that is a little bit upsetting. I’d rather think about a wedding!

From Storm in the Room:

No, I’m sure you meant it. I get it. I know you didn’t want me to deal with your problems. You’re a part of me now. I have to deal with what you left behind.

From “Happily Ever After”:

Once upon a time, I thought I’d always be in my mother’s shadow Answering for her crimes, I thought I’d always be in an endless battle

From the end of the movie:

There’s no such thing as happily ever after. I’ll always have more work to do.

Steven has a tough relationship with his mom by now.

Like when she said “We can’t both exist,” recently called back in Rose Buds.

From Storm in the Room:

In the tape I left you, I told you how much I wanted to have you and let you exist. Do you think what I said to you in the tape was a lie?

If you entertain this theory as plausible given the lore, the implications change; what if Rose isn’t gone? What if she’s not half of him? What if at least part of that tape was just another lie?

And I need you to know that every moment you love being yourself, that’s me, loving you and loving being you. Because you’re going to be something extraordinary; you’re going to be a human being.

Steven has internalized a lot from when he was young. His best friend Lion has been there for him. We’re also seeing the ways his childhood trauma has manifested in coping behaviors and automatic reactions from his gem, not unlike his mom before him.

Right now, in Future, mid-breakdown - how would Steven react to such a paradigm shift?

Thank you for reading! I know this is a lot.

#rose is lion 2020 #rosedemption 2020 #steven universe theory

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xerocomellus · 4 years

Text

okay so i’m rewatching su to cope with the darkness and fear looming within but i’m noticing things i didn’t notice watching as a 10 year old. so i’m compiling a list of unanswered questions, foreshadowing, and more. i’ll update this as i watch more, as right now i’m halfway through season two!

questions

what happened to the crystal heart and what the fuck was it?

was the desert glass a gem? did it ever get uncorrupted?

what was the replicator used for on homeworld? what are its implications?

what was the “incident” at the big donut?

where did the fence on the hill go? i feel like it’s there and not there at the same time in later seasons, i don’t know.

why was ronaldo in the lighthouse, like did the frymans own it? was he in it in later seasons?

notes

in “cat fingers”, steven explicitly says, “i’m a monster.” this will be referenced later in su future in the aptly named “i am my monster”.

steven watching lonely blade, where the humble janitor turns out to be the evil ruler guy- possible foreshadowing for rose quartz is pink diamond

mayor dewey says, “evacuation is something we should all consider in times of trauma.” this relates to greg’s rhetoric of road tripping to deal with negativity, and steven leaving in su future as a way of healing.

sadie says to steven in “joking victim”, “what kind of person does that make you if you hurt him back?” to which steven responds, “a hero?” this deeply contrasts steven’s method of problem solving in the original series, yet is exactly what he considers in future.

in “full disclosure”, ronaldo says to steven, “that’s what people like us do, shouldering the knowledge no one can bear.” steven does exactly this not only in the rest of the episode, but also in su future- keeping his problems to himself.

in “sworn to the sword”, you can see the absolutely horrified and deeply traumatized expression steven has when seeing holopearl after the events of “steven the sword fighter”. he also unwittingly bubbles himself and connie because of this, and this concept, steven’s response to trauma, is explored further in future.

in “keeping it together”, you can see a pair of socks garnet ensures are kept together, the same socks steven and connie (and by extension, stevonnie) wear in “bismuth casual”.

steven grabbing his gem in “we need to talk” as greg talks to connie about their humanity. this shows how steven feels alienated from being human, and at the end of the series, steven finally gets to explore his own humanity.

these are just some things i’ve noticed! like i said, as i watch more, i’ll update this if questions get answered or new ones arise.

#su #steven universe future #steven universe #steven universe spoilers #su spoilers #suf spoilers #steven universe future spoilers #suf #su theories

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thisbelongsto-nohbodys · 4 years

Text

My Top 12 Steven Universe Songs (in no particular order)

It’s been a few months since Steven Universe finally ended and while I’m waiting for the Steven Universe Future soundtrack, here’s a few songs I’ve enjoyed from the series.

- Be Wherever You Are (SU-S1)

youtube

just a calming song about taking things easy and just living in the now, like how some zodiac lists have this for my sign

- Comet (SU-S1)

Love this song and even have it on my work playlist for my coworkers who’ve never seen SU

-Escapism (SU- S5)

I first heard this on the official SU Podcast and like many wondered when it’d appear. Unlike other’s I wasn’t mad about it in the Watermelon Steven ep and just enjoyed Stevonnie (and Catra) singing

-Here Comes A Thought (SU-S4)

youtube

Just a calm song of Garnet telling Stevonnie (and by extension Connie) to not worry about little things and to be open about what’s bothering you with your friends/partner (also another Stevonnie song)

- I Think I Need a Little (Change) (SU-S3)

I just love how even tho’ Greg was ready to drop everything and worship Rose, his stomach made him quickly realize that, no, he needs the basics

- I’d Rather Be Me With You (SU: Future)

Even tho’ Steven set up that picnic for the wrong reason (in order to avoid his issues by using another person to distract himself), this is still a somewhat sweet song

- Independent Together (SU:Movie)

youtube

Greg fulfilling his dreams of being a megastar? and Opal, one of my favorite fusions singing? Yes please!

- Haven’t You Noticed (I’m A Star) (SU-S2)

Just a silly little pop song sung by Marceline the Vampire Queen (which I really wish had shown up as not only a fan of Mr. Universe, but as a Bubblegum Pop Star)

- It’s Over, Isn’t It? (SU-S3)

Pearl’s song about her heartbreak all while animated beautifully in a classic Broadway/Golden Era Hollywoo Musical style, love this

- The Working Dead (SU-S5)

Honestly after ya work even for a week, this song is super relatable

- That Distant Shore (SU-S5)

Lapis’ song about her fears and desire to be carefree like Steven whom inspires her, its a lovingly calm song

- Other Friends (SU:Movie)

youtube

It’s kinda funny that CN was advertising True Kind of Love as THE song from the movie but instead the fans went for this electro-swing villain song

Honorable Mentions:

Let Us Adore You (Reprise) (SU:Movie)

Jam Song (SU-S2)

My Little Reason Why (SU: Future)

#Steven Universe #music #audio #Top 12 list

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shinneth · 4 years

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SUF as a whole just left me with an empty feeling.

I feel you there, anon. In Dreams aside, I could take or leave the rest of this series (and in most cases, leaning well towards the latter sentiment).

But I guess that’s to be expected when 90% of SUF focused squarely on Steven’s PTSD and need for therapy and the many, many red flags shown as early on as the beginning that signaled his eventual breakdown to where he ended up in the climax.

Especially with the fanbase itself constantly screeching that Steven needs therapy, Steven has PTSD, Steven’s gonna corrupt, et cetera… like, it was all laid on far too thick. So when we got to Growing Pains, it really didn’t move me like it did so many others because it came off as such a “No shit, Sherlock” moment for me when Priyanka finally addressed the underlying issues the show itself really didn’t even bother trying to be subtle about.

Don’t get me wrong; a lot of people who have suffered (or are presently suffering) from the same problems as Steven irl have been helped a lot by these kinds of episodes, and I do appreciate that.

But from my personal standpoint, yeah… I knew from the start that Steven’s underlying issues alone were not gonna be enough to sustain a full series, and sure enough, it wasn’t. We got to see some bits here and there with the other characters, but we also had a few choice characters be really shitty people in season 5 that never got properly addressed before it concluded, and with the timeskip in SUF, all of that just got handwaved off as “dealt with offscreen”, which is the laziest BS ever.

And worst of all, at the end, they really didn’t stick the landing well at all. I’ll at least say SUF’s resolution wasn’t the mega levels of offensively terrible as Change Your Mind - but then again, it’s hard to out-do giving totalitarian space dictators with countless lives lost under their watch a fucking FACE-TURN out of nowhere.

Like, really, the Diamonds’ presence (White especially) in SUF actively made my viewing experience even worse towards the end. Yes, I should be glad they’re establishing that the Diamonds are at least starting to use their powers for good and rebuild some of the lives they ruined.

But, y’know… doesn’t change the fact that they’re all responsible for multiple counts of global genocide. Like, any living creatures native to their colony planets? They’re still fucking gone. And the Diamonds themselves just come off VERY unnatural as “nice” guys - and in many cases, they’re even creepier now than they were as villains. Good god, White’s blubbering in the climax was fucking insufferable, though.

Partially I think this comes from SU being a “kids show” so there’s this pressing need to end things as cleanly as possible. I’m more miffed that in the end, Steven still got pretty much everything he wanted.

They had some admittedly good set-ups to Steven’s growth, like having him accept that people grow up, change, and move on with their lives. We see the clear evidence that Steven’s got an unhealthy clinginess towards his human friends - and Connie’s no exception.

And considering they took the time to establish that:

Connie has friends other than Steven. She gets along with them just fine, so it’s not like she’s totally lonely or isolated without him.

Connie is ambitious with many goals and aspirations when it comes to her education and potential career paths. She’s shown to have put a lot of thought into her options and at no point comes off as feeling pressured by her parents or friends into this.

Connie knows she has to work hard and often to achieve her dreams, and despite that rigid lifestyle, it doesn’t seem to bother her in the least. That would imply she really wants to reach these goals she set for herself, whether or not Steven’s in the picture at all.

Connie and Steven’s dynamic is a far cry from how it was when they started out in the original series. You can tell Steven has no clue what Connie’s talking about when it comes to her goals and just plays along, pretending he understands anything coming out of her mouth.

Connie, despite what her speech would lead you to believe, has been every bit as insufferably dense as the gems in SUF when it comes to Steven’s issues. In Bismuth Casual, Steven’s very specifically-worded concerns were misconstrued as a fear of skating (or his inability to, whatever) - and in the end, they just became Stevonnie rather than properly talked things through. You know, something PERIDOT 100% did in the prior episode.

Connie is very firm about wanting to live her life as herself. She’s not against being Stevonnie from time to time, but like hell does she want to be Stevonnie for the long term.

Connie knows marrying in general at her age is a stupid-stupid-stupid idea, even if it is Steven. And considering her well-established commitment to her studies and reaching her lofty goals, Connie - at least at the time - seemed to know a relationship with anyone just wasn’t in the cards for her at this point in her life. There’s no need to rush that shit, and she won’t compromise her life just to give her needy friend this thing he wants that he doesn’t even fully understand truly is.

Or, you know… just have Connie backpedal hard on a good chunk of that and date Steven so that he won’t become a monster again. I’m mostly kidding with that - but by kissing his monstrous self and that triggering his restoration, then soon later we see that even though Steven and Connie can only have a long-distance relationship at best, she’s dating him right now anyway even though this needlessly makes her life way more complicated than it needed to be - like seriously, how can I not take that as Canon Connverse being founded on the condition of “Okay, if it’ll keep you from losing your shit, going pink, and turning into a monster, I’ll date you”?!

And in the end it yet again gives Steven more-or-less exactly what he wants, even if it isn’t something he really needs.

I’m glad Rebecca clarified that Steven would still visit Beach City often, because I had a very hard time buying him just traveling by himself on the road. And maybe it would have worked better if he was just doing it short-term to “find himself” or something along those lines, but nope! They’re basically saying this is what Steven wants to do.

And honestly, even that is dampened with his clearly-stated intention of visiting Connie way more than he intends to visit the gems. Even though Connie’s gonna be busy. With college.

This just… wasn’t a good ending. It had plenty of good moments - his goodbye to Bismuth, Lapis, and Peridot especially was very well-executed and the closest this finale came to drawing out any real emotion out of me. I loved the scene of Steven giving Greg his room; that was adorable. The last meeting with Tsundere Jasper was amusing.

But everything else… ehhh.

I mean, what can we really take from this season that I haven’t already outlined? The biggest takeaways were the plot points everyone saw coming a mile away that weren’t even executed all that well.

In Dreams, as great at is was, might as well have not even happened - because what really carried over from that episode through to the end? Even though Peridot was the only one who got through to Steven, legitimately comforted him and addressed his fears, and the episode for once ended with Steven being happy with no underlying concerns about his problems - immediately he’s back to being awkward and depressed and frustrated by Bismuth Casual.

And I get that shit like trauma shouldn’t be resolved so easily, but for what In Dreams accomplished, I expected there to at least be a semblance of progress. Steven’s known since that episode he can hang out with Peridot and talk to her about whatever without needing a reason to do it, but he never ever takes her up on that again.

So again, what was the point?

You really get the impression that the quality of writing took a backseat just to emphasize the symbolism of an issue people commonly have, but SUF’s execution stretched my suspension of disbelief far beyond its limits.

And nothing stretched that farther than Connie’s insufferable fucking speech in I Am My Monster; that pretty much completely made In Dreams feel like it never really happened in SUF’s continuity.

In some ways, I just prefer to believe In Dreams was just a dream itself. An AU offshoot in SUF itself. Considering it’s so ridiculously good compared to the other nineteen episodes and by far the most pure and wholesome, maybe that’s the best way to see it.

In Dreams was too good for its own series. That’s literally the only thing I personally took from SUF as a whole (at least in terms of lasting impact).

So yeah, I guess for only one episode of twenty to really hit me in the feels, “empty” is an apt way to describe the series, anon.

Seriously, if I didn’t have my own massive SU-AU to mess around in and do things properly, this probably would have upset me more.

Instead, I just chuckle at Rebecca’s Monster Steven and raise her to what I’m putting my version of Steven through in my current story. Where I’m pulling all the stops to make other characters matter even though the stars are undoubtedly Peridot and Steven.

And I’m actually making actions yield serious, lasting consequences.

(yeah, part of me wishes Jasper wasn’t revived - or alternatively, have Steven accidentally shatter White Diamond instead of Jasper since he came awfully close in canon

or even better, shatter Jasper and revive her, then accidentally shatter White and not be able to revive her since Steven used up ALL that diamond essence on Jasper…

yeah I’m kind of a monster)

Your pain is mutually felt, anon. So I’ll prescribe you endless refills of better-written and better-executed SU fanon to heal the emptiness SUF left inside you.

#answered asks #nice anons #steven universe future #suf finale #steven universe

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i-lost-my-heart-in-republic-city · 4 years

Note

answer all the questions in that ask thing, or go through it and just answer all the ones u rlly rlly want to

Sorry this took so long, but you asked for all of them and Iam very emotional.

1. What episode of Steven Universe got you hooked on the show?

I started watching shortly after Jailbreak came out so I’m not sure if I can pinpoint exactly where I got hooked, but I think it was around Coach Steven of Mirror Gem/Ocean Gem when it really got me. Although, I will say when Sworn to the Sword came out, that’s really when I knew this was it for me.

2. Are you the type to watch episodes as they air, or do you just get your fill of Steven Universe online?

I tried to live watch episode premieres as much as I could, or watch them the day they were posted online by CN. I really tried to make an event out of them, and I’m glad I did.

3. What’s your favorite quote out of the entire show?

It’s really hard to pick just one. Maybe “You have to be honest about how bad it feels, so that you can move on.” - Connie in Mindful Education. Really feeling that one right now.

4.In what ways has Steven Universe inspired you?

I really feel like it has inspired me to live. I havestruggled with depression and anxiety since a young age, so it can be hard todo that. Steven Universe gave me something to look forward to, made the world abetter place. When I was hurting it provided me with comfort and happiness. Thereisn’t another show out there that’s like it for me.

5. Has Steven Universe actually taught you lessons?

Yes, oh god yes. It has helped me to be more honest withmyself and with others. I don’t think I would’ve come out to my family if itweren’t for this show. Over the years, it has really helped me to learn to letgo of shame, and guilt, and self-hatred I had carried around for so long. I wouldn’tbe the person I am today without this show.

6. Favorite character design and why?

I really liked Garnet’s wedding outfit, mixing both the gownand tux. I’m a big Garnet/Rupphire stan and it was just great to see them embracethe queerness of the whole situation, and that it was love, something to becelebrated.

7. Has the show ever gotten an intense emotional reactionout of you? (ex - crying, fear, anger)

I’m crying right now about it, does that answer yourquestion?

8. Do you associate any songs with any characters in StevenUniverse?

I associate Can’t Hold Me by Emily King with Stevonnie becauseit was used in that episode, and I love Stevonnie.

9. Gush about your all-time favorite episode real quick.Just go on a long, rambling tangent about how much you love it. Do it. We’relistening.

For the series proper, it’s Reunited. I love that episode somuch and it makes me cry every time I watch it. Growing up I fell into the ‘notlike other girls’ phase because I was not interested in love and romance likeall my friends seemed to be, and I had no desire to go on dates with guys. Irealize now that I rejected these things because they didn’t fit me. I didn’t wantto be with a guy, and never saw myself in any of the traditional media. Ireally am a bit of a hopeless romantic though. Now that I am more confident inmyself, and understand my feelings better, I’ve really gotten to enjoy thispart of myself.

Ruby and Sapphire are the first couple I really got to experiencethis with, seeing them being cute and together and in love, and the wedding isthe accumulation of all of that. Getting to see these two women in love witheach other celebrate that love as the beautiful thing it truly is means theworld to me. After years of watching this show and growing with it, this episodewas the moment were I finally let go of all my self-hatred for being queer. I justknew in my soul that every hateful thing I had heard or been told about beingqueer was wrong, and that this was the truth, love was the truth. It wasn’tsomething instantaneous, it was something I had been working towards for years,but this episode marked the turning point for me.

10. Gush about your all-time favorite SU character realquick. Just go on a long, rambling tangent about how much you love them. Do it.We’re listening.

I already gushed about Ruby/Sapphire/Garnet a little, solets do Pearl. I just love how even after all she’s been through, she is stillsuch an independent spirit. I know her whole past with Pink/Rose wascomplicated but she still isn’t here to let anyone tell her what to do. She’ssmart, and creative, and resourceful, and goofy and she knows these things butshe also has a lot of self-doubt and seeks validation from others. I relate.But she worked through those things and is in a better state now. Even thoughshe still hurts and is still dealing with the trauma, she is so much better.

I also really relate to how she feels about loving someoneand them not feeling the same way/it not working out. As much as I love Rubyand Sapphire’s relationship, I also think I need Pearl. She defined herself forso long by her relationship but she is her own amazing person. Growing up, Isaw many messages about not letting a relationship with a boy define you. Butwhat about a relationship with a girl? I think there can be so much pressure toprove that you’re really gay by always being in that kind of relationship. ThatI’m not truly queer because of my lack of experiences with women. But that isn’ttrue. Being queer is a part of who I am and that doesn’t change just because Iam or am not in a relationship. My feelings can still be an important part ofme without having to define me by my relationship status, just like Pearl.

11. What fusions do you want to see in the show, and whowould you like them to be voiced by?

I would probably most like to see a fusion of Steven andLapis. Her only experience with fusion was her toxic relationship with Jasper.So I would really like her to have a positive experience with fusion, based ofthe friendship and love she and Steven have for each other. I have no idea whowould voice them though.

12. Which episode do you think has the best aesthetics?

I mean Steven’s fusion dance in Change Your Mind isabsolutely gorgeous. James Baxter ain’t a legend for nothing, and I’m gladRebecca held on to that favor from him. Just everything, Connie’s little walkback, the way White Diamonds eyes open, its all wonderful.

13. List any headcanons you have about any characters.

Pearl is in a happy polyamorous relationship with Bismuth,Volleyball, and Amethyst.

14. Favorite arc out of the show? Why?

The Wedding Arc for reasons I’ve already talked about above,but also Diamond Days because it was everything the whole series was buildingtowards. Just the whole message about how systems hurt people who are deemed ‘different’but that there is hope for a better future with compassion and love, and notbeing afraid to share your feelings is something I really needed.

15. Have you ever made any jokes based on the show? Whichones were the funniest?

So many. One of my most popular was this post from way backwhen in early 2016.

Want a joke for the final? Maybe the real treasure insideRose’s chest was the friends we made along the way.

16. Most misleading episode summary of all time?

I know people freaked out about Rocknaldo because cartoonnetwork promoted it by advertising the appearance of a new gem. I mean, youcould argue technically it was true because Ronaldo made a gemsona, but that isdefinitely not what people took it to mean. I wasn’t really buying it though,cause the title was Rocknaldo. People hate on that episode and I think it’sbecause of the false advertising. It’s really funny though and has one of thebest jokes. “Rock people. They’re putting fluoride in the water supply- Whatthe-They hate men?!”

17. Has Steven Universe inspired any creative ideas ofyours?

I rewrote sleeping beauty but with lesbians because of thisshow. Does that count?

18. If you are a fanartist, which SU character is theeasiest for you to draw?

Not a fanartist, but Amethyst is the easiest for me to drawbecause she’s basically just circles.

19. If you are a fanartist, which SU character is thehardest for you to draw?

Maybe White Diamond, because she’s so detailed. Also, I strugglewith Pearl’s nose lol.

20. If you are a fanfic writer, which SU character is theeasiest for you to write?

Not really a fanfic writer, but Ruby and Sapphire maybebecause I’m gushy like that.

21. If you are a fanfic writer, which SU character is thehardest for you to write?

Jasper. I have a complicated relationship with her, but Iloved her in Future.

22. Have ever practiced voice acting using SU characters? Ifso, which character can you do the most successful impression of?

I don’t practice voice acting, but I do mimic lines from theshow. I think I sound most like White Diamond, hoo boy.

23. Have you ever sang along to SU songs? Which one is theeasiest for you to sing along to?

All the time, in the car, in the shower, around my house. Myfavorite is Here Comes a Thought, because it just helps me so much with myanxiety. The Tale of Steven and Let Us Adore You are definitely in the sweetspot of my vocal range though.

24. Have you ever imagined any of the human characters asgems?

Not really, I’ve more so imagined the gems as humans.

25. Are you big on AUs? Have you created anyyourself?

I like human gem AUs and college AUs.

#Steven Universe #Steven Universe Future #Pearl #Ruby and Sapphire #su spoilers #Reunited #Change Your Mind #teakayblog #this some person shit for me to me talking about tho #for real

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dylan-hague · 4 years

Text

Note: this post goes on at length about a crossover between Steven Universe and a noted horror franchise. If any of that bothers you, keep on scrolling.

So I’m still on my SU fixation right now, but last night I got to thinkin’ about a certain crossover...

The conditions of a gem discorporating or “poofing” appear to be either severe blunt-force trauma (Jasper’s battering helmet, several gems getting smooshed, etc), Yellow Diamond’s destabilizing powers (duh), or a foreign body penetrating the gem’s projected form (Pearl getting stabbed, Spinel’s rejuvenator slicing up the CG’s).

That last one is what intrigues me the most. Even though we’ve seen instances of an invasive foreign body triggering the discorporation of a Gem, we also have examples of it just... not doing that? Specifically, Topaz and Rose Quartz. Topaz had several foreign bodies in her projected form and appeared relatively unfazed by it (perhaps that’s unique to her design, but who knows). And of course Rose was able to live with a foreign body. She named it Steven.

But therein lies my question.

As y’all may know if you’ve spoken with me for any length of time, I’m a huge Aliens fan. And the unique properties that go into a Xenomorph’s physical form, the way it takes on the traits of the creature it came from, lend really well to crossover potential.

So if a human can impregnate a gem without killing it outright... what about a facehugger?

What would a Gem-Xenomorph hybrid look like? Would the Gem poof at the moment of chest-bursting? Would the Xenomorph have the gem embedded in its body, or would it simply inherit some of the gem’s traits and leave the gem discorporated? If the gem were era 1, would the Xenomorph be able to shapeshift? Would it still have molecular acid for blood? Could that acid eat away at and destroy a gem like a shattering? Could the Xenomorph’s prehensile tail-spike or extendable jaw provide the force necessary to shatter a gem like the Breaking Point?

I stayed up until 5 in the morning thinking about a horrible crossover AU where the gems accidentally find their way to LV-426/Acheron, and one of them is implanted by a facehugger. Not knowing how to handle it, the gems bring their implanted companion back to Homeworld, and... well, you can imagine how things go from there.

I imagine this hypothetical (I guess you could call it an AU? I dunno.) would take place after Future, when Steven had already settled down somewhere in America. Maybe it’s waaaay after, and he and Connie have married by now. Heck, maybe they’ve got a little one running around. (In fact, yeah. Let’s say they have a daughter. Let’s call her Rosie. I’m a sucker for that sorta thing.) He gets the call from home that... something is happening on Homeworld. It’s not specified what that something is, but he heads back to Beach City and finds some poor Homeworld gem—maybe Spinel?—scared and shaking, rambling on about some kind of horrible monsters overrunning the planet. The warp pad has been shut off, for the planet’s protection.

Steven asks if all the warps have been deactivated. Someone goes pale as they answer “not yet”, and they all head for the old galaxy warp... just in time to meet their first Xeno-Gem.

How would the gems go about fighting such a thing? Who would open it up first, sending that horrible acid spewing everywhere? Would it land on one of their gems? Would one of the Crystal Gems die they got the warp shut down?

I imagine Steven would feel a certain level of conflict about the whole thing. His whole life, he’d been the only half-gem in the universe. Now, finally, there were other beings like him in existence... but they’re all horrible monsters. Was it his responsibility to try and fix this? Could he even stand to not try? We know how he gets, always trying to help people.

And then... would it be more or less dangerous for Steven than a normal gem? If a gem gets discorporated, how long until the Xeno-Gems realize the actual gems need to be shattered before the gem is truly dead? If the Xeno-Gens have gems of their own, that knowledge would likely be pre-programmed into them like any other gem. But Steven can’t be proofed. Sure, the Xeno-Gem still has all the tools necessary to kill a human (it is a Xenomorph, after all), but with Steven’s powers and healing factor, would he be able to fend of an attack from a pack of Xeno-Gems?

What would a Xeno-Gem Queen look like? I imagine they’d be holed up in the palace after driving all the gems out of there. How would they combat such a thing? I imagined last night that—somewhere along the way—Rosie wound up in Homeworld by mistake, and the Xeno-Gem Queen was advancing on her. A bright pink-white flash, and the Queen turns. There’s Stevonnie, bigger and badder than ever before, now supercharged with Steven’s Diamond powers, staring the Queen down. They fight, Stevonnie shatters the Queen’s gem, they scoop up their daughter and take them home. Slowly—very slowly—Homeworld starts getting the upper hand, and eventually the Xeno-Gems are exterminated.

Steven takes a ship out to Acheron—never actually landing, just observing it from outside orbit—and brings along a certain someone with experience dealing with these creatures. Standing in the ship’s bridge with Steven, older now but still as strong as ever, is Ellen Ripley, who is inexplicably alive in this timeline. They have a long talk about what to do with Acheron. Ripley suggests blowing the planet away so that the Xenomorphs can’t hurt anyone else, but Steven doesn’t share this opinion. Instead, he proposes a constant vigil over the planet in place by Homeworld’s finest warriors. Nothing gets onto LV-426, and nothing ever leaves it. Ripley doesn’t quite seem satisfied, but conceded that that should be enough.

The two head back to Earth, and Steven asks Ripley what she’ll do now that the nightmare is officially over. Ripley shakes her head.

“Is it over?”

In the end, we don’t know. After all, it’s a pretty big universe out there.

...

Anyway, sorry this post was so long. It hit me like a train last night, and I just had to get it written down.

Thanks for 500 followers, my dudes!

#steven universe future #steven universe the movie #steven universe #au #alien (1979)#aliens (1986)#crossover #xenomorph #cursed #long post

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sawmillturtle · 4 years

Text

Butterflies

A Quick Note From Turtle:

This story is based upon the “SU AU Gone Wrong” fan comic by @spudinacup and is supposed to take place during the second chapter. My initial thought was to write the events of the chapter from Pink Steven’s point of view and try to capture his thought processes. Unfortunately, I failed in this. When Spud posted her notebook, it clearly states that Pink Steven can understand why others act the way they do, but cannot feel empathy or sympathy for anyone or anything. Looking at this 7,832 word behemoth, I realize that I made him a bit too eager to want to sympathize with everyone. He wants to understand. This seems a bit off the target. Of course, I had to take a few liberties to do what I wanted to do (like the butterflies) and to fit everything into the space I had to work with, but Steven being a bit OOC was not one of the liberties I intended to take.

Well, it made for a good story anyway. This was several weeks worth of work to pull off and many hours of listening to Pink Floyd music on repeat. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed making it. Spud, if you get around to reading this, I want you to know that this was intended to be a love letter to your amazing artwork. In that, at the very least, I feel I succeeded.

As a side note, try to figure out what I hid in this story. There’s a secret. Shouldn’t be too hard to spot if you know where to look. I’ve already given you a clue.

---

Hello?

HELLO?

Is this what it means to be alone? To hear only his own thoughts, and to hear those thoughts echoing in the void of his own mind like sounds reverberating off the walls of a cavern? He doesn’t know. He has never been alone. There has always been the other one. Steven Who Was. For sixteen years, the two of them had been together. Steven Who Was had never realized that he was there, but that didn’t matter to him. He’d always been there, a part of Steven Who Was, watching through their shared eyes and feeling through their shared emotions. Steven Who Was had been more than just a part of himself: Steven Who Was had been his closest friend.

There is only him now. Steven Who Remains. The other one is gone. It is hard for him to feel anything, although this isn’t because his emotions have been numbed by tragedy. At least he doesn’t think so. No, he simply can’t recall how to feel. The traces of those emotions seem to be there, in some distant part of himself, yet trying to latch onto them is like attempting to catch the faint smoke of a dying campfire with his bare hands. When he attempts to do so, they slip through his fingers and drift away.

Anybody can look at me and see that I am no longer human. My humanity died with the other one. But if I’m not human anymore, what am I? Am I even still Steven? Am I Pink Diamond? Am I something else entirely?

In their early years, the Greg Universe took Steven Who Was on a road trip to Empire City. Steven Who Was must have been about six or seven at the time. They’d been there for eight days as the Greg took care of business that he hadn’t bothered to explain to Steven Who Was. Probably something to do with his music career. On one bright Sunday, they’d walked by a church where the people inside were singing about how they’d fly away, oh glory. When Steven Who Was had asked what they meant, Greg had given a basic explanation of religion and of the human belief in eternal souls. Steven Who Was had not been impressed by it, nor had Steven Who Remains.

There is something about it, though, that nags at his mind. He stands in the bathroom, watching the blood run off of his hands and into the sink basin, thinking about eternity, the afterlife, and what it means as far as he is concerned. The blood swirls around the drain, mixing with the clean water and vanishing in ribbons of grisly crimson. That had been his blood. The blood of Steven Who Was. That Steven is dead now, but he still exists.

Just what happened to people like Steven Who Was? Is his eternal human soul on a cloud somewhere, playing a harp and flapping its wings? If so, what is he? If Steven Who Was went to human heaven, is he even Steven anymore? He looks like Steven. He remembers being Steven. If asked by anyone (and someone will inevitably ask; of that he is certain), he will surely tell people that he’s Steven. But if the body is dead and the soul is gone to some hallelujah by-and-by glory land, what does one call whatever is left? There’s no word for it, because it isn’t natural. Humans leave their bodies behind and Gems leave their shards behind, each shard containing a fraction of what once was.

Nod. That seems to describe him, doesn’t it? A shard. A fraction. A portion of something that was once whole. Is he any different than those pieces of the cluster existing in the Earth’s core? Is he in any way different from the Gem experiments that attacked Steven Who Was and Connie? He has trouble convincing himself of the contrary. He’s not supposed to exist like this. He’s not supposed to be… him. The other one, Steven Who Was, is supposed to be a part of him. Without that essential part of himself, what is he but a shattered remnant?

If he is thinking of himself this way, if he has trouble even seeing himself as anything but unnatural, what will the others think? He can hear them through the door, fighting over the body. Lapis and Peridot. Peridot knows that the body is compromised. No heartbeat. Lungs deactivated. Fixing Steven Who Was is not possible. Lapis doesn’t want to believe that. She’s even now screaming at Peridot to try again.

You are going to want me to do something. I know this already. You will expect me to heal the body.

Can he blame her? No. He wants to be able to do something. He wants more than anything for this to be some terrible dream. He doesn’t want to be washing the blood of Steven Who Was down the drain. He doesn’t want to think about how broken and helpless the body looked, lying on the grass. He doesn’t want to remember how optimistic Steven Who Was had been just minutes before, singing about the brightness of the future. Nothing to fear. No one to fight. If only Steven Who Was had known, if only he’d known just how much they actually had to fear. That the fight to come would be their last together.

Hear that sound? It’s not the sound of water running down the drain; it’s the sound of hope dying. I couldn’t keep Steven Who Was from dying. When it came right down to it, I failed him. I failed all of them. Steven is dead. If I’m not to blame for that, who is? The Gem with the scythe, obviously. But who wasn’t there to protect him from the Gem with the scythe? Who wasn’t there to provide backup and support when there was a clearly dangerous Gem on the loose?

Me. I wasn’t there. They’re all going to blame me. They’re all going to look at me, see the echo of a dead man. Every time they look at me, they’re going to see him and blame me.

Is the Greg going to see him that way, too? What is the Greg going to think? At some point, he is going to have to confront the man who had been their father. At some point the Greg is going to see the body, or be told about it, and then he is going to see him. Steven Who Remains. What will happen? What will he say? Steven Who Remains certainly doesn’t think he’ll embrace him and call him his son. There will be no tender moment, no air guitar or story from the past to bring them together. There will be only---

There is no point in following that line of thought any further. Whatever is going to happen with the Greg, it is not going to be pleasant. Furthermore, dwelling upon it will only add to the heavy burden sitting in his mind already. He shuts off the water and closes the bathroom mirror, catching a glimpse of his reflection for the first time as he does so. The diamond eyes stare back at him. He is the spitting image of Steven Who Was. Looking into his own reflection is like looking into the face of a dead man.

Anyone else looking at me is really going to lose their mind.

At this, the thoughts really begin to flood in. What is he going to tell Connie? What is he going to tell Garnet or Amethyst or Pearl? All of these beings who had loved Steven Who Was the most, and now all they have left is a rapidly cooling corpse and him. He is, he can admit, a poor substitute. He doesn’t even know what he is. How is he supposed to give them the answers they will demand of him? How is he supposed to give the answers he demands of himself? None of them are going to understand. They aren’t going to see him as anything but an abomination, a constant reminder of an unspeakable tragedy. Even Bismuth, who had attempted to treat him as she had always treated Steven Who Was, was betrayed by the look in her own eyes. He saw it there as she took him by the shoulders and led him

(home?)

Come to think of it, is this really his home?

On the bathroom counter, more and more of those butterflies land, fluttering their wings. He knows they aren’t real, but Garnet’s lessons to Stevonnie have paid off. She taught them to visualize intrusive thoughts as white butterflies, and now that is all he can picture. They swirl around the bathroom in a mass of white, hateful wings. He can almost feel them behind him, forming into something familiar, something he doesn’t want to think about: the colossal face of Steven Who Was.

“Now what will we do?” Butterfly Steven mocks. “I’m dead, you’re an abomination, and it’s all your fault!”

I can’t… I have to remember Garnet’s training.

“Hear what I’m telling you,” Butterfly Steven snarls. “My death is on your head. Everything that happened is because you failed to act.”

You're… not real.

Feeling the thoughts overwhelming him, smothering him, he thinks back on Garnet’s words: It was just a thought. It’s okay. But that advice was for fusions acting as one, wasn’t it? To keep fusions from becoming unstable. He isn’t a fusion any more. He supposes that the advice is still sound, but just thinking of fusions breaks his concentration and sets the butterflies to swarming again.

“Down in the mouth?” Butterfly Steven calls. More and more his voice sounds less like Steven and more like the one who killed him. The rubber hose bitch. “You should be. I mean, what are the others going to say? Well

(well well well well let me get a look at the menagerie)

“I won’t--”

Can it.

Ease off.

“Your pain is only beginning, whether I’m here or not,” Butterfly Steven says as his form begins to dissolve. “You’ll see.”

Pain? He isn’t sure if that is the right word to use, because he has a hard time remembering what pain is. It’s the campfire smoke all over again. He thinks he might have an inkling of what it means. He knows the textbook definition, but processing and feeling that emotion seems impossible with his humanity literally slashed to pieces. He is certainly in for an ordeal, and he needs no emotional processing to understand that.

“Get the machine going again!” Lapis yells from the other side of the wall.

“You don’t understand,” the smaller voice of Peridot replies. “I don’t know how else to tell you--”

On that, Steven Who Remains turns from the sink with a sigh. The blood is long gone. He is just delaying the inevitable, standing here listening to the fighting and letting his thoughts torment him like this.

Your pain is only beginning, whether I’m here or not.

Feet away, a mere stone’s throw, another butterfly appears. He stares at it for a moment, then disregards it.

“Again!” Lapis demands. Peridot is pleading with her now, but Lapis is having none of it. Another butterfly appears. He looks at it, and it looks back at him.

Relax, it seems to be saying as he moves past it and opens the bathroom door. I’m just a harmless butterfly. A product of your shattered mind. Don’t mind me.

“I’ll tell you again,” Peridot is saying as he steps out, “that it’s not going to work any more than it already has.”

Need for results has driven Lapis to desperation, and she lashes out at Peridot, coming close to violence. Bismuth admonishes them both for their behavior, but it isn’t Bismuth’s raised voice or words that bring everything to a standstill: it is the sight of him as he steps out into the light. He gives them a wave, as if he’s just a normal guy entering a normal room where normal things are happening. Where there’s not a dead body on the couch and bloody gems on the counter top. Where he’s not a ghost, a vapor, a remnant of what was.

Some part of him, perhaps some lingering yet dying part of his remaining humanity, hoped against hope that Lapis and Peridot wouldn’t be giving him the looks they’re giving him. Lapis looks like he’s just walked into the room and ripped a giant fart; Peridot looks either terrified or furious, though he can’t figure out which. Maybe both. Bismuth is uncomfortable. She stutters, curses, asks him for something.

Information. She wants to know his name. What should they call him? She doesn’t say the rest, but she doesn’t have to. It lingers in the air like a bad odor: What should they call him now that Steven is dead?

First name given: Steven.

Just Steven.

The reaction from Lapis is swift and unpleasant. She flies off the handle again, gesturing wildly at the body and screaming at him that the dead boy is Steven. Bloody water from a nearby bowl ascends into the air, fueled by her rage and sorrow.

Basic tact would have told him that this response would be the wrong one, but such things seem beyond him now. While his mind is a torrent of conflicting thoughts, a lot of his actions seem almost programmatic, as though he is nothing more than a computer carrying out commands. The words slipped from his lips as easily and effortlessly as rain water sliding through the gutters. He found this had also been true when he’d gone into the bathroom to wash up. While the blood had caused a lot of turmoil in him, washing it off had been almost routine.

Facts are facts: I’m not human anymore. I can’t feel the emotions I used to take for granted. I can’t restrain myself like a human. I can’t remember how to laugh. God, I can’t even remember what it feels like to laugh.

Can I even call myself a Gem? Even Gems laugh. What in God’s name am I?

“You want to be Steven?” Lapis demands, bringing him out of his own head. She points back at the remains of Steven Who Was. “Heal him!”

“Show them,” a nearby butterfly mocks. “Show them you can’t do it so that they’ll hate you even more. Look at how Bismuth has to try and shield you from Lapis. Look at the anguish in Lapis’ eyes. What do you think is the source of all of her pain right now?”

Me. It’s coming… from me.

“Where is it coming from?” the butterfly prods. “Say it again.”

It is coming from me. Looking at me, seeing the ghost of him, hurts them all.

“Hurts them?” the butterfly says. “It isn’t just hurting them; it’s tearing them apart.”

There is blood on Lapis’ hands as she stretches out her palms, demanding answers from him: if Steven heals people, why can’t he? He reaches down and clasps his gem. The gem that used to belong to Steven Who Was. It’s a self-conscious gesture, of that he’s quite aware. He does it anyway. It’s almost… a human gesture, as if there are still remnants of Steven Who Was inside of him, sputtering and fizzling out like dying embers. He looks towards the body.

Is there really nothing he can do?

No action he can take?

Pain riddles the voices of Bismuth and Peridot as they attempt to explain the frailty of organic life to Lapis. Rather than give her some peace of mind about the situation, it seems to fuel her anger. The bloody water that has been drifting towards the ceiling in grisly balls now swirls into a macabre spiral above their heads.

“You can’t do anything,” the butterfly says.

Are you sure? Why am I even listening to you?

Receding into the shadows, the butterfly vanishes and is replaced by two others. The first reminds him that Steven’s death was his fault. The second reminds him again and again of how broken he is. He isn’t fully human anymore, but he certainly isn’t a full Gem. He hasn’t been a full Gem since the day Rose Quartz gave up her form.

(a single pale rose a pink diamond a liar did she just make me so she wouldnt have to deal with all her mistakes)

Distant memories, those. Again, he is struck by how hard it is to remember emotion. He can certainly remember Steven Who Was in the pink room, shouting at a simulated version of his mother. He can remember Steven Who Was being sad and angry and conflicted. Yet, upon recalling these memories, he can not remember the emotions themselves. The emotions and the memories should come as a single package, yet they do not. There is a strange disconnect he can’t explain. In a strange way, it is like the day Steven Who Was and the Greg and Lapis Lazuli went out on a yacht

(ship)

(smoke from the engine)

on the open sea.

The day had started out nice enough. They'd done some fishing, soaked up some sun. Lapis had refused the Greg’s hat. At some point, the engine had exploded, causing black smoke to billow from below deck and bringing them to a standstill.

(horizon darkened horizon there were storm clouds there was rain and then she came)

(you i’ve been following you)

Are these two really going to fuse again? That’s what Steven Who Was had been thinking, over and over again, as Jasper got down on her knees and begged Lapis to become Malachite for a second time. Yet despite Jasper’s promises that she had changed, that things would be better, Lapis refused her. To be more precise, she formed a large water fist and punched her so hard she became a speck in the stratosphere. To latch onto those human emotions, to understand them, made him feel like Jasper did that day. He all but begged them to take him back, but they turned a cold shoulder to him.

Only, they aren’t just turning a cold shoulder. It’s like they’re pushing him away. Or punching him away. Each time he reaches for them, they seem more distant. Less defined.

Coming closer and closer to not being there at all.

Through all of his musings, his hand hasn’t left his gem. He’s been standing here, staring at Steven Who Was with a blank expression. Lapis has been growing angrier with him by the second. He is brought back to reality by a soft plink. A drop of red water from the hurricane above them. It runs down his face and drips off his nose. Another falls. Then another. Blood rain.

In the split second it takes him to register this, all hell breaks loose. Lapis, who has been clenching her fists and her teeth and glaring daggers at him, loses her composure and screams. Her grip on the vortex shatters.

Waves of bloody water pour down on everything.

Your pain is only beginning, whether I’m here or not.

Lips are moving, mouths are speaking, Bismuth is screaming, but he can’t hear her. Everything seems to be moving in slow motion. Lapis has him by the shirt, her enraged eyes mere inches from his. In this instant, several thought processes go through his broken mind. She’s demanding that he cry over the body, that he save Steven Who Was as Steven Who Was once saved Lars. He dismisses her as a threat in an instant. Lapis, as angry as she is, is not going to hurt him. He also knows that these demands might have been within the powers of Steven Who Was

(move your ass cry help him fix him)

but they might not be within his own.

I can’t even remember what it’s like to feel sad. How can I possibly cry over the body?

Can't remember.

“Hear how much pain she’s in,” a nearby butterfly says. “It’s your fault for letting Steven die. You--”

What the butterfly says next is lost as Bismuth gets between him and Lapis and pushes them apart. He stumbles backwards, his hand finally leaving his gem. When he regains his balance, Bismuth is still between them. He fixes Lapis with a glare. She is no threat, and she is merely acting upon her grief and emotions, but she has still pissed him off.

“You're feeling anger?” the butterfly says, sounding surprised. “Seems like you’re still feeling something after all.”

Saying that this was emotion is a bit of a stretch. He knows he didn’t like being roughed up and he knows he doesn’t like being pushed around. It is a certain amount of… displeasure. It certainly seems like what he remembers as anger. Is it because he had reacted instinctively to it? Were emotions more difficult to grasp onto if he was trying?

When the other Gem, the one who looked like some kind of sad clown, had poofed all of his friends and killed Steven Who Was, there had been emotion then. There was no doubt about that. He’d been furious. His hands had trembled with effort when Bismuth had arrived and reminded him that shattering Gems was wrong. It had taken everything inside of him to release that terrible scythe and let the clown bitch live.

I wasn’t trying to be angry. It just came.

Was that the key to all of this? If so, why did the emotions not come even when he wasn’t trying? Why could he not remember laughter? Why could he not remember the joy of a smile or why being around friends and family elicited feelings of love?

A quandary for certain.

Child Steven

(i think the gems refer to him as classic steven)

had a day perhaps a year or so prior to the end of the war in which he was snowed in with his family, listening to stories of how the Gems kidnapped him and stole the Greg’s van. That day was one of the happiest in the memories for Steven Who Was, and one that Steven Who Was often looked back on with fondness.

A happy day, indeed. But why? And why did Steven Who Was also think back so often on a certain week when Connie fell dreadfully ill? What was it the humans called this strange experience?

Fever. Connie had a fever. Steven had been at her side the entire time, cooking her soup and applying cold washcloths to her forehead. Mrs. Maheswaran told Steven that he needn’t spend all of his time fawning over Connie, that she was more than capable as a mother of taking care of her daughter.

“My time is Connie’s time until she gets better,” Steven told her, spoon-feeding Connie small amounts of hot soup.

Hands shaking, Connie reached up and stroked Steven’s cheek. It was a small, quick gesture, but it

(felt wonderful)

just made Steven more resolved to stick it out to the end.

Like the jam buds they were.

Two fantastic ingredients, jam and biscuit, which when combined together, make each other even better.

Balloons was an even better analogy, at least in mind of Steven Who Was. He sometimes liked to picture them as two balloons, floating higher and higher, their strings intertwined. There was no doubt in the mind of Steven Who Remains that Steven Who Was had been in love with Connie almost from the outset. Despite Garnet’s claims that “love takes time and love takes work”, Steven hadn’t experienced it quite the same way. From the moment he’d laid eyes on her, something in him had clicked. That’s why he’d saved her glow bracelet in the freezer. That’s why he’d tried so hard to impress her with his funky flow.

Now all those dreams he had are in ruins. The balloons have popped.

I've got to figure out what I’m going to tell her when she inevitably shows up.

Got to figure it out.

That was going to be fun, wasn’t it? Well, you see Connie,

(feeling optimistic connie ha boy do i have a whopper of a tale for you)

once everything finally quieted down and Steven was gearing up for some well-deserved R&R, a Gem we’d never seen before showed up and gutted Steven with a scythe and lopped off his arm. I should have done something to help, honestly. My bad.

Again, the butterflies begin to grow in number while Bismuth tries to get Lapis quieted down.

I can’t let this happen. You and Connie are supposed to be endgame.

Can't let it happen without trying to fix it.

Explain to Connie why the boy she loves is in pieces? Not if I can help it.

You both deserve better.

Would it make it easier for everyone if he at least tried, but still failed?

Not likely.

Understand, please, that I want Steven to be better as much as any of you.

This last thought sets him in motion. He moves away from Bismuth and Lapis and towards Peridot, who is attempting to block access to Steven Who Was with her body. Steven Who Remains never even breaks his stride. Peridot ends up diving out of the way to keep from being stepped on. She scuttles under the table, bumping it and sending a bowl of blood water crashing to the floor. She cowers behind Bismuth’s leg as they all watch him approach Steven Who Was.

Is the world supposed to look like a glitchy video game?

Not this way. No.

How could it be?

I feel like things are---

Am I imagining it, or are things beginning to go loopy?

I see Steven Who Was, but something is wrong. It’s like things are beginning to shift all around me, go out of frame. I feel more broken than ever.

“Have things become a little too real for you?” a nearby butterfly asks.

Become too real?

“Comfortably standing at a distance is one thing, but how do you feel now that you’re right next to him?”

Numb. I feel numb.

I feel broken.

Have things always looked this fragmented? When did the blood get back on my hands? Is that supposed to be there? When did they reattach his arm?

(become too real)

(comfortably standing at a distance is one thing, but how do you feel now that you’re right next to him)

(numb)

Okay, enough of this. Not only is he being watched, but Steven’s very survival depends upon his ability to produce some effective healing tears. He can’t let himself become disoriented and delusional. He shoots a look at the hateful butterfly, which vanishes into mist. He reaches out and touches Steven Who Was, hesitating for but a moment. Then he takes him by the hand and looks down at him. No tears come. He is not surprised.

Just an hour before, they’d been one. He’d been a part of Steven Who Was, and it was easier to be human. Steven Who Was had been smiling and singing and loving on his family.

A single event had destroyed all of that, but he will fix it if he can. He hopes beyond all hope that this will work. Little bits of memory trickle back to him as he leans down and kisses Steven Who Was on the forehead. He thinks he feels something, so tiny it is like a

(little remnant of magic)

pinprick. He experiences something that he thinks might be an emotion called hope. It begins to form inside of him, starting small but gradually swelling. He stands back and waits. Peridot creeps forward and looks at the heart monitor. Bismuth and Lapis follow, all of them waiting for the flat line on the screen to spring to life. For those terrible zeroes to increase, to show that there is some sign of life somewhere deep inside the cold body.

There'll be an improvement any moment now.

Be better. Get better. Live. Please.

“No improvement,” Peridot said at last. Bismuth cast a cautious eye at Lapis as Peridot said this. The hope balloon that had been getting bigger within him pops and leaves him feeling deflated.

“More,” Lapis says to him, her voice cold. “You should have done more. You should have cried.”

Ah, just leave me alone, he thinks as he strokes the hair of Steven Who Was. Can’t she see that he wants it as badly as she does? More than she does?

“But if you want it so bad," a nearby butterfly says, "why didn't it work?"

You already know why it didn't work.

"May I suggest that it didn’t work because you’re not capable?” the butterfly says. “Just like you weren’t capable of saving Steven. I feel--”

Feel this.

A puff of smoke and the butterfly is gone. Steven Who Remains turns his attention back to the conversation at hand. Bismuth is of the opinion that Steven wouldn’t cry because Steven can’t cry. She elaborates upon this by pulling out the scythe. The one that started this whole mess.

Little pinpricks of fear erupt inside of him and become an almost primal need to get Steven Who Was as far from the killing weapon as possible. He doesn’t understand what the device is capable of, or if it had the ability to do even more damage than it already has, but he isn’t taking any chances. Neither is Peridot. She recoils from it as if the mere act of touching it would cause her to lose all of her character development.

Sick device used by a sick bitch of a Gem, Steven thinks, cradling the body. Bismuth is talking about how Homeworld used it to “rejuvenate” rebellious Gems, but Steven isn’t listening. He is regarding the Rejuvenator-- and now Bismuth-- with caution and distrust.

Can you put that damn thing away please?

You should have gotten rid of it.

Stand farther away at least.

Up on the second floor perhaps?

“I don’t know what it did to the Crystal Gems,” Bismuth says, looking toward the bloody collection of gems on the counter, “but if this thing reset them, we’ll find a way to get them back. They’re the O.G. Crystal Gems, after all. It’ll take something far worse to keep them out of the game.”

Do not underestimate the terrible tool in your hand, Steven thinks, dragging the body as far away from Bismuth as he can.

Believe the stories you hear. If not them, then believe your own eyes. Look at Steven Who Was.

It's mere moments after Bismuth bends down to talk to Peridot again, seemingly about a way to help or fix Steven (Steven isn’t really listening), that Steven himself rises from the couch. Bismuth has placed the Rejuvenator on the counter and has carelessly forgotten about it.

Working quickly, he grabs the hateful device in both hands and holds it there. He looks down at the bubbled gem of the other one. The rubber hose clown. He looks down at the tool in his hands again.

Good God, what could drive her to such an act? Who is she? Why would she just show up out of nowhere and kill? What purpose does it serve? She claimed she didn’t know Steven wouldn’t poof. She even tried to apologize for all of this, but--

“That'll be a serious mistake,” the voice of Bismuth calls out to him, breaking him from his thoughts. He looks over. All of their eyes are now upon him. “Don’t do it, Steven. Why don’t you just put that down?”

Keep away. I have to do this. For me. For Steven Who Was.

“You don’t need to do anything foolish,” Bismuth says. “Why don’t we just talk about it?”

Going to do it. Going to end it.

Through all of this, through all of the guilt butterflies and the accusing face of Steven Who Was, the well-being of Steven has been at the forefront of his mind. If he hadn’t failed him, Steven would be alive now. If Steven was alive, he and Connie would still have a future. If the rubber hose girl hadn’t showed up, Steven would still be alive. It all came down to the rubber hose Gem and the horrendous tools of death and destruction she’d brought with her. Well, he could right at least one wrong.

The Rejuvenator cracks as he snaps it in two. There is a short buzz of electricity as the circuits inside die, then it becomes a useless stick. It would never harm anyone ever again. He looks back at the other Gems to find that Bismuth is once again restraining Lapis Lazuli, except this time she isn’t coming at him to make demands; she is ready to

(show me how much she hates me)

come at him full force and destroy him if it comes right down to it.

On this note, Bismuth gulps and reaches out a shaky hand towards him. He makes her nervous. He makes her uncomfortable. She has tried valiantly to hide this from him, but it has become too much for her to bear. She can conceal her true feelings no longer.

“It's okay,” she says to him. “Do you feel better?”

Time to respond. To say something in return. To give her a little something. To show some humanity, or some emotion, or some empathy. Why can’t he open his mouth? Why won’t the words come? It seems like it would be appropriate to say something, but some part of his programming tells him that it isn’t necessary to say something. It seems to him that in this case, his programming is wrong. Either that, or his programming is as broken as the rest of him. Still, he maintains his silence.

“To be honest,” she says after a long and rather awkward period where he simply stares up at her with his diamond eyes, “I wouldn’t want that thing around me, either.”

“Go on,” a nearby butterfly says. “Ask her if she meant the Rejuvenator, or if she was talking about you.”

There is a knock on the door, cutting off this exchange and causing the butterfly to evaporate. Before anyone can think to answer it, the Greg throws it open. He is holding a baseball bat and screaming Steven’s name.

Is there any way that this day can get any worse?

No. Not unless Connie shows up.

Pain drips from the Greg’s voice and tears run from his eyes. He runs to Steven Who Remains and embraces him. He expresses his relief at finding his son alive. Apparently, Bismuth shot him a text at some point. This is… awkward.

“You have no idea what you’re going to say to this man, do you?” a butterfly sneers as it flutters past. It moves towards Steven Who Was.

Are you serious? Get away from him!

Receding more and more as it grows closer, it laughs at him. Something is wrong. Something is terribly wrong.

A moment later, Steven Who Was turns his head and looks at him. Whatever the Greg is saying is lost as Steven Who Was lets out a groan and lurches from the couch.

Distant memories begin to flood in again, taking control and making the world seem glitchy and hazy.

(ship shaped like an arm)

(smoke or dust on the horizon of homeworld)

On a distant planet, they fought a good fight against the greatest tyrants the universe has ever known. One by one, each of these tyrants was brought to Steven’s side. The last holdout, White Diamond, refused to bend, and stood proud upon her platform, passing judgment upon them all.

The events of that day, the day of their first separation, are firm in his mind. Of all the things he has trouble remembering, this is not one of them. White Diamond, big as the Trade Center Building in Empire City, grabbing Steven in her mighty fist. Her pointy black claws raising his shirt and digging into his belly. The gem they shared coming out. Then he was there. Pink Steven. This was a brand new experience for him. For both of them. A bold new… what’s the human word?

Horizon.

You begged me that day. You looked at me, fell on your face. NO, PLEASE. I NEED - I NEED IT!

Are those words coming out of his mouth now? Oh, sweet heavens they are.

Only...

“Coming out” might not be the right phrase. More like “tumbling out”, “slurring out”, “sliding out”. Steven Who Remains is reminded of the old zombie flicks Steven Who Was used to watch on television late at night. These brute beasts with guts hanging out or rotting limbs dangling would lurch around and groan and grunt.

Through a massive swarm of butterflies, Steven Who Was reaches for him. Blood pours from his empty eye sockets in torrents. The blood pools on the floor beneath their feet.

In this moment, Steven Who Remains reaches in desperation for Garnet’s words.

Waves of fear crash over him, followed by waves of guilt.

Your training! Remember your training!

Lips barely matching the words he is saying, Steven Who Was speaks again: “I need it!”.

Move back to the couch. You aren’t real. Aren’t real. Aren’t real. You’re dead.

But he is having trouble convincing himself of that. He finds himself reaching for the outstretched hand of Steven Who Was, as if they are going to fuse back together again. He can also feel the pool of blood in which he is standing. The blood is between his toes, down inside his flip-flops.

I can’t handle this!

“Can't handle it! Can’t handle it! Can’t handle it!” the butterflies mock.

“Hear him now,” they laugh. “How strong he seemed, banishing us and chanting ‘Just a thought’ like a mantra. Where is your precious Garnet now?”

What is happening to me?

You’re not real! None of you are real! He’s not real, either!

Saying it over and over again in his head makes the visions begin to break apart, but they have one more trick: When Steven Who Was moves closer, Steven Who Remains can smell the decay coming from him. It is one of the worst rotten meat odors he’s ever experienced. He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. He thinks back on that day of training: Take a moment to ask yourself if this is how we fall apart.

When he opens his eyes, the butterflies are gone, Steven Who Was is back on the couch, and the Greg is calling out to him.

I didn’t mean to let you die, Steven thinks, looking over at Steven Who Was. I didn’t mean for this to be how we fell apart.

Was that fear on Bismuth’s face? She looks like she expects him to fly off the handle at any time, or expects the Greg to look back at the couch where Steven lay. What will happen when he sees his son’s body?

A disaster, that’s what. He will lose his composure. He might even go insane. Steven was the only family he had left, unless you count cousin Andy. Greg has no one now. He is all alone.

Child of the Greg. Son of Rose. I’m sorry.

I am so sorry. To you as well, Greg. This should never have happened

Caught up in the moment, an emotion comes back to him, raw and unexpected but real nonetheless: it is sadness. For the first time since this tragedy happened, he is able to feel something other than anger.

A simple, brief

(fleeting)

glimpse of the humanity he had so long taken for granted.

Out on the beach, the rain begins to fall. There is a distant roll of thunder. Is it poetic or cheesy to think of it as the sorrowful tears of the planet Steven had given his life to defend? Probably cheesy, but there it is. Everyone had shed a tear for Steven today except for him, even the goddamn planet itself. Why is he so incapable of this simple act, when it might prove to be Steven’s saving grace?

Of course, there is the possibility that Bismuth is right and that the Rejuvenator has somehow reset him to an earlier state. Strangely enough, he doesn’t feel reset. He remembers Steven’s life. He remembers their experiences together. If he is a reset Gem, shouldn’t he be more… Pink Diamond? Shouldn’t his memories be erased as well?

The answers will not be quick in coming, if they ever come at all. Likely, the only answers they’ll ever get will be from the rubber hose Gem. They’ll have to unbubble her eventually if they want to unravel this. No pun intended.

Corner her. Threaten her. Make her talk.

Of all the ideas that have gone through his head this day, this one is by far his least favorite. He doubts the Gems will be on board with it, either. Pure aggression is not their way, unless it is an absolute last resort.

“My human is dead! What do you know about what you did to me? How do I fix it?”

Eye to eye and with the Breaking Point pointed at her Gem, maybe it would work, but it seems ugly and messy and… Homeworld. He won’t resort to those kinds of tactics. Not even on her.

I almost did, though, didn’t I? When I held her gem in my hand.

Turned it this way and that. Looked at it. Dropped it on the ground. Pointed a sharp object at it…

To go down that rabbit hole was to risk having another episode, and he won’t do that. He will figure out how to get answers from her, but that isn’t the important thing to focus on at the moment.

Look at the Greg’s face. Look at the concern there. He hasn’t turned around yet. He’s still looking at me! Should I say something? Should I do something?

But he can’t. That part of his programming, the broken part, will not allow it. It keeps saying that it is unnecessary. Is it that, or is it some botched signal? Is the reality that he doesn’t want to be the one to break the old man’s heart?

It shouldn’t have to be anyone’s job to break his heart! We shouldn’t have to do this! Steven shouldn’t be dead!

Was that all there was to it? He feels something. Some emotion. Weak as a dying heartbeat. He reaches for it, but it slips away. He reaches for it again. It grows even fainter. It vanishes.

Gone. Had it been guilt? Apprehension? He doesn’t know.

I hate being a fraction of a person. A shard. A being who cannot feel emotions or react to social cues or show even the slightest bit of sorrow to an unspeakable tragedy.

Cannot or will not?

Put in simple terms, he can’t even tell if his inability to behave like a person is because he isn’t a person and thus can’t be expected to act like one, or because some mental block is keeping him from doing so. Do Gems even get mental blocks? He supposes that it’s possible. Gems can get emotional hang ups after being lied to, they can grieve for six thousand years, and they can eat and drink and pee in the ocean. Would it not, then, be possible for something to affect a Gem in such a way that it makes them unable to act in certain ways or feel certain things?

My best friend was just murdered by a crazy clown. Like something out of a Stephen King novel. I’d say that qualifies. We were all so happy. It was like the hand of fate came down on us for no reason.

Finger of God type stuff. Like we were too happy. Like the war was our destiny, and we weren’t suffering enough or something.

On that note, he dismisses the thought. He has never put much stock in religion. The reality is that they weren’t struck down by the hand of God; they were attacked by a crazy fuck with a scythe.

It really is as simple as that. If he has some kind of complex, it is because of her.

Now he has to determine how he is going to deal with it. How they are all going to deal with it. When he’d been standing in the bathroom, Butterfly Steven said something that had been cruel but true: this isn’t his life. This isn’t his home.

The others will feel the same.

Child of the Greg, son of Rose he is not. His diamond pupils and pink glow make that abundantly clear.

Is there going to be anything for me here when this is all over and done with?

Grown up Pink Steven might end up being a complete pariah in a world built by the blood, sweat and tears of classic human Steven.

The idea, surprisingly, does not fill him with dread or apprehension. He finds that, due to his emotional limitations, it is hard to care about much of anything except for Steven Who Was. He supposes that he cares about the Greg, and he supposes that he cares about the friends of Steven Who Was. A concern for the well-being of another has very little to do with emotion. When it comes to himself, however, it is a different story. Gems are not known for their drive for self-preservation. When Sapphire had run away with Ruby, Ruby hadn’t given much thought to whether she would be shattered or not, responding instead by asserting that there were tons of her. Pearl had thrown herself in front of weapon after weapon to keep Rose Quartz safe. Steven had given his life without hesitation in his efforts to protect his friends.

Dream big, but don’t put too high a value on your own life. That’s the Gem way.

Is that right? Certainly seems that way. And to boot, it stirs up some emotion in him. Is it indignation? Anger? Outrage at such a blase attitude? Before he can grasp it to identify it, it slips away.

Gone again.

I need to get a grip on that somehow. Need to learn how to process emotions without Steven there to do it for me.

Have to. Don’t have a choice.

Become my own person. Losing Steven Who Was may have left me a shattered remnant of what we once were, but maybe I can learn to be whole. Maybe I can break my programming like the original Crystal Gems did when they rebelled. Maybe I can learn to deal with emotions, and function like the Gem that I am. Learn to grasp things and respond and shed this callousness. Maybe then I won’t be quite so

(comfortably)

numb.

#steven universe #steven universe future #su au gone wrong #spudinacup #pink floyd #pink steven #steven universe the movie

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opalgelance · 4 years

Text

thoughts on steven universe future

td;lr overall opinion: steven universe future is better than most of the original steven universe, especially seasons 3-5, but there are still some real iffy plotlines in future

i hate that the diamonds were redeemed but at the same time, the happy clouds blue and yellow putting gems back together scenes were so pure

it simultaneously warms my heart and infuriates me

but we finally got a blue diamond song, god i love her voice

EDIT: also steven basically tortured white diamond and nearly killed her and it was pretty disturbing bc steven is 1. in a really bad mental state, like way darker than i thought they’d show him go, since this is technically a kids show and 2. was also kind of trying to hurt himself, which both hit me really hard bc i had similar periods of blazing anger, wanting to self harm and harm others that i felt had wronged me when i was a teenager, but its also what white deserves

ncsndlljklkcndkls i want to enjoy this show so bad but,,, steven having ptsd makes him a violent douche??? diamonds killed who knows how many gems in their reign and never really felt bad about it in original su but now they’re supportive life coaches??? no thank you

on more positive notes, i loved how priyanka described mental health and how she treated steven throughout the entire check up, she was so nonconfrontational and whenever he felt stressed she deescalated the situation,,, it was so good

the animation is the best its been since season 2. the poses are clean, very well drawn, and on model. there are more action scenes than like 90% of steven universe and they’re animated way better, like theres actual fighting and motion asjksacbcbj no one is stiffly posed, no one has strange proportions, no one is drastically changing sizes in between shots (well besides steven in growing pains onward but when he does change size its supposed to be like that lol)

i liked seeing the real roses but didnt love it? i wish we saw more of the roses designs up close, and i wish they fit a little more with the other quartzes? it might be just because its era 3, but the roses were all way more unique than jaspers and amethysts generally seem to be. i like that they were more unique designs and had different personalities, but surely the diamonds wouldnt have tolerated that back in era 1 or even era 2, had the rose quartzes not been bubbled? also i get that they’re reminiscent of pink bc she created them, but hippie and superfan were so naive, more so than other quartzes. if each quartz group was slightly different, it would make a little more sense tbh like if quartzes were the entire gem army, but each group was slightly different. i always liked the idea that rose quartzes were either the defense or the healers of the gem army.

little homeschool and guidance were fun and genuinely enjoyable, considering not a whole ton happens in them. i wish townie episodes had been more like them. like you could replace the gems with random humans, but it would still be a fun episode? idk, maybe involving the humans in gem stuff wouldve made better townie episodes, like lars and the cool kids. it wouldve probably helped steven feel more “human” too, if the human and gem worlds collided a bit more in the series.

bluebird was... an ok episode, but im not sure how well it will fit into what i feel like the end will be, where every episode of future featured someone steven helped or affected in some way, and they all come together to help steven when he corrupts. or rather, i guess if bluebird did say something, it would feel more hollow bc steven didnt help them lol the gems and universes were just friendly to them, and thats it. it wasnt as bad as a very special episode (my least favorite episode of future), but it felt like a townie episode with no townies LOL at least we got a new fusion i guess

a very special episode was just,,, infuriating. there was that weird football scene where they just like,,, talk about screen resolution for a minute then play the full commercial for little homeworld we just saw last episode???? i did genuinely enjoy the rainbow scenes, but it just built up to not nothing. oh no, it was something alright. the whole episode was just future vision and then theres like a minute long psa??? it felt like that wacky randomness that would have happened in like, ok ko, teen titans go, or clarence jaskjcbkcjbskb

mr universe is tied with dear old dad episode as my least favorite greg episode. i get how both of them feel. greg wanted to tell steven about how he escaped from his miserable childhood and remade who he was, no longer a demayo but a universe. the problem imo was that greg became way too absorbed in the past. it reminds me a bit of s1 pearl, how she’d proudly recount gem battles and basked in the glory of fighting for their freedom, but she struggled when she had to recount the more unsavory parts of war. and that really affected amethyst, since she didnt fight in the glorified war pearl told her and steven about. amethyst was the byproduct of one of the bad parts of the war, and that became part of her identity, until on the run, where pearl finally realized that she needed to tell amethyst that she wasnt bad. amethyst’s creation may have fractionally hurt the earth, but that wasnt her fault. it wasnt her fault that she emerged too late to fight either. and it wasnt her fault that she existed. sounds familiar to to stevens rant in the van.

steven didnt ask to be made. he didnt ask to be the half gem half human son of a diamond. but he grew up being told about how great his mom was, and that while no one would ever say it, she was gone because of him. to create steven, rose had to die. it was roses decision, but as the product of that decision, steven feels responsible. not only that, but being told constantly about his amazing mother, steven felt like he had to live up to her, had to be like her, had to replace her in the gems and greg’s lives. throughout the series, steven is constantly either trying to be like his mother, until he realizes its ok to be himself. but then the question is posed; is steven even himself? or is he still part of rose? and once he finds out that he’s steven, and has always been steven, he’s still reeling from the realization that his mother was pink diamond. and that really shows in future, where steven is becoming like pink. at first he doesnt even know, because besides the jungle moon dream, him and the audience never knew about this side of pink. this angry, short tempered, diamond who lashes out mostly physically. and unlike before, no one’s telling steven about pink (besides pink pearl) hes finding out firsthand, and this pink mode is basically being forced on him by his gem. steven has little to no control over this form. hes not trying to live up to his mother, or wondering if he is her, like before. now, he’s losing control to whatever programming is in his gem.

but back to mr universe. in the van, greg is going on and on about how lucky steven is, and how free steven is, but how can either of them compare their lives to each other? the similarities just arent there. steven is right, greg and pink were “raised” in very similar “households”. both had their wishes and desires suppressed by controlling, abusive parents. we know pink was abused mentally, verbally and physically (being physically dragged away from the screen by yellow in jungle moon, stevonnie being grabbed and thrown into the time out cell by yellow, when she still thought steven was pink), but greg at the very least was mentally assaulted. but they diverge from here. as greg said, he thought disco was back. rose started a war. you cant compare them any further.

but at the same time, steven was raised completely differently. he was raised in a home with love and freedom, but he was also not given the opportunity to be a normal kid. theres a difference being forcing your kid to do something and not giving them the chance to try something. steven was never given the option to go to school (well in the comics he was but i guess thats not canon now since it seems like steven wishes he went to school?) he was never given the option to live in a house, or go to the mall with friends. the only other kids he knew were the boardwalk kids, but even then, he doesnt seem very close with them. for such an outgoing, friendly kid, steven wasnt given many opportunities to make friends. steven’s upbringing was very relaxed, yes, but it was too relaxed. he needed more structure, and more importantly, more humanity. i always thought it was weird, how little steven seems to have interacted with humans before connie, considering that his mother so desperately wanted steven to experience being human. yes the show is about gems, (and yes, i dont like most townie episodes), but steven was never shown doing a lot of “human” kid things inbetween episodes. the episode never started with him coming home from a friends house, he hardly ever spent time with friends other than connie in little scenes. like he was never called for a mission while playing cards with peedee, or coming home after an after school activity. any scenes like that were either just steven by himself, or with greg, and occasionally connie. but connie is a new addition to his life. how many years has he been doing fun stuff with only his dad for company, or by himself? yknow, “non traditional” childhoods and living situations are becoming more and more common in media, rather than the “two parents in a suburb house” thing, but steven’s life is beyond any unusual childhood any other kid would have. i mean he’s never even been to the doctor! which is probably for several reasons, like the fact that he apparently doesnt have a ssn, he can heal himself, has a damn gemstone in his stomach, and is half alien. but still, thats not something he has in common with other kids. no matter how much love and freedom he was given, steven was raised as an outcast.

i agree with the notion that both greg and steven were both right and wrong in mr universe. i guess they both have that in common with rose lol

greg should have read the room better, realized that his pep talk wasnt the support and apology steven needed to hear. but steven shouldnt have acted out in the way he did. i get that’s the “theme” of steven’s spiral, maybe for the younger audience to better understand how steven is acting? but crashing his dad’s van that gregs been living in for like 20 years? fucking SHATTERING jasper? that’s going way too far to prove a point. it would have been better to maybe mirror story for steven, where marty and greg are arguing, marty is watching the road and they narrowly avoid hitting a car. but crashing the car could have been pretty serious, especially for greg. now jasper, that episode shouldnt have been approved. steven should not have shattered jasper. he fucking killed her. rose/pink didnt even shatter anyone. and if it wasnt for steven getting another superpower out of nowhere, jasper would have stayed that way. he should have just cracked her gem, poofing her in the process. the rest of the episode wouldve played out exactly the same.

anyways ive been writing this for like 2 hours but i feel better letting it all out. if you enjoy future keep enjoying it! it’s definitely more like a B+ compared to season 3-5′s general C-/D+. but please take into consideration future has some themes that people personally relate to, like mental health, and that you shouldnt shit on someone elses opinions that are based on their own personal experiences. especially if you dont have mental health issues, dont keep pushing your opinion and telling people that personally relate to future’s themes that they’re wrong? thats fucked up man

#suf #steven universe future #suf spoilers

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