#SU spoilers

[octoling-wearing-gauges]

How could you pick just one

[chipper-smol]

HEY WHO WANTS ANOTHER CHARACTER VENN DIAGRAM

NO ONE?

TOO BAD

I MADE ANOTHER ONE AND ITS

SO SANE

[haystarlight]

[candyskiez]

can we talk about how garnet most likely got the story of the rebel hero rose quartz and the cruel pink diamond that created her from rose herself and how pink is described as a coward, cruel, wicked. and how rose told greg it's good he doesn't know anything about her. and how rose felt like she owed greg a list of everything shed ever done wrong. and how rose didn't tell pearl anything about what she did because she couldn't bear to lose that love. and how rose didn't think how her actions would effect pearl and in trying to destroy the part of herself that she felt did nothing but hurt and ruin everything and deserved to die, she hurt one of the people she loved the most. can we talk about the fact rose is a self fulfilling prophecy and destroyed herself twice. once asking pearl to kill pink diamond. and then by having steven. and how both times, it was out of love for change and hatred for herself. and wanting there to be someone better in her wake. and out of fear of what she'd done. and how at the end of the day her story is a tragedy because she believed everyone could change and become a better person. the only exception she had ever made on that was for herself. because she knew she used to be a horrible person and the one thing that scared her more than anything was the fact she didn't know how to fix it. so she didn't. she ended it all, and she prayed that the child in her wake would be a better person. because she, fundamentally, thinks she's irredeemable. and the only good thing she could do now was give her life to someone that deserved it.

can we talk about the fact that rose fucking quartz would rather die than try to confront the people she hurt because she thinks the only thing that'd do would hurt them more. and she can never learn to see the good she did as well. because all she thinks she does is hurt.

can we talk about the fact that rose isn't a twist villain, she's a fucking twist tragedy. oh my god. this fucking SHOW.

[kiapet2]

Alright, it’s less than a week since the Owl House finale aired and as expected I’ve already seen two direct comparisons to Steven Universe’s ending and several more vague-blogs, because one of this site’s hobbies is using other queer shows to put down Steven Universe. So let’s do this, then. Let’s compare the endings of Owl House and Steven Universe, and what each is ultimately trying to say.

Steven Universe and the Owl House are both shows that deal heavily with the clash of individualism and self-expression vs. socially-mandated conformity, and both shows’ final villains ultimately embody this conflict. One major difference, however, is that Owl House approaches this from the perspective of legal/societal structures, while Steven Universe approaches it from the perspective of family structures.

Steven Universe has always been about family--and particularly the ways traumas and biases are passed down through a family--and it has always heavily used the language of metaphor to discuss these topics. The Diamonds are the ultimate extension of this theme, something a lot of bad-faith (or just bad) takes on the ending miss; they interpret the diamonds in their literal capacity as dictators, rather than the way Steven Universe always portrays them, which is as matriarchs, i.e. the heads of a family who dictate and control all the family’s other members. This metaphor becomes more and more blatant until it outright becomes text, with the Diamonds turning out to be Steven’s literal family members, with whom his part of the family is estranged because of their previous controlling behavior.

In accordance with this theme, we ultimately find out that the Diamonds’ toxic ideology, with its rigid standards of perfection, are not only something they enforce on the gems below them, but also on themselves. They are suffering from the system in their own ways, unable to live up to the standards they themselves created. And who among us hasn’t known someone like that? A parent or grandparent who grew up under a cruel, oppressive worldview, and instead of rebelling against it internalized it--who turned around and said “I dealt with this, and so can you”? And so the ending of Steven Universe is the Diamonds realizing exactly how toxic the rigid ideology they’ve spent their lives perpetuating really is, and confronting the fact that their adherence to this ideology is what destroyed their relationship with Pink, and that the only way they’re going to have a relationship with Steven is if they’re willing to commit to changing both themselves, and the family structure they’ve enforced for so long.

Emperor Belos, in contrast, is not suffering from the structures he created, because his rules were never meant to apply to him. He sees the witches (and demons, and so-on) as lesser beings, evil beings, who exist to be controlled, and ultimately, exterminated. And every element of the society he built--the schools, the government, the police force, the religion--he intentionally constructed to keep these lesser beings under his control. The real-world allegory isn’t hard to see, here. And because what Belos represents in the story is, in fact, a fascist leader, the story shows that he can’t be reasoned with in any way that matters, and instead he is ultimately ground into paste beneath the boots of the people he sought to destroy. Different themes, different endings.

Now the usual argument that comes up here is as follows: but the Steven Universe ending isn’t as realistic! Not everyone is going to change, not everyone is going to be able to be reasoned with. Not every older, conservative family member is eventually going to accept you for who you are. And while that is true, ultimately SU isn’t meant to be realistic; it’s meant to be a power fantasy. Rebecca Sugar has come out and said before that they wrote a world in which there was good in everyone, because that’s the way she wishes the world could be. That’s the world they want to be able to believe in. And I am never going to begrudge a person, much less a queer person, for finding healing in writing that kind of world.

But you know what else is unrealistic? What else is ultimately just a fantasy? Grinding your government’s fascist leader into paste under your boot, then taking over and remaking society into something that accepts everyone. Sadly, Trump is not likely to get his ass beat any time soon. And more generally, punching fascists, while ideologically sound, is something most people are not going to get to do, due to real-world consequences such as “getting beat up by the fascist’s angry friends” and “being arrested for assault”. And even if you did depose one leader, our very society is set up in a way that perpetuates all manner of injustices, and systemic change is a complex and lengthy process that almost certainly won’t be completed in our lifetimes. But it’s fun to imagine we could, isn’t it?

Both endings are power fantasies. Both show the way they want the world to be, rather than the way it is. They are very different power fantasies, which fill very different--and at times conflicting--needs. And in situations like that, internet culture really likes to pick one to be the right fantasy, the right way to look at the world. 

But the truth is, both fantasies are needed! Some people need stories about your queerphobic relatives finally realizing the error of their ways and taking the necessary steps to accept and reconcile with you. And some people need stories where you get to grind fascist bastards beneath the heel of your boot. It’s okay if you prefer one type of fantasy over the other! But in the end, both are valuable, and both are important. 

And isn’t it wonderful, for us to have such a diversity of great queer stories? That we can explore both of these deep, conflicting needs? Let’s appreciate each of these fantastic works for what it was meant to be, rather than trying to pit them against each other or make them conform to a single, “best” way to tell a story.

[oatmealaddiction]

Rant time, but like, people who complain about the diamonds in Steven Universe getting "redeemed" and "facing no consequences" like, why did you ever think the diamonds getting destroyed was on the table as an option? Why did everyone think the show was going to end with Steven fighting and killing the diamonds, or the universe dolling out some Hayes Code Karma Violence like a giant rock falling on them at the last second? Like I guess I understand the criticism in theory that Steven Universe's metaphor for the diamonds as toxic family members falls apart when you consider they're crimes as space monarchs doing a colonialism, but Steven isn't The Avatar. At no point in the show does he even have the power to doll out the punishment you guys want.

Steven *does* try to fight the diamonds, and he gets his ass kicked. He gets smashed under his own shield and knocked out. His mom forms an entire army to fight them and LOSES and has almost all of her friends corrupted by them. The Diamonds are bigger, badder and stronger than The Crystal Gems (kind of like how adults are bigger and stronger than children.) So instead, he reveals his identity as Pink and the Diamonds immediately stop trying to kill him and the show instead pivots to be about political diplomacy. He doesn't like the diamonds, by the time Future rolls around we find out that he hates them and has private thoughts about killing them even now that that they don't pose any threat. But during the show he's powerless and so instead, talking to them and trying to change their mind is just a practical option because fighting hasn't worked. Because in the real world, there are times you will be outmatched and violence won't be the answer—even if the people hurting you probably do deserve violence.

And the diamonds aren't "redeemed," they just change their mind. They just decide that they want to keep Pink in their lives, so they begin to take accountability and undo the damage that they caused with their war, and presumably will spend the next thousands of years of their lives dismantling their own empire. And again, Steven Universe Future discusses the discomfort and the downside of this approach, that even if it's better and harm is actively being undone, the diamonds can't resolve all the harm they've done and Steven largely doesn't feel like he's gotten justice for what they did to him and his mother—much less the universe. So I don't get where anyone gets off saying this story is irresponsible or saying you should just forgive bad people. I don't see that anywhere in the story. The theme of Universe has always been the necessity of change, and so it makes sense that the villains aren't forgiven or revealed to be good people—but that they just change.

[jliciousart]

🔶🤎 aren’t I a fool to have (happily) drifted away

[animaniacs16]

Wow I love the story of an individual from a “perfect” society that has a distant (or disdainful) view of humans, until they find themselves in a situation involving humans and the human world. Said situation leads to a realization, possibly an extidtential crisis, about their role in their society and the enticing thought of choosing their own destiny.

They start falling in love with the idiosyncrasies of humanity and championing the innate, yet complicated, goodness within humankind. They love the little things that humans do subconsciously or without noticing, and the small annoyances that humans bemoan, such as burning oneself on TV dinners or making doctors appointments.

Eventually, they find themselves with the opportunity to experience (or bring a new being to experience) humankind for themselves, and take it after reflecting on the human condition and what it means to be human. While funny, the story is an unexpectedly poignant reflection on humankind.

[rye-satchel]

I think it's wild that people finish Steven Universe and come to the conclusion that Rose was a terrible person.

Everything Steven did different, he was able to because he was raised in a completely different environment, around people who expected him to grow and let him, and who supported him.

Pink Diamond had no one to support her. Rose did. And when things got especially bad, Rose did the one thing she thought would genuinely end the war. It lead to bad things happening, but it wasn't because of malicious intent that she did what she had.

In a post-war world, Steven could make decisions using the information and support he had that Rose never did.

Obviously she wasn't the paragon of morality, but she tried. She tried with what she knew. She made bad decisions, and she lived with them.

I guess a good way to phrase it would be like.

If Pink Diamond is Eleanor Shellstrop (original life) from the Good Place, then Rose Quartz is Eleanor Shellstrop (near-death timeline), and Steven is the Eleanor Shellstrop of the final season.

" Look, the point is people improve when they get external love and support. How can we hold that against them when they don't?"

Pink changed when she received support from Pearl as Rose, and later from Garnet, Amethyst, and even Greg. She was still learning after hundreds of years as Rose, like Eleanor was after hundreds of years in the afterlife.

And no, I can't see Rose using Steven as an escape like a lot of people claim. Rose finally had the opportunity to do what she wanted to do ever since she was Pink Diamond: create life from nothing. Of course that would excite her! Of course she would want to create life, finally, after destroying so much of it.

There's no reason for her to believe that the diamonds would have ever changed, because she couldn't, as a diamond.** Not to mention she wouldn't have a reason to think they'd come back to earth. If she had known about the cluster, she definitely would have said something instead of ignoring it.

** to that point, she wasn't treated like a diamond either, unlike the others. She wasn't as set in her status the others.

[thefreshprinceofjunes]

AND NOW FOR SOME META THATS NOT KH

i was looking through promotional art on the su wiki, and i came across the SDCC 2016 signing card

and i noticed that only four people in the pic have flowers

steven, greg, and pearl have roses, which of course represent rose quartz

while jasper has a hibiscus for some reason?

so i was thinking about why jasper would have that particular flower, esp when almost everyone else in the pic doesnt have one at all

and then i realized

... oh

2016 comic con, huh

[pink-onyx-au]

In your comic, how long has been since SU Future?

This comic event occurs between I Am My Monster, with episode 1 "Antipathy" being about a week after Steven's corruption event, and The Future, the final episode. So when the comic concludes, the "next" event after the conclusion will be Steven leaving Beach City to travel with Connie.

[octoling-wearing-gauges]

me making an AU where Sadie dies instead of Lars?? more likely than you think

[anachronistic-falsehood]

funniest thing abt watching su w someone who's never watched it b4 is that they're like "steven you CANNOT love and peace your way out of this one!!!" when he Can, in fact, love and peace his way out of it, and continues to do so repeatedly. he love and peaced his way into dismantling an entire dictatorship. he's just built different

[candyskiez]

If I had a nickel for everytime an animated media ended with the titular character having a breakdown after years of repression and mistreatment by everyone around them, causing them to go into a superpowered state and rampage towards something very specific now that all their repressed desires and anger and trauma are running wild and have to be brought back by their loved ones who heavily contributed to them having this breakdown in the first place finally apologizing to them and reaching out, I'd have three nickels.

Which isn't much, but it's weird that it's happened thrice.

[thatonefananticinclass]

I choose No;Older Sibling cause it just be like that sometimes. Spinel was right to mad about it though.

Edit: My genuine thought is that this is her attempt to grow up not just because she was given a planet, but because she doesn't want to be the Diamond who throws tantrums that hurt her loved ones after her accident with Pink Pearl. So she decides to distance herself from Spinel in an attempt to not hurt anyone else, to grow up so that she doesn't crack anyone else again(a value she carries with her for the rest of her life).

Her flaw was not considering Spinel's wants and needs. Cuz she gonna follow her instructions literally and no matter how nice that garden was Spinel needs social interaction. I just dislike the notion that Pink Diamond didn't care at all or just forgot about Spinel. She is very caring but doesn't know how to care for the people/gems she loves.

[sophieinwonderland]

has anyone made the "steven universe from steven universe is plural" argument yet or am i touching on something new here

Not really that I've seen. I remember seeing someone headcanon him as having DID before, but didn't make that good of an argument and I never really got that impression myself.

Major Spoilers:

The other thing that I've seen suggested is that Steven is plural because of Rose Quartz, but despite some her memories remaining, the show seems pretty explicit in Rose being gone and Steven being all that's left. One could see this as analogous to a system reset with only one headmate remaining, but I wouldn't consider it plural in and of itself.

I might headcanon Rose Quartz and Pink Diamond as a system back before Steven, but the show doesn't really give much evidence Rose Quartz is anything more than a persona, so... 🤷‍♀️

That said, Steven Universe is filled to the brim with plurality.

I've discussed before Pearl having multiple compartmentalized Pearls in her head.

But the most obvious example is in the fusions, and we later see across multiple episodes that fusions have their own inner worlds.

One could even view the hatred of fusions, particularly of gems of different types, as pluralphobia. Meanwhile gems of the same type (which are more median) aren't as stigmatized because they're more singlet-passing.

Another interesting thing is that there seems to be a certain symbolic plurality. That is, all the Crystal Gems symbolically live inside the body of Obsidian through the series in the form of the temple, and the rooms of the temple seem to function similar to how a system's inner world does. The temple's rooms even often represent the inner thoughts of the gems they belong to.

Steven Universe is a really cool series to analyze from a plural perspective, even if I'm not totally sold on Steven himself being plural.