#Su analysis

[inbarfink]

So one of the cool and interesting ways ‘Steven Universe’ used to try and balance being both a series of 11-minutes episodes that each have their own satisfying emotional resolution and being an overarching story with complicated character arcs that take multiple seasons to resolve is the… I’m going to call it the ‘Not Quite Right Lesson’ episodes. Episodes where a character kinda learns a Very Important Lesson… but a more careful and retrospective look at the situation shows that what they learned is not Quite the Right Thing for them. They internalized something in that adventure which just ended up causing more Emotional Troubles for themselves farther down the line.

‘The Test’ is the most classic example. 

As a standalone thing, it’s just a sweet episode about Steven learning to accept that his caretakers are also flawed and confused and figuring this shit up as they’re going along just like he is, and then doing a nice thing for their sake.

But looking back at this episode, it is quite obviously the nadir of Steven appointing himself as the Family Therapist and repressing all of his problems so he could better help the Gems’ with theirs. Like, there have been some early warning signs for this Complex, but this episode is the one that really cemented that idea in his mind and probably the reason it took him like the Entire Rest of the Show Including a Post-Finale Season to really untangle it.

But… also, I’ve been thinking a lot about the episode right after that, ‘Future Vision’. I think it’s also a very important ‘Not Quite Right Lesson Episode’ for the character of Garnet, and to some extent, the Crystal Gems as a whole. In many ways, it is to the CGs' character arcs' what 'the Test' is to Steven's.

So in this episode, Garnet reveals to Steven the fact that she has Future Vision. She hoped that telling Steven a little bit more about herself and being honest with him will lead to a greater understanding and a greater bond between them… but it backfired. It just led Steven to become a total paranoid, terrified wreck stuck in a total existential crisis.

And it seems like the lesson Garnet learned is that… she should’ve never taken that risk at all. That it would’ve been better for everyone if she just kept Steven ignorant of the truth forever.

Extremely reinforced with the ending of the episode, where Garnet chooses to once again hide an uncomfortable truth (that he just came very close to dying again) from Steven, for the sake of his own ‘peace of mind’.

So, like, the Gems were already hiding uncomfortable truths from Steven since day one. “If you could only know what we really are” and all of that. But I think… With the actual truth of Homeworld encroaching on them more and more at this point of the story arc, this would’ve been a great time for the Gems to reconsider their attitude and actually Explain to Steven What the Hell is Going On. 

But instead, I think Garnet saw the events of ‘Future Vision’ as a reinforcement of the idea that there’s just some things Steven is Better Off Not Knowing. Actually being frank with him about Homeworld and the Diamonds and the War right there and then, that would have just overwhelmed Steven with fears and worries and would’ve ended up doing nothing but hurting him. And Garnet can’t accept that possibility, not again.

And so, Garnet, alongside Amethyst and Pearl, keep all these truths from Steven as long as possible. Only revealing bits of information when they have to. For Amethyst it’s about her emotionally-evasive attitude (also, she legit doesn’t know all of that stuff herself). For Pearl it’s about how she learned to romanticize Rose’s own fucked-up obsession with secrets. For Garnet, with her usually very direct attitude and preference for the most straightforward solutions, I think it’s very much the events of ‘Future Vision’ that were still playing in her head every time she had the choice to actually Explain something to Steven and decided not to. 

But that, indeed, was Not Quite the Right Lesson. While being bluntly and directly told by Garnet all about the Many Ways He Could Die caused Steven to go into an anxiety spiral and an existential crisis for an episode - the way the Gems have been consistently secretive and evasive with Steven ended up causing him so much more emotional grief to him in the long run. As all of these secrets ended up revealed to him in the most surprising, dramatic and traumatizing way possible.

And the secretive attitudes ended up driving a wedge between Steven and the Gems. 

Even after they promised to be more honest with him. Because the sight of Steven crying on the roof that day is one that Garnet can easily move away from. Because Garnet’s Not Quite Right Lesson was almost as difficult for her to unlearn as Steven’s own. 

But after the big confrontation at the start of the Zoo Arc, Garnet ended up being the most upfront about the Crystal Gems’ history. Almost overeager to share what she knows about the past.

I mean also, again, Amethyst just has less to tell and Pearl is hiding secrets for reasons beyond her control - but I think it’s also important to consider from the perspective of Garnet’s arc.

Because the fallout of the Pink Diamond Reveal is very much centered around Garnet (or, well, Ruby and Sapphire). That was the Truth that was hidden from her 'for her own good'. And at the end of the day, despite all the grief that unveiling that truth has caused

It has also brought them, all of them, a lot closer.

There's a reason why 'the Truth' is Garnet's Final Missing Piece in the movie. It is as central to her character arc in the series as Lesbian AngstTM grief over lost love is to Pearl.

And still, some remnants of the Trauma of 'Future Vision' remained...

After all, even the very last episode of 'Future' was centered around the Gems once again trying to hide things from Steven (at that case, their turmoil about him leaving) for his own sake

Even though it once again just caused Steven a whole lot of grief.

It's maybe notable that at the end of this episode, Garnet, once again, tells Steven what's waiting for him in his Future...

[picturejasper20]

Another thing about Steven Universe as character (and the series) that has been mischaracterized over the course of the years and the source of a good chunk of discourse online is the relationship that Steven has with the Diamonds.

A lot of videos, posts and memes have spread around the idea that Steven went to Homeworld in the final arc of the series because he wanted to ¨be besties¨ with the Diamonds, when what happens in the actual show is very different.

In the episode "Legs from Here to Homeworld"-which takes place after the episode ¨Reunited¨ that Blue and Yellow Diamond find out that Rose Quartz was in fact Pink Diamond- Steven shows to Blue and Yellow one of the corrupted gems (Centipeetle) and helds them accountable for making a lot of gems end up this way and orders them to fix the mess they caused.

Steven: ¨Do it again! It was working!¨ Yellow Diamond: ¨How long do you expect us to hold her together?¨ Steven: ¨I don’t know. Forever! You did this! So you have to do something!¨

Seeing they need White Diamond to fix the corrupted gems, Steven thinks of going to gem Homeworld to see if he can talk to White about the corrupted gems and convince her to come to Earth and help them.

That's the main reason Steven goes to Homeworld- he doesn't like the Diamonds nor wants to be friends with them- he just wants to see if White Diamond can listen to him and help to heal the corrupted gems.

He is aware that the Diamonds listen to him because he himself is a Diamond-Pink Diamond. So he goes along with this little game pretending to be Pink thinking that way White Diamond and the others will listen to him. He believes that maybe as ¨Pink¨ he can make them see the errors of their ways and stop this mini war conflict that he has been caught on in the last few years.

Others have made more detailed analysis about this in the past, that a good part of this arc has a huge trans/queer metaphor for Steven's character- where he keeps being refered to and imposed an identity he doesn't see himself as. He gets called by the Diamonds and other homeworld gems as ¨Pink Diamond¨ and refered to as ¨She¨, when he often corrects and clarifies that he prefers to be called ¨Steven¨.

The final showdown against White Diamond is about this: White keeps trying to play mind games with Steven, making him believe that Pink/Rose is still alive in him and he is in fact Pink/Rose. Because Steven doesn't know this for certain, it proves to be effective for a while, making him feel very confused.

White believes that she is perfect in every way- it is what all her identity is about. She is obsessed with her own perfection so much that she doesn't allow herself to think that she has flaws nor she can't be wrong about something- and because she thinks she has to be perfect, that means that she is right about Pink Diamond still existing inside Steven.

The reality proves her wrong when she takes out Steven's gem and everyone sees that the gem part turns into Steven. As a way of metaphor to a trans allegory and self love, Steven sees that he has always been himself and he shouldn't let other people define what his identity should be, that only him should decide that.

So, in a way, the Diamonds Days arc is intended to be seen as a metaphor to a LGBT+ kid/teenager standing up against their relatives, grandmothers or aunts in this case- and prove them wrong about their identity, that they are what they are and their family can't change that.

Okay, so Steven proves the Diamonds that they are wrong, they change their minds and they help with healing the corrupted gems by the end of ¨Change Your Mind¨.

Does this means Steven becomes friends with them after this?

Well... no

In Steven Universe The Movie, during the song sequence ¨Lets Us Adore You¨ the Diamonds beg Steven to stay with them a bit longer because they miss having Pink around, Steven is seen very uncomfortable around them and wants to get out as quickly as possible to return to Earth.

He sees them as somewhat allies and tries to persuade them in different ways to improve the current situation on Homeworld but he doesn't seem to like them much and doesn't enjoy being around them even if they aren't acting antagonistic towards him anymore.

He has a similar reaction when they come to Earth near the end of the movie. He is very done with them and says that they staying to leave on Earth isn't a good idea on the long run. Instead he shows Spinel to them and Spinel sees this as an opportunity to make a new friend again.

Well, about SU Future? How does Steven feel about them in that series?

In Future is where Steven begins to show real strong PTSD trauma symptoms (something he has had for a while except it wasn't nearly as strong). He knows that he has a problem most of the show but he avoids going to ask the Diamonds for help because he just feels very uncomfortable around them and it reminds him of traumatic experiences he had with them in Diamonds Days arc.

He doesn't go to them until after he accidentally shatters Jasper in ¨Fragments¨ and sees himself as a monster because of this. He separates himself from the rest of the crystal gems, feeling like he is as terrible as the Diamonds were. In ¨Homeworld Bound¨ he interacts with the three Diamonds, asking them for any way they can help him with his powers.

Most of the episode he feels frustrated because A) He can't find a solution to his problem and B) Sees that the Diamonds and Spinel are doing pretty well and he has been getting worse. It makes him get more and more angry the more time he spends in there.

The scene that leaves pretty clear how he feels about them, specially White, is when he talks to White. As shown in the gif above, when White touches Steven near where his gem is, Steven pushes her hand off from him, clearly being reminded of the time White ripped his gem off him in ¨Change Your Mind¨.

White uses her powers so Steven can talk to own self. This leads to an iconic scene that Steven gets angry at himself and White. He has a very strong intrusive thought of crashing White's gem into a pillar for what she put him through. He gets shocked for this and makes him run away scared as result.

This scene leaves clear that Steven has a lot of buried resentment for what the Diamonds did to him, mainly White. Being around them reminds him of his trauma, it makes him deeply uncomfortable and he would rather avoid them as much as possible.

The Diamonds get concerned about Steven and show up during the events of ¨I Am My Monster¨ when Steven transforms into gem like monster. The Diamonds and Spinel blame themselves for Steven feeling this way because of their past actions. White feels it is her fault because of how she hurt Pink Diamond and this brought problems to Steven.

They help with calming Steven down and him returning to his human form. Now there is some argument to be said about why they took part of this hug aside from using their powers to help the gems. I have talked more about this in here but i think it is to represent Steven accepting himself as being part Diamond and maybe forgiving, realizing that he isn't an ¨irredeemable monster¨ because of what he did, that way he stops seeing himself as one and goes back to his normal form.

After this, it is a bit unclear where Steven stands his opinion on his relationship with the Diamonds. I would assume that it is probably not much different than it was before. He still doesn't like them and probably doesn't want to be around them even after all that happened.

In short: Steven sees the Diamonds as allies and post the events of ¨Change Your Mind¨ he shows to be uncomfortable being around them, he doesn't seem to like them and mostly prefers to avoid them. He is glad that they are changing their ways for the better but he would prefer to not interact with them if he doesn't have to due to his own trauma.

The Diamonds regret how they have hurt Steven (and Pink) and care about Steven but he thinks it is better for him to have a distant relationship with them for the reasons i discussed. They can still improve and make amends for everything they did and Steven doesn't have to feel forced to have a relationship with them if he doesn't want to.

There are other things that could be discussed, about how the Diamonds Days arcs should have been longer or how the Diamonds needed more screen time- However, the point of this post is talk about people have mischaracterized Steven's relationship with the Diamonds, saying Steven is best friends with them when in reality he doesn't like them and spends most of Future series avoiding them.

[mandareeboo]

I think a lot of people forget that Garnet's future vision isn't, like, accurate? That's the whole point of Future Vision; Garnet sees so many timelines, and she has to pick and choose which to follow, and they aren't' always accurate. Pool Hopping reinforces that concept, with Garnet being unable to pick which future Steven will follow because she's ignored his development.

She even does it in Future! She's so sure that Steven is in the "pepperoni timeline" that she doesn't even consider that he might be taking the vegetarian option.

Garnet has an approximate knowledge of many things, and she just kinda picks which future she thinks is true based on characters and how they act. Her future vision isn't a solid thing that she can just Know how things will go down. She guesses. A lot.

[lone-gem-half]

Common interpretations and misinterpretations of Pink Steven

Hello. I am Lynn, a fictive of Pink Steven. As this is my identity, I have come to feel quite strongly about the fandom's various interpretations of him. I am here to discuss why I believe some of them to be untrue.

Seeing as Steven Universe is a work of fiction (as real as it may be to me), kindly refer to the Reddit comment below.

[ID: A Reddit comment saying "no you are fucking alive do what you want". /End ID]

I do not wish to offend nor police anyone's enjoyment—in fact, I have enjoyed works containing many of these "misconceptions" myself.

Interpretation #1 – Steven is still himself without his Gem.

I understand why this may be a first assumption. Even the title of the soundtrack, "Steven meets Pink Steven", may lead one towards it. I am unsure if this is what was meant by the creators; the intent of the scene, however, is for Steven to realize that he is and always has been himself, and having Pink Steven be a separate person only bearing his appearance would be contradictory.

Additionally, Steven is half human, half Gem. Part of his conciousness and sense of self reside in the gemstone—it would only make sense, as it is the nature of every Gem. Pink Steven is not a separate entity from Steven. Pink Steven is part of Steven in all senses.

Interpretation #2 – Pink Steven is emotionless.

The "She is gone" scene in itself disproves this.

Steven's powers are led by his emotions. It would be nonsensical for the part of him that bears his powers to be incapable of emotion.

He would not have been able to laugh along with his human half if he were incapable of emotion.

Interpretation #3 – Pink Steven is raw power.

I apologize for the bluntness, as I am struggling to word it otherwise: Rose Quartz/Pink Diamond did not give up her form and self to make room for "raw power". Pink Steven could be intepreted as having raw power. Pink Steven himself should not be reduced to it.

Interpretation #4 – Pink Steven's purpose is to protect his human half.

Once again, I understand where this may come from. Pink Steven's priority is to protect his human half. Pink Steven's desire is to protect his human half. It is not a purpose, however. A purpose is what typical Gems emerge with. Steven—and, by extension, Pink Steven—is not a typical Gem. Otherwise, Rose's sacrifice would have been in vain.

Interpretation #5 – The halves have always existed as separate entities in Steven's head—AKA Steven is a fusion in the typical sense.

This is one I particularly enjoy reading about, despite not believing it to be what is meant in canon. Steven's halves are much like a Gem's shards. They did not exist separately before White Diamond did the deed. They never should have been separate in the first place.

My interpretation—or rather, me.

I am one half of Steven Universe. The human half might seem like Steven at first glance—that is because he is more overt. As a simplified explanation, the human brain deals with daily functioning and the processing of emotions. The Gem "brain" deals with logic, the subconscious, and our powers.

Without the human brain, processing emotion becomes difficult. I struggle with identifying what I am feeling. I do not express it in a typical manner, rather through actions and aura, if not through manifestations of my power itself.

This is tied to the "rawness" of my power. Unfiltered, unprocessed emotion comes out in destructive ways. Without the human half to aid in navigating (Accidental fanfiction reference.), Pink Steven's emotions may destroy him. Both halves need each other to live.

Protecting the human half, in addition to self preservation instincts, is a choice and an act of self love. Emphasis on the latter.

In canon, it is most likely that Steven went back to being his whole self. In my AU, we remained internally separate after reuniting. I enjoy thinking and reading about both possibilities.

Conclusion + fic recommendations

Most of these concepts are fun to explore in their own ways. While I believe myself to be correct (and may selfishly act as if I have authority on it), I am not the boss of anyone's fandom experience. Refer to the Reddit comment mentioned previously.

I would like to highlight some of my favorite works of fanfiction to end this post.

The Heart of a Star by Hastilt – This is my top 1, although all others are in no particular order. I agree with most of, if not the entirety of this author's interpretation of Pink Steven. The work itself is incredible. Mind the content warnings.

Aid to Navigation by Ppleater – It has interesting takes on hybrid biology.

Crack the Paragon by Novantinuum – While not fully accurate to my interpretation, it is excellent and remarkably well written. I am eager to see what will happen in chapter 15.

Threadbare Divinity by Ghostigos – Short and sweet. Vivid in its description of the experience. Contains remarkable wordplay with second person pronouns. A close contender for the first place.

What Went Untold by Andovia212 – Steven describes the experience in White's Head from both halves' perspectives. It is very good to see.

He's Gone by citrusella – A very interesting play on its concept. Mind the content warnings.

This should be all I have for today. Please feel free to comment.

[i-am-a-living-god]

I feel like people forgot or like don't really understand Steven in the original series. People tend to think of little Steven the way future Steven thinks of little him.

Aka, as a little angel who does nothing but help people, and get trauma dumped on by all the adults :(

Which after rewatching the main series, I realize is literally not him at all.

In the beginning of the series the crystal gems don't tell him shit and the only times he gets any emotional baggage dumped on him it's because he hunts them down after an outburst, trust to offer emotional comfort, and pries stuff out of them. (Exept for with pearl, the last part I mean, he still literally chased her down and ignored her pleas to be left alone.)

Also most of the times that he "helps" someone, he's not trying to help them. He's trying to befriend them. In literally just trying to get to know them, he offers comfort in just the fact that he's a friend.

He never tries to help people he either pries stuff out of people, befriends them, and excepts them for who they are, and not who they could, or *should* be.

Thats also why Steven is so affective at "helping" people. He never tries to chance them, they decide to change themselves.

That's also why he didn't succeeded in "helping" Spinel, cause he was actually trying to "fix" her, in the end she only got better when she decided to. With a little push from Steven. Also, in the scene where he does "fix, or help" her, he isn't actively trying to change her, all he does is listen to her, and tell her she can change, that she can be happy. But it's because of him.

Oh I'm just throwing this out there, GEMS DONT UNDERSTAND THE CONCEPT OF CHILDREN!!!

Peridot, he never even tried to help her, he literally just wanted to get to know her. He ended up showing her the earth, and more importantly, kindness.

[haystarlight]

See, a lot of people say "Steven Universe is a show about redemption" but that's not really true? Only Peridot and Spinel were really redeemed

Lapis? I mean technically, depending on how you wanna look at it, but her arc was kinda weird. Idk if she was ever really an antagonist, she was kind of an odd character. Maybe an anti-hero I suppose?

Bismuth? Again, maybe. But she reads more of a fallen hero. She never really stops being Garnet and Pearl's friend and her intentions were always heroic and all it really takes is one single conversation to get her back to being a hero.

Jasper? Steven literally murders her and brings her back to life, scaring her into submission. That's not redemption! She's literally terrified of Steven and just does everything he says because she's scared of him! She still calls him Pink Diamond, even.

The Rubies? Steven tries (and fails!!) to redeem both Navy and Eyeball but, once it's clear that the redemption didn't work out, he just gives up and we never see any of the Rubies again.

Aquamarine? Go back to the previous answer.

Emerald? Never heard from again.

Holly Blue Agate? Lost her power and reduced to a joke.

The Diamonds? Steven still hates the shit outta them. Everyone still hates them, they are visibly uncomfortable in their presence. Steven literally tries to murder White Diamond on screen. Nobody likes these bitches. They were convinced to play nice because killing them wasn't viable at the time of Change Your Mind and, now in Future, even though Steven does have the ability to kill them now, he decides not to because they're not really a problem anymore. It'd be kinda weird to kill them now that they're using their powers to help people and he couldn't kill them before because he wasn't strong enough. I've already talked about this.

We could talk about how Rose's arc was a form of self-redemption but that's more complicated.

So yeah, I don't think Steven Universe is really a show about redemption. It's a show about change. Negative, positive and just plain weird.

Every character (the antagonists and the protagonists, even the minor characters!) is faced with having to change. Those who refused to accept change are ultimately forced to change whether they liked it or not and those who accept change are able to have better lives because of it.

That change isn't always redemption, as we've seen, sometimes that change is just Homeworld no longer being a dictatorship and the once-powerful Gems now being powerless and not really being a threat anymore. They're not really "good guys", they're just not dangerous anymore.

[miabellewhodraws]

 Sapphire analysis (SU)

Introduction:

 In the episode “The Answer” Garnet describes Sapphire as a “rare aristocratic gem”. She was in a team of the diplomatic gems that were sent to planet Earth to investigate. 

Sapphire has a special power: to see into the future. That was what made her valuable for Blue Diamond. Blue Diamond wanted to know what would happen next, what will happen on planet Earth? It’s clear that Sapphires were trusted by Homeworld to predict the future, and never considered the possibility of them being wrong.

Sapphire’s view on her powers

 Sapphire herself put a lot of trust into her abilities, and was shocked when things didn’t go the way she saw. Let’s see:

 Sapphire predicted that the rebels will attack the Cloud Arena, destroying the physical forms of seven gems, including herself. Then they would be cornered, and captured. The rebellion would end. Despite knowing this, it didn’t worry her at all. That she would be a casualty. She already accepted what she thought was her fate. But Ruby did not accept that. She saved Sapphire and then they accidentally fused for the first time, and that turn of events shocked Sapphire. After all, one of the questions Garnet asked Rose and Pearl was: “How was Ruby able to alter fate?”. That’s clearly something Sapphire would wonder about, how is it possible? Her abilities always worked, but not this time. 

Sapphire trusted Rose. After all, she and Pearl were the first to accept Garnet, despite Garnet being a fusion of two different gems, which was considered “disgusting” in Homeworld. She never looked into Rose, because she and Ruby trusted her. When the truth was revealed, Sapphire was very upset. She blamed herself for “letting Rose make fools of them all”. Thought that her and Ruby’s romantic relationship was based on a lie. She was for “predicting the future”. That was what Homeworld expected from Sapphires, what Blue Diamond expected from Sapphire. But she didn’t know that someone she admired was actually someone she despised. Sapphire thought that she didn't know anything. She must have felt useless.

So, Sapphire’s predictions turning out wrong had both positive and negative consequences for her. Positive consequences: she was saved from being poofed and realized that she was in love with Ruby. They got to experience fusion, explore planet Earth together, and fight for the freedom to be together.

Negative consequences: when she found out that the person she admired was a Diamond,  Sapphire felt useless because she never looked into Rose.

How Sapphire deals with her feelings

Sapphire deals with her feelings very differently than her girlfriend Ruby. We see in the episode “Keystone Motel”, that Sapphire is more open to forgiving Pearl, unlike Ruby. She thinks that Ruby is choosing to take the situation personally. When Ruby asks if it’s just her being angry, Sapphire says that “She is completely engulfed with rage” with the most expressionless face. When Ruby says that she’s not above this as she thinks she is, Ruby is right. Despite the fact that Sapphire doesn’t openly show her anger, it doesn't mean that she isn’t upset over the situation. Sapphire just doesn’t show her emotions openly. The proof is that her cryokinesis ability only starts working when she is feeling negative emotions, and the times we see it work is when she’s upset over Pearl tricking Garnet into fusing and when she’s upset over learning that Rose was Pink Diamond all along. I also think that when she’s feeling intense negative emotions, Sapphire wants to spend some time alone, since after learning that Rose was Pink Diamond, she teleported to Rose’s Fountain, perhaps to calm down? So, in conclusion, Sapphire is more calm and forgiving than Ruby,  but that doesn't mean she can’t lose control of her emotions sometimes. Sapphire is upset when her abilities to predict the future don’t work, because she feels useless when she’s not able to help other people. She usually doesn’t show her emotions openly, but you can see that she’s upset when her cryokinesis ability starts working.

Sapphire’s relationships with other people

Ruby: Ruby was a soldier who was assigned to protect Sapphire during a mission on Earth. When she rushed in to save Sapphire from being poofed, they accidentally fused for the first time. Blue Diamond was furious with Ruby for daring to fuse with a member of her court, and said that she will be shattered for this. But Sapphire saved Ruby and ran away with her. They spend some time together and then decide to fuse again. When they met Rose and Pearl, Garnet thought that she would upset them, but they accepted her. Sapphire and Ruby stayed fused and fought the war so they could be free to love each other. So they could stay Garnet. We can see that Ruby and Sapphire have very different personalities, very different ways of dealing with their feelings. But each time they have a disagreement, they reconcile.They worry about each other’s safety, in “Jailbreak” episode, when Sapphire and Ruby reunite, they ask each other “Did they hurt you?”, which shows the first thing they are concerned about when reuniting is each other’s well-being. According to Ruby, Sapphire helped her realize that it’s okay to be herself. According to Sapphire, Ruby helped her realize that there are many alternative possibilities. 

Pearl: They first met over 5,750 years ago, when Pearl, who was part of a small group of rebels called “Crystal Gems”, attempted to poof Sapphire with her spear. After Ruby and Sapphire accidentally fused and became part of Crystal Gems, she and Garnet became close. In “Keystone Motel”, Sapphire is more willing to forgive Pearl because she thinks it would be the right thing to do, but despite that she is still angry at Pearl, even if she doesn’t show it openly. When Sapphire is upset over Ruby leaving, Pearl comforts her and cries with her. So, despite them not being very close, they still have a great relationship.

Rose Quartz/Pink Diamond: Sapphire respected Rose and never questioned her choices, so finding out that she was Pink Diamond all along left her feeling betrayed and used. Because of her bad views on Diamonds, Sapphire believed that Rose only used them as pawns and was reluctant to believe that Rose changed her mind about the Earth. But when Pearl explained everything to her, she understood that Rose herself was inspired by Crystal Gems, that her fusion with Ruby inspired Rose to fight for gems to live free on planet Earth. 

Steven: Sapphire cares greatly about Steven, and becomes very emotional when she realizes that her and Ruby made him feel like it was his fault that they had an argument in “Keystone Motel”. Sapphire gives Steven advice when he needs it, for example she gave him advice on proposing to Connie. When Steven becomes a monster, Sapphire has a breakdown because she worries that he might stay a monster forever. 

Blue Diamond: Sapphire used to be a part of Blue Diamond’s court. She was valued because of her high rank and ability to see the future. After Sapphire and Ruby accidentally fused for the first time, Blue Diamond wanted to shatter Ruby for daring to fuse with a member of her court. Sapphire saved Ruby from being shattered and became a part of Crystal Gems. In episode “That will be all”, Sapphire and Blue Diamond meet again, however Blue doesn’t recognize her. Sapphire could have been afraid of being recognized by her former boss, since when Blue says that she never asked any Sapphire to go to Earth, Sapphire freezed up, clearly stressed. 

[love-takes-work]

Hi, I started wondering something about SU and wanted to get some other perspectives:

Do you think Steven would have been able to fix the crack in the geode in "House Guest" if Greg hadn't lied about his leg being healed?

It's really hard to say. Steven's healing powers in the show don't have a lot of consistency to them.

On the one hand, it's obvious his emotions and confidence and state of mind have a lot to do with how and whether he can access his powers.

But on the other hand, the healing powers don't seem to always obey the precedents. Steven's first known use of healing powers was an accident that developed while he was feeling low and rejected and hopeless (specifically about his powers): He "healed" Connie while being super sad that he hadn't been able to heal Amethyst. So that seems like an awfully weird time for his healing powers to START working if they depended on him believing he could do it.

(I also think it's kinda weird that "healing" Connie was presented as adjusting her eyesight to typical vision settings. That wasn't a wound or an illness. It makes me wonder if Steven's spit would "heal" other things that were nonstandard but not wounds, like closing up people's pierced ears or whatever. But we never saw anything like that before.)

So the healing powers seem to be a passive thing; if Steven puts his spit on something, it heals. He doesn't necessarily need to be thinking about or doing anything. There were several times when he tried to use his healing powers and nothing happened, so I guess we can conclude it's some kind of substance or energy that either is or isn't being produced in his spit--and when it's not there, it's not there, regardless of how he feels. If Rose's fountain can heal even without her being there, that means her healing tears worked the same way.

I'm guessing he suddenly stopped being able to heal when his dad made him think he hadn't succeeded at it for a reason, but I feel like his "you can't do it, therefore you're not useful to the team" feeling was VERY similar to how he was feeling when his healing powers FIRST manifested. So I'm not sure why feeling low and unconfident didn't affect his powers the first time but the second time the same feeling deleted them from his arsenal for over 60 episodes. (And since the first thing he healed--also accidentally--when his powers came back was a teddy bear, we know it doesn't have anything to do with whether the intended healing subject is alive.)

I feel like the healing powers in particular aren't written with a lot of consistency, but I think that contributes to the overall understanding of Steven. He IS inconsistent! He's growing up with a lot of unknowns, so it makes sense that at least one of his abilities would be sort of fickle.

[introvert-celeste]

Do you think it's possible that Rose never told how she felt when it comes to her and Greg because she didn't want to be misunderstood like what happened with the diamonds

I don't think she feared being misunderstood so much as she feared breaching her deeper emotions altogether, because doing that would lead her dangerously close to the topic of Pink Diamond.

Also, the problem with Greg had never been comparable to the Diamonds, who rejected her and took for granted, but rather Rose didn't take their relationship seriously until Greg spoke up. That was the turning point in their relationship that brought them closer than any human relationship Rose had ever had. As Greg mentions:

"Rose and I talked about tons of important stuff. Music, comic books, getting sand between your toes, y'know, feelings. We both made a lot of mistakes when we were young. I thought disco was coming back, she started a war, I think she felt like she needed to confess everything to me, but I told her, 'the past is in the past. All that matters to me is who you are now.' And who she was, was an incredible, loving being."

The thing is, Rose and Greg did talk about their feelings, and there's nothing to indicate that she ever held back in letting Greg know how much she loved him and his world. What's more is she felt she needed to confess everything to him, but he said she didn't need to, that he cared about who she was at that moment and not who she was in the past. Of course, he didn't have to tell her twice, because I'm sure that was the last thing she wanted to do. Plus there's the added relatability of having regrets for past mistakes and wanting to live in the moment as a result. Despite their vastly different experiences, they could relate with each other in this way.

[thethirdbill]

“Ranking” is a stretch, since they’re all above simply “good” but I did share my thoughts on every Steven Universe song to celebrate 5 years since listening to them for the first time!

[thatone-highlighter]

I just got through the Earthlings arc during my SU rewatch and im absolutely facinated by Jaspers character

She’s such an effective antagonist for so long because she clashes with every other character so fundamentally. She’s got this completely foreign to the show worldview that is shown to be contrary to what the rest of the show is trying to say but she still feels like a real person and when you think about her she’s just as much a product of her circumstances as anyone else. She doesn’t want to talk it out with Steven because why would she? She was literally born to fight as has been doing so since the second she was born, it’s all she’s ever known and has been drilled into her head that that’s what’s expected of her, she’s rewarded for fighting well and watches as others are punished for doing badly, either by losing or by facing consequences for failing.

And then there’s the whole “perfect solider” part of her character. She was literally born more capable and with a higher status than everyone else. But because of the way home world is structured to reward her and punish people like the off-colours, she’s been indoctrinated into thinking that the reason she came out on top had nothing to do with how she was made and everything to do with her behaviour and attitude. Peak “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” type person but because it’s a fictional story you can see what happened to make her this way. Her and amethyst are fundamentally different, they’re different quartzes, they were born in different places, they were just created differently, from the start jasper was always going to be better at some things than amethyst and amethyst would be better at others than jasper. But because of the way jasper has been “raised” for lack of a better word she doesn’t see that, she doesn’t understand that her and amethyst are simply different gems who were made different, she’s better at fighting and is picture image of what a quartz “should” be so that means it’s possible and anyone who can’t live up to that standard simply isn’t trying hard enough. And she even manages to get that into amethysts head, if jasper is capable of this then that means that amethyst must be too, even tho that’s simply not true. Through no fault of her own amethyst would have to try infinitely harder to achieve even close to where jasper is, jasper started out with a huge head start and trying to play catch up does nothing but hurt amethyst. It’s such a good analogy for so many things I think

Her main role in the story is serving as a character who simply refuses to talk it out with Steven, but again, why would she? From her perspective the entire reason her life is like this, she reason shes spent her life fighting endlessly, all the suffering shes lives through, its his fault. Rose Quartz started the war she was quite literally born to fight in. Rose Quartz also ended that same war by killing the only person jasper ever had to look up to, forced her out of the only reason she had for existing (both as in to fight the war and to serve Pink Diamond). And then heres Rose Quartz once again, saying she wants to help her? Where was she offering help when jasper when she was living to fight as much as she was fighting to live? Where was this „help“ when she shattered Pink Diamond and Jaspers entire world with her? „Help“? Help my ass shes the reason everything thats gone wrong in jaspers life went wrong in the first place

And then she gets poofed at her lowest point, gets removed from the story entirely until Future, and Future does nothing to make anything better for her! Last jasper knew the person shes been seeking revenge on her entire existence cant even be bothered to remember what she did, and then she loses herself to the Earth and corruption, the very things she prided herself on being better than.

And then suddenly shes brought back and „hey guess what! That war we created you to fight in? The one you created your entire person around? The one you lost Everything in? Yeah so it was pointless. Actually the person you idolised for the past 6000 years is the same person who you thought killed her and have been seeking vengeance on for the same amount of time. Crazy how that happens. Anyways so do you wanna come hang out with us now that we sorted that out and were chill about it?“

Can you even IMAGINE what that feels like? No wonder she runs off into the woods and becomes a hermit what else is she supposed to do! Shes got nowhere to go! Her entire life has been turned on its head and she’s expected to just move on! That’s ridiculous!

And thats just the backdrop for her appearance in Future. When she finally does appear they kill her and thats the first and only time we ever see her happy. Someone Finally speaks to her in a way she can understand and she actually dies, and uses that to find herself a purpose. If steven is powerful enough to shatter her, a feat never before seen by a gem, then sure she can serve him, anything to give her life purpose again. and then they just forget about her! Steven literally ditched her in his house! They pull the rug out from under her Once Again. but now she can be „normal“ now she can do what other people want her to do so they all assume shes „better“ now.

I think future did her so dirty the original show handles her character So Well and im not really sure how else they could have gone further with her character because people like Jasper in real life dont really change. And if she were to change and agree with steven it would feel like the show saying steven was right and jasper was wrong and she should have listened to him from the start. Shes such an interesting character to delve into because shes the antagonist yes but shes a very specific type or antagonist that doesnt appear very often and when it does its not with as much backstory, even if just implied, or delving into the thoughts behind the actions. Its so interesting to me

[picturejasper20]

Steven Universe as a character is someone who has been mischaracterized and flanderized over the years, to the point people who aren't into the fandom or haven't watched the show believe that mischaracterization to be a fact rather that a product that comes from memes and jokes

The truth is that Steven often fights in the series when it is needed, usually by fusing with someone else like Connie or Amethyst since he is still developing his powers in the original series. He doesn't cry when he has to fight back or defend himself, with exception if the person attacking is someone he considers a friend. Because, yes, for a 14-15 old teenager it isn't fun having to do something like that and it can be traumatic.

He also doesn't start to cry the moment someone refuses to change their mind or is being mean. He often isn't afraid to be sarcastic or call that person out. He didn't cry when Aquamarine mocked him in ¨Stuck Together¨ nor when Jasper didn't apologize for poofing Amethyst in ¨Crack the Whip¨

However, what we see is sometimes him blaming himself for not being able to help people that, more often than not, have been hurt by Rose Quartz, his mother, in some way. After Season 3, Steven fears a lot that he is going to become like Rose and he is going to hurt people the way like she did.

In general Steven deals with an Atlas complex in the show. He feels like he has to fix his mother mistakes and deal with ¨what she left behind¨ even when Rose wanted for him to be his own person as seen in the tape she left for him as it was revealed in the episode ¨Lion 4: The Alternate Ending¨.

Steven also defines his identity a lot for being to help other people and fix their problems. He believes that he has to be ¨useful¨ for others. So when he believes that he failed to help someone, that may lead him to think that he isn't living up to his ¨purpose¨ or that he is a failure as a person.

In reality, he isn't that much different from other hero protagonists from other animated shows. Those who are kind and emphatic and willing to listen to other people and give them a second chance if the person changes their ways. You probably like an animated show that has a protagonist like this. (Who was probably taken inspiration from Steven if the series came out after SU).

The main difference, i think, is that Steven goes a bit more than those protagonists do when it comes to listening to other people, understand their motivations and give them another chance if they regret their actions. A lot has to do with how he is aware that his enemies (usually gems) act the way the do because of the system they were born into rather ¨they are evil just because¨. He gets that their motivations come from the system that hurt them or lead them to believe that their actions are justified.

Another common mischaracterization is that Steven becomes super buddies with every person he helps...when this isn't always the case. There are some occasions that Steven shows discomfort around people who he has given a second chance. Just because he gives them a second chance doesn't mean that he immediately considers them close friends, maybe allies at best.

A good example of this is the gif above of Steven's interactions with White Diamond in ¨Homeworld Bound¨. White Diamond touches Steven very close to where his gem is- which makes Steven distressed since in his battle again White, she ripped his gem out to prove that Pink was still ¨alive¨. In most of the episode Steven shows to be very uncomfortable around the Diamonds and Spinel, to some extent. They bring him bad memories, which is the main reason he has been doing everything to avoid going to them to ask for their help until this point in Steven Universe Future. He even almost accidentally hurts White's gem by smashing her head against a pillar when she lets him control her to talk to himself. This being result of a intrusive ¨vengeful¨ thought.

I wouldn't say that Steven hates the Diamonds,but- he doesn't want to be their friend neither and wants to avoid in general because he feels nervous and bad around them. It's something like ¨I'm glad that you are changing but i don't want to be associated with you. Please, i would appreciate if you kept your distance from me.¨ dynamic.

On last point, Steven is someone who usually pushes his feelings down in certain situations and buries them down, which has led him to have strong emotional outbursts in bad moments. He usually prefers to ignore his own problems and take priority on others. Again, this comes a lot from his desire to be useful and be needed, making him trying to ignore how he feels about certain people and pretend that he is doing fine.

This explains why we don't see him lash out that much to others in the original series, and, why he feels so frustrated and angry in Future, since all that anger and negative feelings can't no longer be ignored as they used to and they are having a negative impact in Steven's mental health. This, of course, isn't meant to be seen is a healthy coping mechanism. It is in fact potrayed as something pretty self-destructive for Steven, as a huge flaw of his, that over time he comes to learn that it isn't the best way for him to deal with his problems.

These are some of the most common misconceptions i have seen about Steven's character online. I could go in more depth with some of them but i think the points should be clear enough. This could be considered a general analysis of how Steven is as a character and how he operates, leaving aside more specific things that can be covered in other posts.

[mandareeboo]

The show itself frames Stevens powers as a PTSD symptom, so yeah, of course you're right that they're threat responses. I'm not active in the fandom much, so I didn't realize other people had missed that somehow. Steven has been though a lot of traumatic stuff and really risked his life multiple times during his early development. No wonder he has a hard time not treating scary things as physical threats.

A lot of people focus on the fact that Steven's usually angry during his outbursts. Which, yeah- bursts of anger are a common symptom for PTSD- but it's not like he's turning into the goddamn Hulk.

Steven's body feels like it's constantly in danger. And for him, he usually is in SU and Future! When he explodes it's because he's terrified, or defensive, or feeling cornered. And when that happens, his body goes 'oh shit, time to gtfo'

That's what his corruption was. He felt like a monster. He felt cornered. His body zooped him into a mecha meat suit to get him the hell out of there. Corrupted Steven never attacks first. Corrupted Steven only runs or self-harms. It's when others provoke him that he fights back. That's how his powers work too.

[viro-lil-goat]

a great White Diamond analysis I found

Finally a good interpritation of the diamonds!

its a shame its underrated, I really reccomend watching and sharing it if you would like it too.

A little warning for white noise sounds and flickering in the video.

[new-kit-on-the-block]

I just love how absolutely integral Pearl is to the entire plot of Steven Universe

You could just say that Pink couldn't have faked her shattering without Pearl and leave it at that, but on rewatch, I noticed that it actually went a bit further than that

(somewhat long analysis below the cut)

In the first chronological scene that we see of Pearl, she was by Pink Diamond's side as she was checking out the condition of her new Earth colony

Pink, in an attempt to break the ice, asks Pearl "Did you ever imagine that running a colony could be this dull?" to which Pearl responds "I could imagine it if you would like me to, my Diamond."

At this, Pink looks away in obvious disappointment, which Pearl picks up on. I didn't notice it the first time around, but I realized that Pearl actually made note of Pink's reaction and adjusted her behavior accordingly, but we're not there yet, just bear with me

Pink then asks Pearl about any updates on Earth, and Pearl tells Pink that her first Amythest soldiers are starting to emerge, which obviously excites Pink

They go down to the ground floor of the moon base and use its hologram function to witness the Amythests emerging up close

Pink is initially excited to witness it but quickly grows disappointed that she can't actually interact with them due to it only being a hologram

Pearl notices this and offers to have them warped down to Earth, which Pink declines, stating that it would be ridiculous for a diamond to go down to her own colony personally

And then Pink wistfully asks "But could you imagine me down there, laughing and playing with them?" Pink doesn't expect an actual response, but Pearl remembers Pink's reaction from earlier, and instead of saying that she could imagine it, she actually does imagine it by showing Pink a hologram of her having a great time with the Amythest soldiers

Pink is immediately intrigued by this sight, but once again declines by saying that she would never hear the end of it from Blue and Yellow

And this is the exact moment when Pearl, in her first-ever act of free will, changed the course of history

Pearl simply responds with "They won't find out because you look just like a quartz." Her hologram changes so that Pink instead looks like a quartz soldier

This was interesting to me on rewatch because it meant that not only was Pink's plan to fake her own shattering entirely hingent on Pearl, but Pearl was actually the one who invented the persona of Rose Quartz in the first place

And even after that, there were several important moments that were either pushed along by or entirely dependent on Pearl

The entire reason that Rose became so fixated on allowing gems to have free will was because of Pearl's first attempt to fuse with her, you can immediately see after the failed attempt that Pearl had sparked something inside of Rose

And on the topic of fusion, Pearl fusing with Rose in front of Greg out of jealousy is what caused him to try and fail to fuse with Rose, which ended up bringing the two even closer together

Some of the highest-rated episodes in the show are Pearl-centric, with the exception of Jail Break, which was Garnet-centric

But if you really want to go there, Pearl attacking Sapphire is what created Garnet in the first place

Over and over again, Pearl and her past continue to affect the main story in really big and important ways, I would even be willing to say that, aside from Steven himself, Pearl is the most important character in the show plot-wise

And I just think it's really great how a gem that was specifically designed to serve others mindlessly, a character that often got so overlooked by the fandom in the early days, ended up having such a huge role in the story

And it was all centered around Pearl actually gaining a sense of agency over her own life

[its-leethee]

Some context for starters: This is my first time watching Steven Universe.

Just like with Lego Monkie Kid (another excellent show I highly recommend), I'm watching the episodes ahead of my kids and then re-watching it with them. We just finished our watch of season 2.

I've been on the internet long enough to have heard a lot about Steven Universe, so I know vaguely how it ends, and specifically why it ended.

And ugh. Goodness. This show is outstanding. Why do people hate on it? (Yeah. Yeah. I know why.... But seriously. Why.)

Anyways. I just had to take a minute and gush a bit about 2x06 "The Test." I adore how it shows us Steven's growing maturity and strength and reveals about the gem's vulnerability and love for him.

The episode opens with the gems playing a board game with Steven. To the surprise and disappointment of none of the gems, Steven wins. Hm.... put a pin in that for later.

When Steven goes looking for their next activity, he discovers the sea shrine statuette. This memento of his first disastrous mission prompts him to express remorse that his forgetfulness compromised that mission. In their rush to reassure Steven, the gems let slip that his failure didn't even matter: the mission was staged as a test for him. Steven is still devasted that he let them down, and he pleads for a final chance to prove himself.

The gems reluctantly agree to give him another test. They make a big show of fussing over Steven and warning him about how difficult and dangerous this test is going to be.

Steven confidently enters the gauntlet they've prepared, but before he makes it through to the end, he discovers that the gems rigged this test, too. (remember the board game earlier? Bet that they let him win) Steven's angry, indignant, and hurt. Didn't they believe in him? Didn't they respect his abilities at all?

i just love how many emotions we're shown in this short stretch

But he overhears the gems' anguished conversation:

"We have to give him another success. He can't lose his confidence like that again," worries Pearl.

"We're bad at this," admits Amethyst.

"We don't know what he needs," mourns Garnet.

The gems have such high expectations for Steven, but they're not as afraid of Steven failing as they are of themselves failing him.

Steven's expression changes; he makes a decision, and walks straight through the gauntlet.

that face. that's determination

Steven resolutely marches up to the waiting gems, hands fisted, head down, and falls to his hands and knees in front of them. "I can't believe you guys. That was so--" and here is the moment where his demeanor completely changes, "--insane!"

Steven makes a big show of fussing over them and showering them with gratitude and affirmations. He gives them their confidence back. "This was just what I needed," he says.

Steven has realized that the adults he looks up to and relies on... are just as insecure and fallible as he is.

It's an important step forward on his journey to adulthood.

We're so proud of you too, Steven. You da man.

aw i love this family hug so much