#and like. realistically. what was spoiled even. like she said; the big space laser had to show up eventually

[frostiifae]

So, I dunno, thoughts about Witch from Mercury (including spoilers under readmore, so, y'know), because it seems like it's a cool thing to do, i guess. Maybe made more or less interesting because this is the first Gundam series I've actually paid full attention to.

In short, it's good! It's very good. But, I dunno, can't give it top marks as an alltime favorite. There are lots of superficial problems that probably mattered much more to me than they would to the average viewer, and like, you could argue that they just aren't even problems, I guess.

The biggest thing I can criticize without spoiling much of anything is that it dangles a lot over your head and then waits a long time to resolve almost any of it. It's tough for people who get anxiety, like me : ). No, that's not why I'm writing this post. This isn't a coping mechanism. Fuck off.

To reiterate, though, on the whole: good. Good show. Good stuff. Don't click "keep reading" unless you want to read a fucking novel, OK?

I have to say I think the strongest character of the show bar none is Prospera, but at the same time, she showcases the recurring problems I have with the show: firstly, that they spend way too long making Prospera sound sinister without you understanding at all why, and secondly, that it's a real shame we didn't get to learn more about her feelings and why (and how?) she'd gone to all of this trouble. I understand her goal in the abstract is to "create a world where Eri can exist", but it's not clear how exactly she intends to do that, and maybe it's just me, but those practical details can be really important in selling me on an idea.

Even so, I adore her. I adore the way she possesses so much influence over the plot despite having very little economic or political power herself - she just understands people, she understands what's at stake, and she understands how to manipulate things to get what she wants. I was so delighted to learn about her true motivation, imagine a girl kicking her feet and squealing as Prospera taunts Miorine about hearing the voices of her past that are urging her to seek vengeance. I wish she could have done more. I also wish she looked better. That helmet fucking sucked, dudes. C'mon.

I really want to say kind things about Suletta and Miorine, too - they had lovely character arcs in both seasons, Miorine in particular was a joy to have on screen at all times - but, ultimately, I also found them both very frustrating. The most engaging members of the cast by and large were side characters, my personal favorites being Chuchu, Nika, and Norea. (I guess Guel turned out pretty okay too.) It was a joy watching Norea go off the fucking deep end, even if her portrayal was a little shallow until it was a smidge too late; her final fight was beautiful and touching, especially the part where she went on a massive rampage and killed a lot of innocent people. I love me a hot girl who's a violent mass murderer.

Jokes aside; I found both of the main characters frustrating, but for different reasons. Suletta was the less frustrating of the two. Throughout season 1 I kept cringing at her total powerlessness within the narrative, which I know is kind of the point, but that doesn't mean I have to like it; at least in season 2 she develops a thin veneer of agency, and more to the point, the writers demonstrate that her lack of actual agency is in fact horrifying and not some kind of endearing country-bumpkin quirk, but it feels like it takes a long time before she can finally actually engage in the world she lives in.

To be clear, I don't just mean "she can decide for herself what she wants to do", that's her final arc, I know, I get it; more what I mean is, it feels like Suletta exists in a totally different show, an entirely different setting, for 75% of the show's runtime. She's not just clueless about all of the business politics and Earth vs Space racism; she's immune to it, it simply doesn't affect her, even when it badly hurts people she cares about, because she's unable to comprehend it, and can abstract away any threat behind Aerial's cockpit and duel herself to safety without ever understanding what was even at stake.

It's like Ender's Game but Ender himself never actually participates in any of the school politics, he just kinda is a prodigy in his own corner while the real story happens around him. If you're going to create a character who is powerless in the narrative, don't then shield her in the cockpit of a Gundam for the entire show, you know? If you're going to threaten me with her inability to understand what is going on, make good on that threat!! It just felt wasteful. She spent 16 episodes being a joke that we keep hoping will make Miorine smile, 2 episodes being depressed, and then the last 6 episodes being an actual character, and the tragedy is that I really liked that character and wish she'd been around for longer.

Miorine was much more fun, but also, much more frustrating. I wasn't especially into her character early in season 1, but she was at least a bitch in a fun (and highly sympathetic) way, and unlike Suletta she grew into a real character very fast, and got to spend the whole show actually having a meaningful impact on events around her. It was great! I have a few very small gripes about things she does - like the way she chooses to cut Suletta loose. I understand she's doing it for Suletta's safety, and I understand she's doing it because she believes Suletta won't be able to comprehend that reasoning - after all, their whole arc in season 1 was about depending on each other, and Miorine is being pressured into going back on her promise.

On the one hand, though, I feel like it was weird of her not even to try. At least try to explain to Suletta, listen, things are getting worse, you are going to get hurt, I don't want that, I need you to stop being Holder for your sake. You could even twist the knife further by having Suletta react with heartbreak but willingly agree when Prospera doubles down and tells her to do as Miorine says - imagine how betrayed and disgusted with herself Miorine would feel! For them to leave her completely in the dark, for her to fully betray Suletta with no warning and no attempted justification at all - and especially for Suletta to not question that - it just felt weird.

On the other hand, though, I'm really shocked and disappointed that Miorine didn't express more guilt over that decision. Given that her arc in season 1 revolves around recognizing that relying on Suletta is what makes Suletta happy, and she cares enough about Suletta to give her that kind of trust, you can't tell me that - even if she really believes it's necessary - she can just turn around and betray Suletta like she does and feel no remorse over it.

Overall this is a larger problem I have with Miorine; we don't get enough time with her feelings, so when everything finally collapses and she has a meltdown, it doesn't sell very well. I wanna be clear: I'll open the door myself is one of my favorite moments in the whole show, and that's why I'm sad. It could have been so much more, if we had had more time to see Miorine's heartache over what she did to her best friend, not to mention how tense and uncertain she must have been handing her full trust to Prospera, or leading a negotiation to Earth with the weight of Gundam's history resting squarely on her shoulders. I love cool, calm, reserved characters who can handle tense interpersonal conflict with a stern decisiveness. Miorine should be a slam dunk for me. But the best part about those characters is seeing behind the mask, even if only for little bits at a time, and there's just not enough.

Honestly, though, it's hard for me to hold anything against season 2 especially, because I think most of what frustrates me comes down to there not being enough time, and holy fuck, does that season go hard. I'm very ready to believe that there was all kinds of stuff cut from S2 because the sheer volume of things happening was so much. It's a shame to think that it's let down by its own density, that there was just too much happening to fit all of it into 12 episodes without a few things being left behind. There wasn't time for Miorine to introspect, there wasn't time for Miorine and Suletta to develop their relationship, there wasn't time for Prospera to get even more unhinged and weird, there wasn't time to examine how we could actually improve the world and its troubles, we just had too much to do. It's an unenviable position to be in, and I think it's fair to say the show does a great job with what it has.

Umm. Is there anything else? I could talk about the dudes. I could gush about Norea and Sophie, I guess, but I doubt I have anything particularly interesting to add there, I'm sure the takes "Norea is hot" and "I wish they could have been more toxic yuri on screen" are lukewarm at best. I could talk about Eri, I suppose, but I don't feel really strongly about her - I think she's weird, her presence as a character is very strange, the fact that she was a protagonist is weird, and just like with everything else, I think it comes down to a lack of time to be able to really get into understanding her. I can't say it's a mistake, really, so that'll just stay a mystery, and it's one I don't especially care to solve anyway. She can stay a weirdo for all I care.

Uh, I think that's kinda all? Oh, what, robot designs? Uh, Aerial over Calibarn, don't @ me. They're both sick tho.

[ttshieronym]

Chinese review of To the Stars, Translated

I came across this Chinese review of To the Stars and decided to translate it. It’s an interesting look into how another culture perceives this fanfic we all love, and I hope you enjoy it! (User submission)

—– [Special Discussion] European/American Madoka Fanfic “To The Stars” ——

by New Moon Light (Yuèchū zhào)

Source: http://bbs.saraba1st.com/2b/thread-1124803-1-1.html

> The Buddha said: In sharing a good text, there is great merit.

> Lead in: Kyubey once said mankind will one day reach to the stars, but they never said what we will find there.

From the very first sentence, To the Stars hints at its prime directive. This will be an epic about mankind’s voyage among the stars. While even now as we remain bounded by the force of gravity, sailing the cosmos has always bespoke the hearts of men.

Honestly speaking, Gen Urobuchi’s original setting was sparse. Details are spotty of the world view of within Madoka universe, even the Incubator’s role within it are poorly defined. From this vagueness, To the Stars took over a sparse backdrop and develop this world into its own.

The story began at Mitakihara, the start of it all. The main character is Shizuki Ryouko, a last name that jostles ones memory. From this humble beginning the narrative unfolds into thrilling suspense. From here on out, it’s really a world of author’s own.

Ryouko is a high school student, her parents work at a research lab, and she has a grandpa looking too young of his age. At breakfast the parents chat about grocery shopping - no - of food allocations.

With this scenery of everyday life as foundation, the narrative backdrop unfolds. This is a materially abundant world that perfected distribution of wealth. Societal makeup, politics, military, technology unfold for the audience as the story progresses. Each intricate detail are thoroughly thought out. Here, this fanfiction has set itself apart from the original franchise.

Just two pages in, a member of the original Magica Quintet stepped into the scene. Who else? The tall, elegant, with unparalleled grace, Generalissmo Mami Tomoe herself! In this world, Mami has become the font of wisdom and stability, the pinnacle of magical girls, and the atlas pillar of magical girl society.

Mami’s position atop the military hierarchy unveiled another truth of this world: magical girls have completely submersed themselves into civil society as a force to be reckoned with. Soon we realized that four hundred years have passed since events of the TV series. In those four long centuries, events of legendary proportions occurred, a historical backdrop both rich and weighty.

With Mami’s arrival, the wheels of fate began to turn.

From here, Ryouko encountered Wraiths, awoken to her potential, and became disciple of Mami and Kyouko. From there on out the story blew wide open and held nothing back.

’m going to avoid spoiling further, as this is a reading recommendation. What happens next, I’ll leave it to as an exercise to the readers.

Instead, indulge me as I dive into some of specifics strength of this epic.

—– 1) Elaboration and Philosophy of Artificial Intelligence —-

The story features a rich cast of AI characters. With their superhuman intelligence and personality, the author had carefully considered their function within the story.

As practice, all ship construction came with accompanying AIs, yet these same AI will one day have to face eventual retirement. Leaving the front line, away from the the glory of war and never to return, these AIs need hobbies if they’re to cope in civil society. As result, warships tend to play with firearms in their free times (as expected, liking fire arms is a moe-quality for shipgirls).

Latter in the story, Ryouko’s combat AI, the newest model of biological TacCom, had this to say to Ryouko,

“I was thinking, if the Goddess of Magical Girls truly exist, then you get to go to heaven, but I could only rot here as a lump of meat. How unfair is that?”

Ryouko had no response. It was a question too difficult to answer for a mere a high school girl.

—– 2) Fantastical and Sophisticated Space Warfare ——

Warfare is this story’s most important narrative backdrop, and the space warfare in it are realistic, intrinsic, mesmerizing.

Rivaling humans are a race of an intelligent squid-like aliens, with scientific capabilities far exceeding human imagination.

The joint defense of New Athens was a massive-scale battle that cemented human-magical girl relationship. With squid forces devastating the human military, humanity was on the brink of defeat, a force of hundred-thousand magical girls mobilized by the magical goirl association suddenly charging to the front line. With great personal sacrifice they turned the tide of battle, pulled victory from the jaws of defeat for mankind. A feat of battlefield that would echo the history books, yet this was far from the highlight within the story. After the magical girl force subsumes into the human military apparatus, the newly commissioned magical girls are accessorized with high tech weaponry, and begun joint combat operations with human forces. From shielding and decoys for soul gems, to operational tactics for rescuing magical girls on the brink of death, to how magical girls of each types can fight in combined arms with drones and human infantry.

There’s a space chase scene between alien fighters and troop transport, and it was a magical girl platoon that engaged in 3-dimensional decapitating strike of the enemy forces. Magic has even become incorporated into the overall strategic command of human forces, talk about breathtaking!

Remarkable is the extend of the authorship’s thoughts into how future technology and science would change the nature of warfare. Massive laser cannons that is standard trope in space operas was not his vision. We saw that in his treatment of obtuse nature of faster-than-light ship warfare. We also saw this in the exquisite settings of exotic colony worlds locale. In short, the set piece battles alone are well worth the price of admission.

—– 3) Economic and Social Dynamics of a Space Faring Society —–

When speaking of a futuristic communist society, one’s imagination easily veer towards some kind of “Big Brother Watching You” narrative. Yet this novel paints a picture of a society with on-demand distribution and labor division that’s credible. Locally, people are free to chose their career, and the society will provide for the allocations as ones’ family requires. Choosing a valued career will be matched with a greater allocation. Even a recluse can secure a basic standard of living.

Of course in wartime, soldiers and magical girls receive a variety of privileged and generous stipends above civilians. Ultimately, they’re putting their lives on the line for the greater good. An wartime economy has inevitable shortfalls, but a basic standard of living could be maintained.

Colonial worlds on the other hand maintain an economy that harkens back to a more capitalistic era. Ultimately, in those far-flung world, resources and production have their limitations, and yet to reach such an abundance of surplus. The translation thus far has only briefly touched upon these colonial worlds, but future development would likely put them in greater focus.

Socially, nations have disappeared, and instead a ruling body took guidance of the society’s advancement, with highly advanced AIs taking part in crucial areas of the government. Aggregate intelligence has eliminated corruption from society, and placed the talents of individuals into posts most appropriate for their skillsets. The ruling body operates optimally, and the society is highly efficient. Of course, even with such advancement, the challenge of war had a deteriorating effect. Chalk that up to confronting an even more advanced enemy, with an even higher level of technological and scientific advancement.

Politics wasn’t a focal point in this work, but some subtle commentary could be gleamed. Is such a society truly good? That’s up to you to decide.

Worth bringing up here is magical girl’s role within this society. They recognize magical girl as an enormous asset for the military, and their powers potential a great threat, thus government and military took the position of general appeasement. They took initiative to integrate magical girls into the social leadership, with Mami as part of the Military command and Yuma as representative of the magical girls. The magical girl community as a whole are a power block in the greater society.

Because of the warfare, recruiting magical girls have become an open effort in this society, with Kyubey engaged actively in the recruitment effort. An recruitment effort that’s nothing less than a propaganda drive to enlist child soldiers became official government policy. For a hero of justice like Mami, as part of the military apparatus, to take part in such efforts to trick girls into the battle field - there’s a certain level of irony.

—-

4) Mahou Shoujo Youkai —-

The magical girl society is a top power block in this universe. The development of Mahou Shoujo Youkai (MSY) began as a guild form of several magical girl teams in Mitakihara, with Mami, Kyouko, and Homura’s team as its cornerstone. To cope with financial and wraith hunt shortfalls, these magical girls joined forces and established a carrier company. From there, it gradually grew in size, wealth, and powerful using the inherent advantages of magical girls. With careful stewardship, the company quickly grew and ultimately become the future center of the magical girl community. The development of this organization was full of mysterious, intrigue, power, and blood. Even a hero of justice like Mami find some sacrifices as inevitable. From blurps about the history and culture of MSY, the readership slowly gleam the tip of the iceberg of this society. Such intricate storytelling is a great strength of this work, somehow turning this rather incredible organization into something believable.

In one side story, a man searching for his missing beloved would suddenly find himself in midst of the original cast’s campaign to quash the Japanese underworld!

—- 5) The Era of Intersection between Science and Magic —-

Set four hundred years after the events of the TV series, technology has become highly advanced. Of course, many of the technologies we dreamt of remain beyond grasp, but mankind has already advanced far up into tech tree: Faster-than-Light travel, eradication of diseases, anti-gravity, perfection of cloning (considered unethical, but a necessary vice in-Universe), high fidelity virtual reality, internal health monitor chips, nano machines of all kinds, but of course the most fascinating are the AIs (which we have already covered).

Even more novel is the integration between the magical and the scientific for magical girls. To fight aliens, magical girls no longer just relied on frail human bodies and magical weaponry, but became a full-fledged combat forces with all the advanced military hardware. The military created all sorts of battle-harden equipment to augment the magical girl’s existing abilities, from decoy robots for soul gems, to specialist rifles for magical girl in close combat, to automated grief cube distribution bots. Additionally, magical girls are well supported by troops, infantry, and drones of all kinds.

—- 6) Extension of the Magical System —-

This work filled the gaps that was lacking of the magical system in the original work. Take wishes, for example, they now grant the true desire of qualified magical girls. Even when the magical girl was unable to verbalize her intent, Kyubey was able to grasp it mentally and faithfully implementing it. As result, Homura’s original wish was able to cross the timeline and maintain its power.

In other areas, it clarifies what happen to the Soul Gem after destruction of the body. In this work, it’s made explicit that the Soul Gem can revives as the original person so long a sufficiently substitute body exists. As result, soul gems are to be rescued whenever possible, to avoid unnecessary loss in valuable magical girls lives. As for the mechanics of resurrection, I’ll leave it unspoiled here.

—- 7) Distinctive Characterization —-

Of the original cast, the Ultimate Madoka roaming in space and Sayaka had already passed, but the remaining three members each plays important roles in the story. Generalissimo Mami remained forever alone, but also has become the pinnacle figurehead of the magical girl community, and an important commander of the war effort. From her position, the reader gets an understanding of strategic operations of the military high-command, as well as bits and pieces of history from vicissitudes of her memory. Yet despite her high regard, incessant nightmares plagued her, showing that fragile girl we knew still remain.

More complicated was Kyouko. She became a pope-like figure, one that also enjoy playing with young girls’ heartstrings… But this doesn’t mean she lost those convictions of her past. The Cult of Hope she created has become the pillar of emotional support for the magical girls in the military, perhaps an appropriate “new faith for a new age”. The hunt of her past, and her passion for blue-haired girls, placed her in a loving yet despicable role.

Other characters are charming in their own right. Oriko also plays an important role. The destruction of her and her organization was a central mystery within the story. The multi-talented Yuma has now become an inscrutable political actor.

Other notable characters like the historian Clarisse van Rossum and other magical girls are charming in their own ways.

But the most important is the main character Ryouko. She’s a riddle and a clue, from her point-of-view we come grips with this world. But she’s also stubborn and independent, hardheaded pursuing her own lofty goals. Her denseness with interpersonal relationships, and how her fallout and slowly reconciliation with her family, all these were portrayed vividly.

Of course, what matters for a story is the story itself, and this work has twists and turns a plenty, which here I will refrain from spoiling.

Even without the magical girl elements, this is a science fiction worthy of reading in its own right. In my humble opinion, the magnificent setting and intricate story telling has set To the Stars apart from the original series, a work that stands on its own.

[sharethisgemwithme]

“Adventures in Light Distortion” instant reaction

[Written on January 8-9. I was blind to this episode and the whole remainder of the Bomb, with the exception of tiny leaks and Youtube screenshots. Comments related to those spoilers are footnotes, marked with [#].]

Oh man, what a title. You see, the emphasis makes all the difference. Is it light distortion, as in little itty-bitty lies? After the previous episode, what further lies would we be telling? Or is there really the chance the gems are going to tell half-truths to Dr. and Mr. M and bring *Connie* along on this mission?!? Please oh please. Or, since the gems are light constructs, is it light distortion, as in the bending of light rays and such. And "Adventures in"... as in plural? I mean, obviously, the gems are going to chase after Blue Diamond. Are we going right to Homeworld? Are we doing this, for real? 'Cause sign me the hell up. Now, the gems have a ship, and I am 99% sure Pearl knows how to fly it because Pearl knows how to fix, operate, drive, or fly anything she damn well wants to, so we're about to find out just what it's like when the Ruby ship goes zoooooom [1]. I don't remember which is third, "Gem Heist" or "The Zoo", but whenever we meet up with Greg again (presumably at the zoo), are there other types of aliens there? Are there other gems? [2]

I'm spacing out the episodes, not chomping them all down at once, to give myself time to think about them. However, only the first episode remains available on VOD, so I'm watching tonight's via DailyMotion (the first place I saw that has the entire episode available in one video). So timestamps are those of the DM video, which has the intro begin at 0:09. As always, though, I’m watching straight through with no pauses or rewinds.

0:09 - Time to find a way. 0:32 - Hilary and Lauren tonight. (they fixed the title card, this was a Raven & Paul episode) 0:42 - Aww, no more Amethyst ponytail. 0:49 - Oh man, Pearl's losing her shit quickly. 0:59 - "Turn into a chair. I need to sit down." Wow. 1:17 - "That might be it." The zoo. Oh boy. 1:31 - Steven's like "are you fucking kidding me? a human zoo." 1:45 - Digging this music btw. 2:03 - Pearl going cross-eyed. 2:19 - "We're not coming back without Greg." That didn't sound as intimidating as I expected. 2:35 - They already flew on this, it should be OK. 2:55 - Aww. "Protect Beach City." 3:09 - "Bending reality." 3:26 - Lapis looks utterly thrilled about protecting BC. 3:42 - We're just totally handwaving all the oxygen issues. 3:53 - "Space turbulence"? Oh come on. 4:12 - WHAT ARE THEY ALL DOING IN THE SAME PLACE? 4:19 - "We should really do something about them." Ya think? 4:35 - It doesn't work that way. BTW, Greg's 40. Note to self. 5:03 - That doesn't sound good. 5:14 - NOT A GOOD DECISION, STEVEN. Maybe brace yourself before someone else hits the button. 5:35 - LOLOLOLOLOLO OH BOY. 5:50 - Oh my god, this is like almost chibi-size. 6:06 - "In what way is this funny?" EVERY WAY. 6:30 - I guess that makes sense. 6:41 - But they shouldn't all be the same size, so that's not really gonna work. 7:04 - I guess we're gonna spend the whole episode en route. 7:13 - STOP JUST MASHING BUTTONS, DUDE. 7:26 - Oh good, a big red X. That's never a bad sign. 7:31 - OH THAT'S NOT A BAD SIGN AT ALL. They just poofed? 8:07 - You might wanna get out of warp speed now. 8:31 - You can do it! 8:55 - Oh boy. Don't do this to yourself, Steve-o. 9:14 - Don't you goddamn dare do this "future vision" thing to me, here. 9:40 - HEALING TEARS? streaming back towards the gems. 10:23 - I guess, uhh, that makes sense. "Don't think too much about it." Don't worry, I won't. 11:04 - Time for stuff to happen! Next time... 11:20 - So is this Homeworld? Or are we still not quite there?

INSTANT REACTION - So it was the distortion of light we were dealing with, and honestly that was the kind of... not quite body horror, but body manipulation certainly that we would expect from a Paul & Raven episode, not a Hilary & Lauren. [N.B. I read several days later that this was in fact actually a Paul/Raven episode, and the title card was incorrect, so that makes sense] I'm a little embarrassed that the idea of Peridot and/or Lapis coming along never even occurred to me, but they were written out of the arc anyway. Steven's conversation with Connie was pretty curious, though. I wonder what she was saying on the other end of the line, but I really think she wanted to come along (as much of an absolutely terrible idea as that would probably be). We got a little more conclusive timeline. Greg would be turning 110 in 70 years, ergo he's 40 now, so he was 26 when Steven was born. Since he's "known the gems since [he] was 22", that means he spent about four years courting Rose. I know that I said "healing tears" above, and I am realizing now after the fact that Steven doesn't have healing tears, but rather healing spit. However, there really did seem to be SOMETHING there in him crying about making all these mistakes, and his tears streaming to the back of the ship. I could've sworn some landed on the gems. Obviously, since I've only watched the episode once, and in real time, I can't be sure about that (or if any of the gems were actually cracked as Steven feared, but I doubt that). At 9:14, I was briefly afraid that, with Steven monologuing how he's made so many mistakes and why couldn't he just trust Garnet's warning and now he's lost everyone, we were going to have a future-vision fake-out and reset back to the stairs outside the beach house, 4 minutes into "Dream". I would've been fucking PISSED if that had happened (side note: I've read a number of fan theories/jokes about how the last scene of the whole series is going to be Rose asking Garnet whether she should go to some concert on the beach, and that the entire series has been Garnet's future vision of what will happen if she does. It's cute, but entirely violates what little we do know about future vision), because it would've wiped away an entire episode, taken away Steven's agency to make his own decisions, and just been a fucking hack move. I'm glad that wasn't the case. I've said in the past that realistic astrophyics was never a strong point of this show, starting from the illogical gravity in "Laser Light Cannon", but I'm STILL peeved at the stereotypical asteroid belt (and though I'm amused at the trio of Rubies--I saw the first one was Navy, didn't catch who the other two were--there's no way they should all be together). That said, I appreciated the metaphorical dropkick they delivered to faster-than-light travel ("Don't think too much about it.")

SECOND WATCH THOUGHTS: Pearl's side-eye at "Back when I still served... Homeworld." WHAT ARE YOU HIDING, WOMAN? Seriously, Connie had some plan to go with Steven, or at least to do something. It's a longshot, but I'm calling it now: we are going to hear from Connie somehow before this arc is over. Pudgy, ruby-shaped Pearl is adorable. I see the really huge setting on the Roaming Eye showed up on the slot-machine-looking display as ♦ ♦ ♦ OK, doesn't seem to be any structural issues for the gems at any point while warping. That whole segment is really trippy though. As someone with minor eye issues that occasionally lead to double vision when my eyes are out of focus, it was really disconcerting. I feel like Steven's monologue is one part addressed-to-kids "Hey, when stuff around you is going poorly, you can make some rash and desperate decisions, but please don't think the original stuff is also your fault" and one part actual plot set-up, but I can't make out what it is. Whoops on the Rubies; the first one was Doc, followed by Army and Navy. That leaves Leggy somewhere off in the distance.

[1] - one of the screencaps Youtube spoiled for me was titled "Traveling faster than the speed of light" or something like that, so, yeah I'm pretty sure we'll get to see that. [2] - via tumblr posts that didn't get immediately hidden, or the tags that remained, I know there are a bunch more gems to meet. I'm still hopeful that at least a few of the Youtube screencaps were fanart, but... we'll see.