#SU is like rose quartz. did as good as it could with what it had at the time

[peek-a-boo-rikki]

so I'm NOT crazy for liking SU during its prime!

people discovering steven universe in 2023 are always like "this show is really good why the hell were yall so weird about it"

[pearlsdefenseattorny]

since we're all talking about SU again, i want to say my perspective of pearlrose neither condemns their relationship as toxic or upholds it as ideal. i think that stance is surprisingly uncommon. theyre a comfy mix between Meant for Each Other, and Coercive Doomed Incommunicative Mess, and the middle ground ive settled on is that despite powerful mutual love, they never fully understood each other nor could they provide what the other really Needed in a comitted relationship. i LOVE them together. not just becuz theyre sweet and cute and sexy but becuz, like most of SU's relationships, theres a huge well of depth to dip into. much of it is sad. the tragedy of pearlrose isn't that Rose didnt love Pearl (bonkers take) or Greg showed up and ruined everything (double bonkers) or Pearl had to move on from her evil abusive ex (triple bonkers), but that neither of them could wade that swamp of trauma and shared history and feelings to SEE the other clearly and accept her. THATS sad. not your weird half-baked surface level heteronormative take which boils Rose to down to a caricature and Pearl to a victim.

Rose is a really sad character. PD was a deeply empathetic individual in a society which criminalized empathy, stamped down compassion, and rewarded and fostered exploitation and dehumanization of those hierarchically beneath you. i am totally willing and happy to hash out all her sins (gag order, abandoning spinel, bubbling bismuth, lying..) but not until we aknowledge the humility and good character revealed in establishing the rebellion itself, emancipating pearl, and so on... homegirl never even knew what mutual respect was LIKE before greg becuz in rebecca sugars own words, he was the ONLY one who demanded to be treated like a real person. i think she said "everyone else had either been above or below her."

Rose was set up for moral failure! she didnt stand a chance (and neither did pearl😬) but she made the boldest, most humbling, most *dangerous* move of playing both sides then at last ceding power and we need to give her credit. the biggest failure of the movie was hammering into the audience's head how awful she was. she was so complicated. she was so sad. she hated herself. she loved everyone. she tried so hard. she LOVED pearl. you werent always good Rose Quartz but they could never make me hate you

[misrepresentedmorallygrey]

PROPAGANDA

Rose Quartz Propaganda

"We saw her character arc in reverse!! We first saw all the good she did and then learned of her terrible actions in the past. If her story was told the other way around, it would have been a great redemption arc. Yes, she did some terrible things, but she had no choice. She did everything she could to stop the colonization of earth peacefully buy nothing worked. Blue and yellow diamond just didn't listen to her and when they did, THEY were the ones who made the zoo and shit. Rose wanted to free them but couldn't get to them after the war! And with the corruption, there's no way she could have known that'd happen. There's so many things she wanted to do but just couldn't. And with spinel, yes it was shitty to leave her alone for so long, but again, between running her court, running the rebellion, dealing with earth, she likely wasn't a very high priority and like with the zoo, there was no way to get to her after the war since the galaxy warp was destroyed. And don't forget, she was practically a child around this time. You're saying you didn't do any stupid, selfish, or harmful things as a kid? She learned from her experiences and grew, we just saw that growth in reverse, leaving us as viewers with a poor perception of her."

"Rose Quartz is Steven Universe’s dead mom. Initially, she’s set up as sort of an ethereal perfect figure who everyone misses and compares him to. Later we get to see more of her backstory and discover that she’s actually like, a person, with flaws, who has done some bad things, but she did those bad things largely in the course of trying to escape an abusive home life and save the people and planet that she fell in love with. It’s very clear that despite her flaws she was trying to do the right thing and that she deeply cared about others. Unfortunately, a woman who was not a Perfect Martyr was way too much for the Steven Universe fandom to handle. She pretty much set off the wave of SU crit blogs because these people were furious either that she had taken violent measures to solve her problems, that she hadn’t taken violent enough measures to solve her problems, or both somehow. Lots of “Why didn’t she just murder her abusive parental figures?” Lots of “She was evil for having a baby even though she knew she’d die in childbirth!” Lots of “She should’ve been able to protect everyone from a magic nuclear weapon with the power of love somehow.” Lots of “She shouldn’t have rebelled (even though not rebelling would’ve meant the destruction of Earth) because her abusers retaliated and that’s her fault.” LOTS of people drawing her as stick thin even though she was fat in the show. People treated her like she was on the same level or even worse than her abusive parental figures who were also the main villains of the show. It was unbearable to witness."

Mahiru Propaganda

"They got unfairly voted guilty in the first round and keeps getting blamed She never meant to hurt anyone and the only reason she did was cause she couldn’t read social ques"

"Mahiru Shiina is the most traditionally feminine character in Milgram, and she’s very in love with the idea of love. That makes her an easy fandom target. In Milgram, we are introduced to ten murderers. It quickly becomes apparent that not all of these murders are conventional. By the time we are introduced to Mahiru, we already know most of these unconventional murderers. Mahiru’s first music video depicts her going on various dates with her boyfriend, even though he is not shown in the frame. At the end of the video, Mahiru wakes up, turns to the camera, and has a horrified expression. Whatever happened, she didn’t want it to happen. And then a lot of the fandom accused her of being a stalker. Was that what got her a 55% guilty/unforgiven vote? I don’t know. I wasn’t there. But she heard what the fandom said. She heard these voices saying she couldn’t be forgiven. Saying that she was a stalker or that she didn’t really love her boyfriend, even though that wasn’t true. She was beaten to near-death by Kotoko, a vigilante who was forgiven by 67%. Fuuta, who also sustained serious injuries from Kotoko, calls out the audience surrogate, saying what we did with our verdicts would have made us the same as him if Mahiru had died. And yet Mahiru doesn’t blame either us or Kotoko. Mahiru’s second music video shows that she was indeed in a proper relationship with her boyfriend. She smothered him with her love. The video slowly revealed the toxicity in their relationship. She asked why she can’t do anything right. The fandom perception was better in that she was safely voted innocent/forgiven. Still, there are issues. Some infantilize her or say that she’s delusional. Yes, she had a sheltered upbringing and has difficulties reading social cues, but that doesn’t take away her agency. On the flip side, some have theorized that she kidnapped her boyfriend and wasn’t in a proper relationship with him. (Not sure what to say about that, but this is a series about sympathetic murderers.)"

[rosenotactuallyquartz]

Thank you for the actual good Rose metas! It’s so hard to find them in this fandom, they just want to go after her and make her look like a one note bad guy, it frustrates me- especially when they claim Steven hates her. Resents? Yeah…but hate?🌹😔 (bonus points if they defend the other diamonds but demonize pink. 🫤)

thank you, anon !! this was such a lovely message. we have similar takes, let’s be su buddies/nf

here, i have a quote to show you:

“i think an important lesson for steven is to find himself and not rely on rose's image as guidance for everything, because everything within the show has a moral grayness. to say rose quartz encapsulates all that is good and powerful about a mother character would take away so much depth of what humanity actually can be—hurtful people, conflicted people, people who can't or don't want to be healed—which i don't think rose ever got to learn. maybe steven can learn that. to me, rose is an example of what happens if you admire an idea of a person.” —jesse zuke, steven universe: art and origins, page 134

i just started my first year of college (journalism!) so i know i still have a lot to learn. but i love writing about pearlrose because rose is a character who i relate to so strongly, while pearl is a character i admire a lot.

i love steven universe because the characters are just so human, really. they’re traumatized & flawed & complicated & they have insecurities and issues. it makes these characters feel very real & relatable. for example, rose is not perfect; she hurt people because she was hurt, she hurt people because she made mistakes. she feels so much love for the people around her, but the way she feels about herself makes some of the characters question how she feels about them.

i could go on because she’s complicated. that’s why my posts are so long, i think (so it really means a lot to me that you enjoy my posts, because i know it takes some time & energy to read everything). but my point is that we’re not supposed to see these characters as “all good” or “all bad.” they’re people. rose is not the epitome of a good and perfect mother who did everything right and had no issues. she’s not an evil heartless villain, either. she’s just a severely traumatized person who has a big heart, made mistakes, struggles with mental illness, and feels guilty about her past because she never intended to hurt anyone. she’s like me; not my ideal self and not myself when i was at my worst. just me now, and that’s why she’s my comfort character.

a bit about pink! people were so caught up in the pink diamond reveal and the plot twist, and i understand! it’s a big deal. but from now we’re only falling apart & jungle moon, it was already clear that pink was badly abused on homeworld. & i think people overlook rose’s abuse trauma and therefore defend her less because they watch change your mind and miss the fact that white believes she is talking to pink. this made me understand rose’s character so much more. believing she’d never change, saying pink’s a bad person who only makes things worse. making her feel powerless. this had a lasting impact on rose’s mental health & relationships! i hate when people say, “pink was a bad person, but rose isn’t.” i can sympathize with & love rose and pink.

as for steven! the quote that i posted above really shows why he was impacted so much. we see episodes like lion 3 and storm in the room, and he often looked at rose as “encapsulating all that is good and powerful about a mother character” for his own comfort as a kid, because rose is dead. which was always difficult for him, remember his heartbreaking “i didn’t even get to know my mom”? he begins to learn that she hid some things, made some mistakes, hurt some people. when he was young, he felt like he knew her, and now he simply wonders who she is. he questions a lot of things, and after everything he’s learned, he still doesn’t have all the information. he doesn’t know—nor could he really understand—the guilt she felt, for example.

he’s a kid. then, we blink and he’s sixteen. old enough to begin realizing that the adults in his life weren’t perfect (i.e., greg was always a good dad, but now he’s questioning him as a father). still, he’s too young to understand a lot of things. he’s processing so much, and he’s struggling with his trauma & mental health issues. like you said, he resents her! i don’t think he hates her, i think he’s sixteen. when he’s in his 30s, and his trauma is no longer fresh, i do think his opinions on rose will look quite different because he’ll learn what jesse zuke talked about in the quote that i referenced. & i think some people looked at this specific timeline in future and said, “oh, so she’s bad.” i know that’s easy to do because the show is from steven’s perspective, but we can have our own outside perspectives, too! we can empathize with steven and his specific pain & questions & issues, but we can also empathize with rose and her specific problems that steven can’t quite grasp because of his personal perspective.

i’m so sorry for rambling. basically, i agree with you & i love the moral grayness of the show. categorizing a lot of these characters and ships as “all good” & “all bad” has led to a lot of takes in the fandom that i personally disagree with.

but i love this part of the fandom (mutuals ily) and if you’d like, feel free to talk to me about su anytime! my dms are open, pink anon :3

[possessionisamyth]

Every time I see the occasional floating SU post talking about how no one understood The Point, I both get it and immediately recognize that, due to the complex hate vortex created on tumblr during its run, people have selective memory for what legitimate and illegitimate criticisms were being made for the show. Heres a short list, do not add to it:

-the racism from outside and inside the house (human zoo full of brown people, entire bismuth plotline, white people saying garnet isn't black "shes an alien" which also happened for all of her fusions, blatant silencing of black teens written of as "the discourse" whenever they made decent talking points about anything, etc)

-people crucifying rebecca sugar for drawing illicit material as a minor (something a lot of ppl who do art or likes art makes or consumes when they get really into drawing or shipping)

-people shouting "rebecca sugar is jewish! she knows what she's doing" to any criticism at all to silence other people just engaging with the show and stating things they didn't like about certain episodes

-the reveal of rose quartz, the beautiful fat character we spent all this time learning bits and pieces about, being a skinny tall girl(pink diamond) in essentially a fat suit

-homophobic and transphobic people capitalizing on the discourse tags to shout louder and louder about small things that'd go under the radar of any other show further poisoning the cesspool (dumb shit like peridot being child coded)

-how the SU crew handled advertising when they really shouldn't have been doing any marketing ( the concrete reveal and immediate backtracking) and I do blame CN for not doing more actual marketing and trying to bank on social media clout with animators who are not equiped for this

-people asking for lowered stakes when it comes to the diamonds whole schtick because of the implications, and they could predict what the showrunners would do based on previous plotlines

-people upset because during a time where we were getting a fascism free sample(drump), the imaginary fascists get a handshake and a "okay, restorative justice time" moment

-severe lack of understanding that the show was cut short due to the ruby/sapphire wedding, and the movie and sequel series was an attempt to make up for it, and i can't say whether or not this was done well because I dropped out of SU before the movie dropped

In summary, I do think Steven Universe was important. It did do a lot of things well, and it helped open more doors for other creators to do more fun gay and trans stuff in their shows including handling difficult topics. Whether those other shows handle ALL those topics well isn't something I'm going to waste my breath on. If the writing captivates me then it captivates me, and now whether or not it's good is always second to whether or not I find it fun.

My little brother and I watched SU together like we did Gravity Falls and Adventure Time, and I was able to use the metaphor of Stevonnie to explain my nonbinary status to him without any issue. However, at some point for me, I stopped finding the show fun, and I know for a lot of people sucked into the tumblr hate vortex that meant they had to equate the show as Bad.

I don't know if I'll sit myself down and watch the movie or follow up series, but this isn't because I think they're bad. I simply have gotten back into actual adult fiction books and comics, so a lot of YA or kids content haven't been hitting those same brain spots with me like they used to when I was a minor or a young 20 something trying to figure out how to be a person.

There's more I could say about how lgbt+ writing and art is held under a tighter microscope than the most milquetoast cishet content, but there's already dozens of posts floating around that explain it better than I feel like doing at this hour.

What I will say though, is if you loved SU at first and you started to hate it, like genuinely hate it, maybe take the time to figure out when the hate started, what caused that hatred, and why you hated it, especially now that you don't have every other post on your feed talking about how SU sucks yelling in your ear.

[aftout]

Sorry for SU posting on main I’m aware that it’s, like, a show and a half when it comes to thinking critically about media but with its recent resurgence on certain platforms I’ve been pondering like a bitch over one topic specifically and it’s just??

I love, love Rose Quartz’s character. It’s a hot take I know but I truly love what the series did with her, as rushed as it was at times. Rose is so important to me because she is what Steven Universe is all about: growth, forgiveness, and change.

There’s the obvious: she went from presenting herself as a diamond to presenting herself as a quartz. She changed her name. She moved from homeworld to Earth. She went from surrounding herself with the other diamonds and their colonies to surrounding herself with humans and the crystal gems. But even outside of all the things that are presented to you surface level, her entire existence and personality revolves around changing.

The earliest stage of her that we see in the show is, iirc, the dream sequence where Stevonnie is in her position (on that abandoned command center) with Connie’s mom replicating Yellow Diamond. Rose was, at that point, a literal child. Though not in consecutive order, we see how Rose goes from a spoiled, overly emotional, and even abused kid to this levelheaded, grown woman. And that is literally what the show is all about. I keep saying this over and over again but she is so integral to SU’s overarching theme. She’s imperfect, both as a gem and also as a person, but like? She persists and moves forward. She’s so human.

Even in context of design, her quartz form looks substantially more humane than most of the other gems do. She mingles with humanity constantly and even goes as far as to give birth to a (mostly) human son. She is messy. The rubble of it all means a lot to me because I feel like SU did a good job at portraying just how ugly trauma can be. We really see this in Future, where Steven has an onscreen meltdown and finally cracks under several seasons’ and a movie’s worth of trials and tribulations. It’s really interesting to me because I feel like, in that story arc, we really see that he is his mother’s son.

I don’t think it’s outlandish to say that SU does touch on themes about generational trauma. Rose has her baggage from her days as a diamond, and clearly though she tried her best to grow and break the cycle, there were a few bumps and bruises that got passed down onto Steven. He then goes on his own journey to heal and break the cycle himself. Hell, both of their stories even end with them leaving Greg and the Crystal Gems behind; and though Steven doesn’t sacrifice himself in the way that Rose did, there is still that feeling of moving on and accepting the next stage of life: whether it be finally allowing oneself to grow up or, well, die.

These themes of growing up are found in the Spinel debacle, as well. Rebecca Sugar themself said that a lot of Spinel’s character was based off of this situation they found themself in where they left a toy rabbit they had in the garden, forgot about it, and then found it again six months later. They described it as “wondering how they could be so careless over something they thought they loved so much.” It’s rough because, unlike Sugar’s stuffed rabbit, Spinel is sentient. But even then, throughout the movie she is described as Pink’s toy. Symbolically she captures what it’s like to grow out of toys you once loved as a child. And then, at the end, she is taken in by the other diamonds to reminisce over who Pink once was; much like how parents may keep old stuffed animals their kids owned as a memory.

Idk. At this point I’m fully rambling (I had better points when I was talking to myself about this and making myself cry), but I just. Yeah. Rose is such a wonderful character to me. Her humanity and imperfection means a lot. I think it’s cool to have such a nuanced character be shown in children’s media, and seeing her development is genuinely fascinating. I think she really shows that beauty isn’t necessarily found in one’s pain, but in the strength they withhold to power through it. Does that make any sense? Idk.

[suau-raised-by-corrupted-gems]

SU AU: My way

"She WHAT!?"

The shrill squawk of an especially large mutant macaw sounded through the woodlands, startling a flock of birds out of their roosting spots in the trees and caused a few deer to scatter for cover.

"She did-- but you--! Why would--!?" Centi's mane bristled as her shock as everything she had heard sank in. She already had a bad feeling about those star-bearing bounty hunters, but the information she was given was just too much to bear. "H.... H-How could she!?" In an instant, her shock replaced itself with fury.

"Th-They know you’re part human, yes? A-And their whole thing is to protect them! How dare they subject you to that... that TORTURE!" Centi snapped furiously, her maw already dripping with acidic substance in thick globs.

"I knew those guys were bogus already, but this is BEYOND MESSED UP!!" Tri-T snarled furiously, treading her talons across the dirt, leaving deep claw marks in the ground. "We should've trashed them when we had the chance!"

Lil Quartz shrank, biting his lip at his aunt Centi's outburst. He knew telling his aunts, typically aunt Centi, about his Crystal Gem experiences wouldn't be simple, but he didn't think think that they'd react this terribly.

"I- uh--" He tired to speak, but the angered roars of his enraged aunts spoke over him.

"They WON'T get away with this! We will make them pay!" Centi seethed, her pincers snapping involuntarily.

She started bouncing from foot to foot, practically foaming at the mouth in rage. "GAH! When I get my talons on that good-for-nothing twig of a gem--!"

"Calm down, both of you." Came Fluffy's stern voice, breaking the two gems out of their furious banter. "Before we go and make any rash decisions, we should at least let him finish."

The two gems calmed down, with Centi fiddling her hands together and Tri-T murmuring in her throat.

"Y-Yeah! I-It's not all bad..." He glanced up at his fluffy mother, with a thankful smile before continuing. "Because at least I got to learn more about myself! Like my dad, my ukulele skills..." he trailed off, feeling hesitant. "...my... um..." He looked up at fluffy, as if asking if it was okay for him to say it, in which she nodded her head once with a gentle smile. He nodded back and stated with a subtle bitterness; "...My birth mom."

The two gems exchanged concerned glances between each other.

"...B-Birth mother?" Centi repeated with uncertainty. "You mean...?"

"Rose Quartz... yeah." Lil Quartz confirmed, with a soft, tired sigh. "There's just.... so much to her I don't know. I mean, not even her own teammates know all the things to her. And... I don't think I'll ever be able to rest if I don't know her full story..."

The two gems remained quiet, with Centi somewhat sensing the direction he was taking, while Tri-T remained confused.

Lil Quartz took a deep breath. "I... I need to know who she was! Who she truly was!" His voice took on a desperate edge as he clutched at the yellow star on his shirt. "That Pearl's reaction to me finding that sword in that lion's mane... She said she was one of Rose's oldest subordinates!" He started to breathe heavily as the memories of that day flooded his mind, and a mix of rage and despair flooded his mind. "And the fact she didn't even know about the lion--!"

Lil Quartz paused as he felt Fluffy lightly nuzzle the top of his head, and her warm breath instantly soothed the cold dread that was beginning to spread through him. He drew in a deep, shaky breath, steadying himself before continuing his explanation.

"Bottomline... we'll never be able to live in peace with Rose being so... obscure." He crossed his arms. "I know there was more to her than she let on. And I want to know what other secrets she could be holding."

The two gems exchanged a look between each other worriedly.

"But... how are we gonna do that?" Tri-T asked. "Didn't she lead those Crystal Gems? So... do we--?"

"No." Lil Quartz was quick to interject, breaking away from the group to walk upto the roosting pink lion. "Not yet at least. He can help us with starting."

Centi and Tri-T stared at the Pink big cat with uncertainty.

"Er... How?" Centi asked.

"One thing..." Taking a deep breath, Lil Quartz dunked his head into the lion's thick pink mane, and much to the corrupted pack's shock, he sank into it completely. After a few seconds, a medium sized chest is tossed out of his mane, startling the three gems before Lil Quartz poked his head out, taking a deep breath. "See? His mane is kind of like a pocket dimension." He smiled slightly. "And he has the ability to make portals using his roar! He can take us to places she has been!"

"That's sick!" Tri-T jumped with excitement. "Maybe he can work as a mobile den for us!"

Lion snorted in protest at the idea, but Lil Quartz shook his head. "There's no oxygen in here. I think it would work better as a storage space.

Centi looked worried, as she wrung her paws together. "Lil Q... are you sure about this...? I mean... this all seems so... dangerous..."

"I can't take my experience with those Crystal Gems lightly." Lil Quartz stated with an air of resolve. "If they don't know all about their own leader, then there must be something bigger to all of this. I need to know... I have her Gemstone... and that alone carries a lot of weight..."

Centi hummed. The solemn look on his face caused her metaphoric heart to twist. She couldn't imagine having to bare the gemstone of an enigmatic rebellion leader, let alone one who made the decision to leave a child with such an emotionally unstable team.

She herself started to wonder just what Rose's motives actually were...

After giving Fluffy a look, she nodded slowly. "We'll be here for you every step, Lil Star."

Lil Quartz smiled. “Thanks, guys…”

He then sighed, stepping out of Lion's mane, holding up the tattered flag of his late mother, staring at it in contemplation.

"Time to find out who you are. My way."

~~~~~~~~~

I'll admit, I don't fully like the way this turned out, but you get the general idea.

The pack has been formed and the idea is out.

I probably will fix up the dialogue when I find motivation.

Next

Prev

[ben-the-hyena]

I grew tired of SU for their writing and how I found Rebecca Sugar's naive tweets of she seeing good in everyone to justify it grating, BUT indeed even if I no longer like the show I liked it for a reason and I actually liked how the crew was made of professionals who never acted like they were in a fandom themselves, kept a certain distance, were vague if not misleading and even tired when replying to lore questions and could even step in and shut up their adorators who would bully and harrass in their name, whereas Viv would love and embrace it and replies and likes eveything she sees like a fanfic writer who still thinks she's on DA and encourages her fans and crew to do the same. Even for criticism Viv has to justify everything, self victimize, be aggressive and like tweet defending her or insulting the critic, while the SU crew simply ignored them like usual professional content creators have done since the beginning since people who don't like what you do always existed

I remember when the most toxic fans had bullied to near suicide someone for drawing Rose Quartz slightly (SLIGHTLY, you saw it was a matter of art style) thinner and laughed at her trying to off herself even encouraging her to do it again, the SU crew were PISSED and defended her and some even drew a thin Rose to support, which pissed off many of the worshipping fans who went "BUT I DID IT FOR YOOOUU" "YOU ARE ALL SO UNGRATEFUL" "SO YOU WERE FATPHOBIC ALL ALONG ? I CAN'T BELIEVE I SUPPORTED YOU" etc and that had earned my total respect to this day. Still do. That's why even if I now hate where the franchise went, I still hold a form of respect for it which I never had for HH or HB

No, I don’t think it’s fair to compare the Steven Universe crew to the Hazbin/Helluva crew, as the SU crew didn’t excuse any of the fandom’s toxic behavior, nor did any of them go on long Twitter rants because someone criticized the show.

The HH crew will scoff at any and all criticism – regardless if it’s argued in good faith or not – and they will look the other way whenever someone in the HH fandom acts like a toxic shitheel. 

We’ve seen how the fandom treated Erin Frost, we’ve seen how poorly Viv has reacted to criticism, and we’ve seen the HH crew act like immature children on Twitter and Discord.

Say what you will about Steven Universe, but at least the people who worked on that show knew when to call out their fans for being toxic assholes.

[seventeendeer]

wait, how did su piss you off? plz i need gossip

oh mood, I will indulge you 100%, as you are indulging me in turn with this question hahaha

okay first of all, I have to disclaim that I think steven universe is fine. some parts of it are amazing, some parts of it aren't that great, but it has great messages for kids and cute art and brought a complexity to children's television that had been missing from tv for years at the time it was made, and it changed the industry for the better in a bunch of different ways. I've got mad respect for the crew. my gripes are purely personal. I love this show like one loves an imperfect parent; it brings joy and comfort when it isn't busy severely hurting my feelings.

the thing that brought the record scratch "hey wait I don't like that !!" moment for me was how about halfway into the show, the characters start laying way too much into rose quartz. I've always related extremely heavily to rose - her character brought me a lot of comfort when I was a fat teen learning to love my body as well! - so it's hard for me not to feel weirdly hurt at how much her character was dragged through the mud for the sake of the other characters' personal development.

I kept hoping it would eventually let up. so many of the show's themes circle back to "people are a product of their environment and anyone can improve and make a better life for themself given the opportunity", and I sort of assumed that after talking her up as the Best Person Ever, and then talking about her as if she was the Worst Person Ever, her arc would finish with a thematically appropriate "she did what she could with what she had, and by learning to see her good and bad sides equally, steven will learn to love himself as a complex, imperfect person too!", But That Shit Sure Never Happened !

after steven universe future ended with rose's portrait stashed away in storage so the others wouldn't have to look at her anymore, I was honestly genuinely really sad. this character meant a lot to me and I felt angry seeing the narrative refuse to give her the same benefit of the doubt that it extended to way shittier, meaner people in the story who had to be all but dragged into acting nicer, while rose literally killed herself trying to be better. she was allowed a lot of depth and nuance, which is nice, but it was heartbreaking seeing everyone she loved love her a little bit less by the end, even though she fought for literally thousands of years to try to overcome her own problems.

my own feelings aside, I do think this was a misstep in the writing. I think it undermined the show's themes and came off way more mean-spirited than the show tries to be. I think the writers got so caught up in telling kids it's okay to be mad at someone who hurt you by accident, they forgot to commit to everything else the show was about.

it would have been easy to fix the end of her story, too, if you ask me. just one scene toward the end of greg reminiscing about the good times he had with rose and the person she was when she was with him, the person she wanted to be, could have mended so much of the problem. it wouldn't have taken full advantage of her character, but at least it also wouldn't have spit in the face of both the show's core themes and kids in the audience who looked at rose and saw themselves.

[ladylore97]

Not sure if you’re familiar with attachment styles but based on SU/SUF what do you think Steven aligns with? What about Spinel?

I am! For those not familiar, attachment style refers to the way that we experience the people we are attached to, that develop from our very first attachments - our parents, or family of origin - and guide us in navigating our relationships with ourselves and others into adulthood. So if your primary caregiver growing up was mostly attentive to your needs and gave you a good sense that they were reliable and generally had most of their shit together, chances are good that you'll go into adult relationships pretty comfortable with yourself and your ability to ask for and get your needs met from others, because you already have a good example to go off of. Attachment styles are a spectrum and can change depending on circumstances and the nature of your relationship. If the main person in your life is inconsistent, overbearing, unavailable, giving mixed signals about how emotionally safe they can be, rejecting, or not present altogether, you may develop a blueprint for an insecure attachment style.

There are 4 attachment styles - 4 in childhood, and 4 in adulthood that generally correspond to the attachment style you had in childhood, unless you work to change it through therapy or coincidentally are just hanging out with a bunch of securely attached people in your adult life (spending time with healthy people can, over time, teach you how to have a secure attachment style yourself). I'm only using the 4 childhood attachment styles here.

All the original images I got were from this group practice's website.

Here's a general, simplified overview of attachment styles for those who are unfamiliar

Starred are some themes we see from Steven and Spinel (hearts) throughout the series. Steven has a secure-anxious attachment style, while Spinel is distinctly insecurely attached, but is rapidly healing by surrounding herself with healthier attachment figures. She'll likely stay within the spectrum of the three insecure types for some time as she heals from her trauma, but luckily we got at least a brief taste of her having significantly more trusting and loving relationships with new attachment figures.

Steven style fluctuates a bit through the main series but remains primarily secure. He is met with some inconsistency from both Greg and the gems throughout his life, and there was certainly an avoidance of vulnerability here and there in regards to how he measured up to Rose Quartz, as well as anxiety around needing to take care of his family and friends. There were times in the show when the gems didn't have their shit together and inappropriately involved a 14-year old child in their problems, and times when the gems DID have their shit together, but outside forces made it impossible to hold protective boundaries to prevent Steven from getting overly exposed to the dangers of the world. BUT, there is also a consistent theme in SU, driven by Steven himself, that through love, empathy, and conflict resolution, anything is possible. This is not the mindset of an insecurely attached child. This is the conviction of a child who was raised by a family who consistently loved him - even if they didn't always show it appropriately - and nurtured his self-confidence, resilience, and faith in his abilities, until our boy could end his story (and the show) singing a song about how much he loves and values himself.

Granted, Steven has qualities of an anxious attachment style buried latent underneath before SUF, but for the most part, they didn't have reason to manifest until then, because 1. he doesn't have to feel resentful of helping others as long as he's still getting that dopamine kick from others actually getting helped. Once Spinel's mess is cleaned up and gems and humanity are at peace, he's not going to have anything to distract himself from confronting exactly why he needs to be needed so much. 2) All his primary supportive figures were attuned and readily available for him at all times up until SUF. Now his dad is touring, isn't attuned to his emotional needs, the gems don't share a common goal with him anymore, Connie and friends are moving, and Connie doesn't want to be Stevonnie with him for their next chapter. His fear of abandonment and rejection is not new. All his life, Steven has feared not being good enough because he's not his mom, but manifests more acutely in SUF when he has to face it seemingly all at once by virtually ALL his attachment figures.

This is my simplified prediction model for both characters. My hope is that Greg and the gems will refocus their efforts on attuning to his needs, and that, given time, Steven will once again feel a sense that his family can be there for him consistently and he can start to put a little more faith in others that they too will be there for him.

Spinel as well is only going to get better. She was introduced holding the confused message that the people you trust will inevitably betray you, but she seemed genuinely happy in SUF after just a year living with the diamonds. My prediction for her is that she'll slooooowly make her way toward a secure attachment style with a lot of time and consistency from the diamonds, and whoever else she decides to let herself be close to (hopefully Steven, when they're both a little more stable). If the diamonds are as overbearing as Steven hinted they are, she'll likely present more anxiously attached as time goes on.

Here's a helpful infographic from the website above that summarizes what healing might look like for Steven, Spinel's, or your own journey, if you related to any of this :)

[xpacestuff]

Su/gf crossover things

dipper: so like, you glow pink when you're stressed?

steven: Yeah, basically. Then at one point it got real bad.

dipper: ...How bad?

steven: I basically turned into a kaiju monster lol

dipper, writing that down, whispering: what the fuck...

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steven probably is probably gonna act like an older brother around them but only in a protective way

"if something bad happens to them i'm gonna break some necks"

"please... don't."

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Y'all know how Mabel likes crystals and such? Imagine she talks about a rose quartz, Steven turns pink and Dipper from a mile away is like "HUH??? WHAT???"

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imagine when steven is new and before they knew steven is a half gem hybrid it was like this

steven, to dipper: it seems your sister likes sparkly things huh?

dipper: yeah, pretty much

steven: wow... then she better not know i'm a half gem hybrid lol

dipper: you are a what

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dipper: Listen, I appreciate my sister but wow she can be hard to deal with sometimes.

steven: Oh yeah, kinda reminds me of Spinel lol. She tried to kill me and this planet

dipper: what the- she... tried to kill this planet?? and you? uh kinda reminds me of bill

steven: who

dipper: this weird triangle yellow demon

dipper: he can go into peoples dreams, is super dangerous if he wants to be, can even control peoples body too... it's so messed up. i hate him so much

steven, knowing he can do all that too: ahahaha.... i knoww right... yikes.. haha...

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steven meets gideon, tries to befriend him, gideon literally tries to kill him

steven: wouldn't be the first time this happened

dipper: huh?? huh??? please tell me more this seems interesting

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mabel is like "omg steven is so cool!!!" and dipper, completely tired "please don't say you're attracted to him or something how come you always fall in love with aliens or mermaids n stuff" and mabel just "...i just said he's cool :("

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Imagine Connie could just... appear there with lion

dipper: WHAT IS THAT!?

mabel: A PINK LION!!! OH MY GOSH!!!

steven: Oh yeah, guys, this is Connie and Lion. :)

connie: hey :)

mabel: hi!

dipper: that lion is... scary.

steven: oh, don't worry about him! You can ride him if you want, he's a nice lion. I'm sure you'd enjoy it!

dipper: no thanks

10 mins later

dipper, totally riding on lion as lion just runs in circles: WOOO THIS IS FUN!!! THI-

steven, opening the door, looking at dipper: :) told ya

dipper, immediately jumping off of lions back: Uh i mean uh... no i didn't like it

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Steven: makes a pun

Everyone else:

Stan: HAA! good joke kid

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imagine instead of dipper accepting the fact that he just works in the mystery shack he instead has a lot of trust issues and steven goes to mabel and it turns out like this

steven: it seems your brother doesn't trust me?

mabel: well you do almost have the same powers as this yellow dorito demon we had multiple fights with cause well he almost killed us multiple times and we were in a lot of danger because of him so

steven: ...

steven: y'know, ironic for me to say this but did you guys ever go to the doctor? i experienced the same thing and well uhhh turns out all the things i went through messed with my head a lot. maybe that's also the reason why your brother acts that way?

mabel: nahh he's always like that haha!

steven, visibly concerned: hmm..

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after dipper saw steven's destructive powers once he was deeply worried and afraid of steven, causing him to have trust issues. when mabel says something like "oh i'm gonna ask steven somethi-" he just cuts her off with "no! i don't want you to get near him!". steven realises this and at one point tries to show dipper that he's mostly nice and tells him that these breakdowns he has is because of all the terrible things he has went through. he also proceeds to show the good side of his powers (like healing, his shield to protect, stuff like that) so dipper can understand that when he is dangerous he doesn't mean it. he just generally goes on adventures with them (the not too dangerous ones, since he has had enough of those and just wants a break) and tries to protect them in any way he can to earn his trust once more. of course this takes time, since dipper generally has problems trusting people.

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When Stan first meets Steven he sees how much money he has and sells him something that costs a lot and it's just

Steven: Wow your unkle?? grandpa?? g.. grunkle as you say? sure has a lot of expensive stuff. I bought them as a souvenir though!

Mabel: Oh, buddy... oh no..

Dipper: Yeahh, see... he scammed you.

Steven: what

Dipper: basically he just wanted your money.

Steven: oh. harsh.

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anyway connie meeting the twins thing

Connie: oh, hey! who are you guys?

Steven: h-

Mabel: YOUR GF IS PRETTY!!!

Connie: 😳

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Steven: talking about how beautiful, great and lovely Connie is and how she's always there for him

Mabel: THAT'S SO CUTE :")

Dipper: ... Anyway this gem stuff-

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Steven: Dipper, I haven't known you for too long, but i know very well that these experiences are gonna mess with you later on. I also see you're struggling. Maybe get some help? Not to sound mean haha- it's just... I don't want you to go through a hard time in the future? Maybe go see a therapist?

Dipper: pfft, a therapist? Who needs that? I'm not some "mentally unstable" person hahaha

Steven:

Dipper:

Steven: I can pay for it if you want just please-

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he sends a picture to the cgs of himself, mabel and dipper and is like "i made new friends and work in this sketchy place LOL" and the gems are like "good enough?? i guess?? atleast he made friends?"

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dipper and mabel: we almost died multiple times

steven: same

dipper:

mabel:

mabel: are you okay?

steven: are you okay??

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anyway that's it for now! I'm probably gonna add more but anyway i love this au/crossover a lot. I'm probably (definitely) gonna draw some of these so yeah! hope you enjoyed this post lol

[creepyjirachi]

im so deeply curious on how you wish su couldve ended. genuinely i would love to hear ur thoughts

oh good god. kendra if literally anyone else on the planet had sent me this ask i would have assumed they were heckling me. this is like diffusing a bomb.

okay. so i haven't watched the show in a long time, like literally since it was airing, and i never rewatched. so if i were going to have a specific Better Ending in mind, i would have to rewatch the whole show first to get reacquainted with all the lore. BUT.

mostly, i just would have liked the show to have had more time. rebecca sugar and the crew took a massive risk on the gay wedding, and they understood that the show could have been cancelled right there. and that basically happened. their priorities were what they were. they wanted it that badly. i get that. but, obviously, the ending was very rushed.

su has a lot of flaws, but one of the things they actually did very well was having characters who were complex people who evolved naturally over time. except for when they didn't do that. i thought the diamonds, all of them but especially white and yellow, had very bad arcs. their development was so fast it was almost instantaneous. they were built up for so long over the course of the series, and the stakes with them were super high. i didn't think their changes of heart were very realistic. it didn't make enough sense for who they were as people. and it all just happened so, so quickly. it just fell flat to me, and it felt unearned and insincere.

i also didn't like how the finale just kind of threw in all the loose ends for no reason. every remaining steven fusion, just like...... was there. even though in previous episodes, those would have been earned by exploring the relationships between the characters in a meaningful way. but, whatever. chuck them in, who cares, the show is cancelled. ugh.

and beyond the finale itself, i just didn't really like how certain characters were written towards the end? peridot became like, dumb comic relief when honestly her redemption arc was one of the best things the writers pulled off on the show. they just constantly beat rose quartz's corpse as well, which....... started out as a deconstruction of her image as a Perfect Sacrificial Hero. which i liked. i like rose. i like that she's this bizarre antihero who simultaneously saved the whole planet but also (unintentionally?) imploded everything around her. everyone on the show has a complicated relationship with her and her memory, and that's a good thing! but in the later seasons, we almost exclusively see her in a negative light, even compared to characters like the other diamonds who did WAY worse things and DIDN'T try to grow or change. the way her story was told just gave off the impression that she was a complete fraud, liar, and manipulator the entire time. which, in my opinion, she wasn't! she changed and grew profoundly over time, much like literally every other character. i just would have liked much more closure for rose's story, rather than using her for endless angst fuel when she's the only character who cannot speak for herself. but whatever. whatever!

final gripe: a lot of plus size women (including me before i figured out i was trans) found a lot of joy in rose quartz over the first couple seasons. she was this beautiful, powerful, beloved character who was fat. i saw a loooooot of posts back in the day about how grateful people were to see her on screen. and i'm not going to say that she should have remained one-dimensional or that making her complicated was wrong. but having her turn into The Devil Of The Show just...... hits me kinda wrong. i wouldn't go as far as to say it's bigoted or anything, but it just makes me sad. it's like giving a kid their first and only toy, only to reveal that the toy is full of spiders. like, ouch.

[novantinuum]

Hi, I was just wondering if you had ever thought about what would have happened in your story "Hollowed Moon" if you had continued it. I always thought it was such an interesting setup that could have gone in so many different directions. And there really aren't other stories focusing on Stevonnie and Spinel, so it was unique!

Hiya!

So, I do have some half-written, half-plotted out material to share. I gave this story some consideration the other day, and came to the decision that I don't have the desire to finish it out, alas- I have far too many other active WIPs to add it to the list. There's a few good reasons why I discontinued it, anyways... intimidation over the huge surge of attention it was getting back in 2019, some rude comments from overzealous Spinel fans, (I know everyone isn't like this, but a certain segment of the Spinel side of the SU fandom kinda burned me over time, hhh), and a future chapter containing a sensitive topic that I wasn't in a good headspace to write about at the time.

But! Anyways! Below the cut is all the existing material I have for Hollowed Moon past chapter 14, consisting of a mixture of descriptions, sketchy dialogue, and prose. It honestly feels nice to finally be able to put this story to an official rest.

__

Chapter 15

“I... I saw her.”

“Who-?”

“I saw Pink Diamond. I saw you, in this exact garden, in a dream. I- it was like I was experiencing everything through her. She explained your game, tapped your nose and told you to smile, then warped away—“

“That’s it, that’s what happened, almost exactly! But how could you even know that, I never—“

“I don’t know,” they blurt out. “I have empathic abilities, and sometimes that makes dreaming a little weird, but I have no idea how or why I saw any of this.”

[Pause for Stevonnie to think]

“Spinel, I’m so, so sorry,” they whisper brokenly. “But I think... she left you here.”

“What...?”

“She said she’d return, but before she warped away she whispered goodbye, like she didn’t actually intend to make good on that promise. She was lying to you,” they choke out, voice thick.

“No. No,” she says in clear denial, “no she’s not. She can’t be! She told me she’d come back! I can wait! I just have to wait—“

“But she’s not! She... she can’t, because Pink Diamond is gone. She- she was shattered, Spinel. Five thousand years ago, on the Earth. I- I should’ve told you this from the beginning, and I didn’t, and I- I’m so, so sorry—! But she left you behind, and now she’s never coming back.”

[Silence. Tears brim in Spinel’s eyes. Her eyes grow dark, pained, and then she glares at Stevonnie with such venom it almost knocks them backwards in alarm. ]

“NO!” she screams, tears streaming down her faded pink cheeks.

[She tears her feet up from the roots and runs away, using her arms like an orangutan to vault herself forward super fast so Stevonnie can’t catch her.]

___

Chapter 16

AN: Content warning for self-shattering attempt. Part of the reason why I had to stop writing this story at the time. I considered pushing the plot another way, but it didn't feel authentic to how I believed this scenario would play out for Spinel when she didn't have a direct target for her anger. Without someone to actively be jealous and upset AT, I could only imagine her breaking inwards instead of outwards, feeling that she's utterly failed in her life's purpose. Nothing more than a description for this chapter... and it'd be a short one.

[When Stevonnie finds her, she’s smashing her fists against her gem in her sheer anguish. She’s already cracked it. She’s glitching. It looks terribly painful. She’s about to strike her gem again when Stevonnie intervenes.]

___

Chapter 17

[Post timely intervention. Spinel is still cracked at this moment, though... her form glitching as she cries.]

“I was... her best friend,” she cries, fat, glistening tears streaming down her cheeks. “I was supposed to make her happy! Why wasn’t she happy? Why didn’t she come back?“

[Spinel reasoning that maybe if Pink came back for her, she wouldn’t have been shattered in the first place]

“What did I do wrong?” she whispers hoarsely, gazing pleadingly into Stevonnie’s eyes. “Wha- what am I doing? Why do I wanna hurt myself so badly?”

“Shh, now,” they reply, tears of their own brimming at the crease of their eyes, and pull Spinel’s head to their chest. “I’ve got you...”

___

Chapter 18

They know their throat is tight, and their voice scratchy. They know they’ve never sung this song in front of another living being, since it’s something personal they composed alone on one of their late nights back on Earth, thinking about all the difficult days Steven and Connie have had to face over the months. Pair this with their active crying, and there’s no way their singing will be anything pretty.

But pretty doesn’t matter right now.

Stevonnie opens their lips, and— clutching the broken hearted Gem close, rhythmically rocking with her back and forth— lets the wandering melody emerge from within.

“I guess I have to face That in this awful place I shouldn’t show a trace Of doubt...”

“But pulled against the grain I feel a little pain That I would rather do Without...”

“I’d rather be Free, free Free...”

[Hoarse, Spinel starts singing with them.]

“I’d rather be Free, free Free...”

“Free, free Free...”

“From here...”

[Stevonnie holds her tight while crying, their tears healing it back up.]

___

Chapter 19

AN: Don't have anything but a single bit of dialogue in this chapter note- I'm assuming I intended it as being a good few hours after the events of chapters 16-18... when Spinel has calmed down a little and has a moment to reflect on the upsetting news she's just received.

“I think... I always knew,” she says, voice hoarse. “In a way. It was so obvious how she felt about me.

___

Chapter ?

AN: From here on out, the plot hasn't been split into individual chapters.

[At some point shortly after chapter 19, Lars and his crew locate Stevonnie in the garden, and pick them and Spinel up. The next few bits of dialogue and description takes place on the ship.]

Rutile twins: “I haven’t heard of Spinels being produced in over five millennia.” “Me neither!”

Rhodonite: “Yeah, I heard they stopped making them entirely after the rebellion on Pink’s colony.”

[A bit of overwhelming conversation later, no one really noticing Spinel's conflicted emotional response to so many Gems hovering around her at once.]

Padparadscha: “I predict that you’re both going to make Spinel feel very uncomfortable aboard this ship.”

Rhodonite: “I’m sorry, we don’t exactly meet new Gems every century.”

Rutile twins: “Yes!” “It’s just been us until we met our captain!”

Fluorite: “Our new huuuuman friend helped us escape the tunnels on Homeworld. Now... we’re slooowly making our way back... to Earth.”

Spinel: “Earth?? You’re going to Pink’s world? But why? I heard she... was shattered.”

___

[Spinel feeling a sense of kinship with the idea that there’s other Gems who didn’t serve their rightful purpose and are now escaping their life on Homeworld to be free of that. Because now, without her Diamond, since she was unable to keep her happy, she’s an Off Color too. She failed her given purpose same as them.]

[Discussion of Earth, and the rebellion, and how there’s Gems living free there. And how Pink’s colony was siphoning life away, and that’s what these Gems were fighting to protect. Stevonnie points out all the plants and wildlife that used to live in the garden, and asks her if she felt happier when it was around. Spinel says yes. Stevonnie says that this is what the Diamonds are destroying, with each lifeless colony they forge. Everywhere they go, dead wildlife lies in their wake.]

Spinel: “I... guess I never thought of it that way.”

[(Stevonnie adds...) And while they’re very sorry for the personal connection there, and can’t imagine how painful that must be, that’s why Pink Diamond was shattered.]

[Spinel is given an open choice... Lars gives the invitation to stay with him and the Off Colors, and Stevonnie offers for her to come with them back to Earth. It's not a hard decision for her in the end, though. She's always dreamed of seeing what was once Pink’s planet, ever since she heard the Diamonds bequeath it to her.]

___

Stevonnie: “Okay, so… before we go, I need to be honest with you about something." [deep breath] "I’m actually a fusion of two separate people who are close friends. You... know what fusion is, right?”

Spinel: “Duh, o’course! What, d’ya think I was made yesterday?”

[...]

Stevonnie: “But even with that, I can’t be together as me all the time. Steven and Connie, the two who come together to form me... they love hanging out with each other so much, but they also have their own lives! Other friends, other hobbies, their own families. They still talk when they’re apart, but they know it’s okay to do things alone, too. Do you know why I’m telling you this?”

Spinel: [shakes head no] “No...?”

Stevonnie: [sighs] “I understand you’ve been left behind. Believe me, I know how bad that feels. So the last thing I wanna do is make you think I’m doing that too.”

Spinel: “Y-you— you’re going away?” Stevonnie: “Unfusing, yes.” Spinel: “But Stevonnie, you—“ Stevonnie: “Spinel. No matter what, you are my friend. Steven and Connie consider you a friend, too. And my hope is that you’ll keep making a whole bunch more on Earth, so you’ll always have people around who know and love you. But that can’t always be me, okay?“

___

[At home... on Earth. There's a bit of a close call for Pearl when Spinel arrives, and recognizes her as Pink's second pearl. This is news for Garnet and Amethyst and Steven, the first of which had somewhat suspected that Pearl used to be in the diamonds' service, but never knew for sure. Pearl, of course... can't say much on this due to her gag order... not that anyone else knows about that yet... but does manage a very concise and PD=RQ free explanation about her past in Pink's court, and her transition towards being a Crystal Gem:]

Pearl: “Rose Quartz set me free, and I’ve been a part of the rebellion ever since.”

___

[At some point between the last scene and the next, mention how Spinel had a bit of a relapse... she ended up poofing herself, and reformed differently. A little bit closer to the smudged mascara and frayed pigtails look of canon, but no rotated heart. Unlike in canon, she has a solid support system amongst the Crystal Gems, and she's working hard to recover from the heartbreak of Pink's abandonment.]

___

[Final scene is set post A Single Pale Rose. Steven and Connie fuse, and Stevonnie goes to find Spinel to check in on how she's taking the news. The final line of the fic is as follows:]

Spinel: “I know you’re not her, not really. And I know you’ll always be a better person than she ever was. But in some silly cyclical way... back in that garden... it’s almost like Pink came back for me after all.”

[justsomesomeone37]

For a while now I’ve been writing a su x gf crossover and I want to see what people think/ maybe get some help writing it. I’m new here so idk how this works but here it is

Steven applies for a job at the mystery shack. Under special skills he wrote “various superpowers“. Not too long after Steven got the job, dipper finds Steven’s application and sees where he wrote various superpowers. He asks them about it and he offers to show them off him and Mabel. So they go out into the woods for Steven to show off his powers. Before that, he explained how he was half gem half human, which dipper follows up with a bazillion questions. Steven did his best to answer all of them. After that, he started showing off his powers. First he showed them the basic stuff such as a bubble. Mable thought the bubble was cool so the asked if she could be in a giant hamster ball, and Steven said yes, so she ran around in a hamster ball for a while. Once she finally stopped. He showed them how the bubble could have spikes and be shaped like a crystal formation. It was very small so it didn’t damage anything, but still just a

My s cool. After that, he shows them his shield. Mable wanted to ride it like a toboggan down the hill. Next, he showed the hexagons he could make and control, so they ended up making a little statue of a mermaid. The mermaid got him thinking about water, which got him thinking about cat fingers. He asked them if they could go back to the shack for a bit, them not realizing what he was about to do. Once they got inside, Steven got a glass of water, then asked what they thought about cats. Dipper was kinda iffy, but mable was all excited, so he said “watch this.” Dipper could not be more confused. Steven’s finger was a cat and mable was going to explode with excitement. After Mabel finally calmed down and Steven put away his cats fingers, they went on the roof ledge to chill. Steven was talking about how much fun he was having while walking backwards towards the edge. Dipper told him to be careful, but he said not to worry and kept walking. He was almost at the edge and both twins were scared he was gonna fall.

Steven stepped off the edge and the twins raced to see if he was ok. Before they got to the edge, Steven shot up into to the air and started flying around. Dipper was ghost white. Mable shouted “oooooo, can I try?”

When the end of the day came, Steven got to stay at the mystery shack since he didn’t have any family in town. It was a long day of impressing the twins, but before they went to bed, Steven warned them. He warned them that he may do some weird things in his sleep, so they set up a set of cameras in the guest room to see what he meant. Then they went to bed. Some time in the middle of the night, Steven woke up in the mindscape, but this time there were 2 doors leading to each of the twins dreams. He opened one door to find a land made of rainbow and cupcakes. He decided to take a better look. Somewhere beyond the candy waterfalls, he found Mabel. Steven decided to stay and talk for a while, even staying for the tea party with sentient stuffed animals. After a little while, Steven decided to leave. After he found his way out, he started walking towards dippers dream. But when he opened the door, he was surprised. Rather than a dream, he opened it to see a giant dipper floating there. He knew exactly what was going to happen, because it had happened before with lars. He yelled “dipper, I’m sorryyyyyyyyy!” Then woke up the next morning in dippers bed right next to Mabel. He was about to tell her that he wasn’t dipper, but then he decided to play a little joke on her. He said good morning to her, but when she turned around the joke was immediately over. Turns out this time when he took over dipper, his eyes turned into diamond eyes. Mable jumped back and shouted “who are you and what have you done with dipper?!” Steven realized she was catching on, so he said “what do you mean?” Mable quickly said “your eyes??” So he went over to the mirror and looked, immediately knowing what she meant. So he said “you got me, I’m not dipper, I’m Steven.” What shocked Steven was rather than freaking out, Mable just said “again? What is with dipper and getting possessed? First a demon posses him, then we switch bodies, now this?” Then Steven explained what was going on, they went to Steven’s room to wake him up. When they walked in, Steven was glowing. Then he said “this is what I meant by weird stuff. The glowing, the possession, me being in your dream.” “Wait, that was you in my dream?” “Yeah, but we should wake me up ok wow that’s a weird sentance. Anyway, I don’t really know where dipper is, but he would probably like to be awake now.” So they woke Steven up, dipper’s body collapsed, then sprung up screaming “AAAAAAAAHHHhwwwwwhat just happened?!?” “I may or may not have just possessed you? I have a question, then you can ask me all the questions you want. Where were you?” “I-I don’t know.

Steven noticed that Mabel was sad, so he asked why. She said “I haven’t found a single guy to flirt with this summer and I’m kinda bummed about it.” “I got an idea. What’s your favorite type of plant?” “It’s hard to say, but I choose... all of them!” Steven thought to himself “kinda expected that” then said “how bout this, pick a plant you would date, I know is a weird question, but-” “a watermelon” “a watermelon? Why?” “Because,” she said, “they’re big enough you can hug. If it was a rose plant it would have too many thorns. I love roses, but they’re not the best for hugs.” “Ok. Be back soon, just gotta go do something.” About an hour later, Steven comes back and says “ok, close your eyes and follow me.” “I love surprises!” She exclaimed. After a bit of walking and a lot of bumping into things, steven says “Aaaannd, open them!”

After that dipper started with more question. Steven went to answer them, but then he remembered something, when gems fuse, anything one of them wants the other to know, they will know.

The twins and Steven were watching tv when the last episode of ducktective came on. By the time the show ended, the twins were very disappointed and so was Steven, just not as much.

Steven shows them a picture at the end of when he thought he was (and became) a monster. He even shows the twins a horn on his head hidden by his hair, kinda like the uncorrupted Quartz’s have.

Sorry if the text is all weird. The spaces means there is something missing and these pieces aren’t in order, but this is what I have. Feel free to reblog and or draw this, but however you go about sharing this, can you give me some credit somehow?

[tornrose24]

So after revisiting the Red Diamond AAU, I was all ‘Ok I HAVE to draw for this.’ I did the second drawing first, but then I wanted to add onto it. (And the original Gem AU (as well as zircon!George and Sapphire!Harold) that partly inspired it belongs to @angerydj, so go check their stuff out if you haven’t yet).

(A bunch of notes on the pics are under the keep reading bit)

-For RD!Krupp, I did a mix of his design and a bit of both Pink Diamond and Yellow Diamond I’m also digging the fact that it looks like he’s wearing a cummerbund where the diamond is). My idea was that since if he had ACTUAL hair, it would have been pink, but no one knows that (and this is important if you notice how the colors swap for Pink Diamond and Rose Quartz). I think he’d be as tall as Yellow and Blue Diamond at his largest.

-I tried to keep Zircon!George and Sapphire!Harold’s colors as close as possible to AngeryDJ’s designs for them, but had my own take on their outfits. When I remembered that Sapphire!Harold has one eye, I went my own route with his appearance and gave him an eyepatch. I could see him putting a googly eye on the patch just to be funny, and he’d also have a collection of patches with cool designs (including a gay pride eye patch).

-Alexandra’s (my oc fan child for Edith and Krupp) outfit is obvious considering who she’s in the role of, but I had my own take on it.

-I just see Gooch as some kind of pink gem and I went with a pink tourmaline. And oh my gosh, isn’t he adorable?! ^_^ I love him! I don’t have a clear story for him, but maybe he crash landed on earth after a bout of misfortune and one spaceship from Homeworld. (And is good pals with Bo).

-I felt that Bo would be perfect as a Bismuth (considering her ability to shape shift being similar to his Claylossus form and her making things like he does). I like the idea that he was originally part of the rebellion, was corrupted for quite sometime, and then went back to normal and rejoined his old friends.

-I felt like squeezing in Erica too. Rather than going for the most obvious choice, I picked an emerald because I looked into the lore and apparently they get high authority in the SU world? (Though I placed her gem in her hand as a reference to her VA voicing Sapphire). She’d have a high position in Homeworld, but maybe she was secretly aiding the rebellion in the past and stays quiet when she found out that a few gems were still alive.

So I wanted to make the theory of ‘Gem Parent was alive the whole time’ canon (and I felt like it wouldn’t be as much of a life or death/child or parent situation if the gem parent was a male, or at least that’s what I assume would be the case). But I also had a great ‘what if the gem shattered in half and you get CU and Krupp in separate bodies as a result?’ (which is almost the opposite of the original gem au). I was going to use my actual art style, but then I changed my mind and went back to Pilkey’s style, though I kept the necks the same out of curiosity.

I referenced Rose Quartz’s design a bit of CU. As for ‘what the heck’s up with Krupp’s body’... well, its a consequence from what happened in the ‘Separation’ drabble combined with what happens if someone can’t properly heal you without both halves of the gem. (That and I’m a bit sadistic).

God, pic 2 almost looks like a valentine with all those reds, pinks, and white going on.

[anythingstevenuniverse]

*SU Spoiler* Never Ending Trauma

“Volleyball” was one of the best episodes in “Steven Universe: Future” premiere and maybe even the entire series franchise. We learned more about Pink Pearl’s past, the creation of Pearls, and got a new fusion between Pink Pearl and Pearl. The animation, story, and emotional rollercoaster was very well done in this episode. Most interesting of this episode was the affects of trauma and how it never goes away.

I stated in multiple previous posts that Steven cannot heal her scar. Reason being is the scar is psychological not physical. Although Steven can enter an astral projection state, he does not use it in this episode. We have seen in “Reunited” when Steven becomes an astral projection he can encourage and reason with people’s thoughts. It would not be surprising if Steven has control over that power in the two-year time skip. However, he did not use it for Pink Pearl’s scarred eye. The reason is because he thought the scarred eye was physical damage he could not fix and once hearing his mother was the cause he wanted to fix things quickly. “That doesn’t matter how it happened, what matters is finding a way to fix it.” This is unusual for Steven as he usually finds the root cause of the problem. He did not think it could be a psychological issue and instead goes to Pearl for help.

Pearl is explicitly salty with Pink Pearl. It could be because both were Pink Diamond’s Pearls and have different viewpoints. Pink Pearl is still obsessed with Pink Diamond while Pearl has moved on from her. Instead of Pearl being worried about Pink Pearl’s obsession, she is somewhat competing with her on who knew Pink Diamond better and who was the better Pearl. It was not until Pink Pearl tells the story of how Pink Diamond was the reason for her scarred eye did Pearl start fighting. Both had two different views of Pink Diamond. Pink Pearl portrayed Pink Diamond as an over-emotional child who kept throwing destructive tantrums and never changed. Pearl saw Pink Diamond/Rose Quartz as stoic and secretive leader with the ability to heal. Both only saw one side of Pink Diamond: one who changed and one who stayed the same. Pink Pearl and Pearl keep fighting about who Pink Diamond was until Steven gets angry and activates Shell protocol to rejuvenate both Pearls.Once the Pearls are trapped and about to be rejuvenated, Pearl apologizes to Pink Pearl and realizes she is still excusing Pink Diamond/Rose Quartz’s actions. Pink Pearl realizes she has done the same thing, is still in denial, and Pearl tells her it does not matter if it was intentional or accidental Pink Diamond still hurt her. Once she realizes she was badly hurt and wants the pain to go away she asks Pearl how she was able to stop feeling this pain and Pearl answers she has not stopped. This becomes important to both Pearls because it gives them an understanding of each other, and they can fuse.

Steven and Mega Pearl were able to shut down and escape the Reef and return to Beach City. Steven apologizes to Mega Pearl for not the problem not being fixed and the effort being wasted but Mega Pearl disagrees. “Your mother’s Pearls never had the whole picture. One knew your mother as trying to change, but she couldn’t understand why. The other never expected her to change at all. Now I get to understand everything. Now they have each other.” Once both Pearls had a full understanding of Pink Diamond, they understand their pain and can learn to move on.

This episode was very impactful and moving because it deals with many different aspects of trauma. “Steven Universe” has showcased the effects of trauma in different episodes and in the movie. However, “Volleyball” portrayed multiple aspects of trauma: trauma is never ending, intentional or unintentional people’s words and actions can cause lasting trauma, physical and psychological trauma can correlate, feeling pain from trauma is valid, fixing the problem and not finding the cause can cause more damage, intentional or accidental it is not okay to hurt someone, and no one is alone when it comes to trauma.

1) Trauma is never ending

Whether physical or psychological, trauma does not go away. We saw this not only with Pink Pearl but also with Pearl. In the beginning of “Steven Universe” we see Pearl was traumatized by Rose Quartz disappearance and never coped with her death until later in the series. However, once Pink Pearl shared her story of her scarred eye, Pearl fought with her about her experience with Pink Diamond/Rose Quartz. It was not until they were trapped did Pearl realize she was still making excuses for Pink Diamond/Rose Quartz’s actions just like Pink Pearl.

This is an iconic scene between the two because Pearl admits she never stopped feeling pain from Pink Diamond/Rose Quartz’s actions. Trauma can never go away, especially if it was severe. Even with help (therapy, groups, counseling, support, etc.), trauma does not truly go away. However, that does not mean it can ruin us either. Once trauma is recognized and one decides to seek help, can it be easier to cope with. Trauma is never ending and makes life difficult, but it does not have to control our lives. Like Pearl who always has her trauma with her has learned to move on with her life and become a better person. Trauma is a part of us, but we can learn to recognize it and cope in order to move on and live a better life.

2) Physical and psychological trauma can correlate

Physical and psychological trauma can be separate and together. In Pink Pearl’s case, the scar on her eye was related to her psychological trauma from Pink Diamond’s destructive powers. The crack started to expand when she was in denial of her trauma. “I’m sorry there’s nothing I can do. Her physical form shows damage, but her pearl is perfectly fine. This injury must have been so impactful that it continues to manifest despite the fact her pearl has been repaired.” Not even Shell, a machine designed to create, customize, and repair Pearls, could not fix Pink Pearl’s damage because it is psychological. However, Shell also agreed Pink Pearl’s physical form is damage. However, because the Gem was fine, Shell could not do anything with Pink Pearl’s scar and trauma. When hearing this, it reminded me of health care professionals who separated physical trauma and mental trauma. Although it has gotten better, there are still stigmatizations of people dealing with trauma and how it affects them both mentally and physically. An example of physical and mental trauma is self-harm. To really understand trauma, physical and psychological damage/stress must be considered together not separately.

3) Feeling pain from trauma is valid

Trauma is seen as fading away over time. Although it can be easier to cope with, there are still lingering effects that can be triggered. We all thought Pearl had moved on from Pink Diamond/Rose Quartz but after Pink Pearl realized she was hurt in the past and is still hurt, Pearl told her the pain never went away. Pain from trauma is recognized in the beginning but once others see you are getting help, the pain is presumed erased. That is far from the truth. Yes, trauma does become easier to cope with, but it never goes away. Much like Pearl who has gone through so much to heal her trauma still has pain related to it. Having pain related to trauma does not go away and it should be valid towards all aspects of healing from it, even if the person has been moving on for years!

4) Fixing the problem and not finding the cause can cause more damage

It goes without saying that fixing a problem without finding the main cause(s) is going to create more damage. Usually Steven is the one who wants to find the cause before fixing something but wanted to fix Pink Pearl’s eye because it was related to his mother. He does not tell Pearl the scar was done by Pink Diamond because he does not want to deal with his mother’s mistakes again. It is understandable why he wants to avoid the wrongs his mother has done. However, it makes him more focused on fixing the problem and rushes instead of taking time. It is not until the Pearls argue about Pink Diamond does Steven snap about his feelings towards his mother and causes damage to the Reef and triggers Pink Pearl’s trauma. Trauma takes time to recognize, process, and heal. Fixing someone’s trauma instead of finding the cause and taking small steps to help is does more harm then good and can even make trauma worse. It takes patience and time to heal from trauma.

6) Intention or accidental it is not okay to hurt someone

No matter the situation or reason, it is not okay to hurt someone, intentional or accidental. Pink Pearl kept saying Pink Diamond damaging her eye was an accident caused by a tantrum. She made excuses for Pink Diamond’s actions because she did not mean to hurt her. It is never ok to excuse someone from hurting the other person even if it was an accident. It was Pink Diamond’s fault for creating Pink Pearl’s scar but instead of telling her it hurt her, she blames herself for being too close. Everyone has done or said something to hurt the other person. Does that mean it doesn’t hurt the person? No. Even unintentional, actions and words can hurt someone. Even if the person who caused the pain apologizes; the damage is already done. Someone can be apologetic but meaning it and changing one’s actions and behavior towards the person to not cause more harm may help heal (not all the time). The point is it is never ok to hurt someone, accidental or intentional.

7) No one is alone when it comes to trauma

At first, trauma makes us feel alone. Especially when no one helps or help is not asked, the pain from trauma can be unbearable and lonely. This could be either the trauma is not recognized by the person dealing with it or is afraid of stigmatization or pain resurfacing. Pink Pearl was in complete denial of her trauma and does not recognize it until Pearl says she was badly hurt by Pink Diamond. Pearl was able to help her by stating she has felt the same trauma and has not fully recovered either. When fused as Mega Pearl, both Pearls were able to understand one another’s trauma. Having someone, especially when they have similar traumatic experiences, helps to feel less alone about the pain and suffering. It helps to process trauma from another’s experience and validates feelings of pain and suffering. It is truly wonderful how Pink Pearl was able to smile after all that ordeal and lean on Pearl who understands her pain. Having someone who understands your trauma is uplifting and helps process and take steps to recovery.

This episode showcased the harmful effects of trauma and how the pain never goes away. I have stated multiple times trauma is life-long, but it does not mean it is hopeless or never heals. It can be easy to heal once trauma is recognized and one asks for help. Thanks to the help of Pearl, Pink Pearl was able to understand she was traumatized by Pink Diamond and was hurting despite being in denial. Pearl and Pink Pearl now have each other, both experiencing similar trauma, and Pink Pearl can now start to cope with her trauma and move on with her life. Just because the trauma sticks with you it does not have to take control of your life. The episode showed Pink Pearl, Pearl, and Steven dealing with trauma dealt by Pink Diamond. But we all see in the end, with self-awareness and help, one can heal from trauma and learn to move forward. “Volleyball” portrayed trauma in a way that is relatable and powerful: trauma does not go away, but you can heal and move forward with the help of others and yourself. Seeing Pink Pearl at the end gives hope that one can move on with their life even with the pain of trauma following. Well done Crewniverse!