#because yeah all these people have different homeworlds of course they aren’t named a specific way

[cq-studios]

Other groups in KH have solid naming schemes or motifs, things that group them together; the Foretellers have the sins and their masks; the Wayfinder and Destiny trios have their water, earth, sky motifs; and the Seasalt trio/the OG Organization XIII have the sigils; even the Celestial trio has the sun, moon, stars thing going for them (if Subject X is Skuld).

The NULs barely have anything within their names, or designs, or even motifs that connect them to each other.

(The only connections I can find are Ephemer and Skuld essentially having the same jackets, and Lauriam and Strelitzia both having flower motifs and each of those duos knew each other beforehand.)

Maybe that’s a way of showing the fact that they were never meant to be of importance, they were never meant to stick together. MoM just threw them together to make his trap believable. They weren’t renamed for their greater purpose, and they weren’t drawn together by destiny. Their destiny was to end up separated and their names reflect that.

[snarky-art]

My enchantix redesigns that I’ve had laying around for a while. I’m going through my computer to try and clear up space and came across some winx stuff. I haven’t done the wings for them still to this day in any finalized way because they are very intimidating to me lmao. Some info here on how enchantix outfits and fairy outfits work as well as the inspirations for the clothes for each of the characters below! I’m going to include some more individual design notes from my sketchbook later too.

In my version of the winx redo, all fairy transformations have to do with a sense of self to an extent. The more sure and secure of oneself one is, the more likely certain parts of the outfits are to carry over to the other transformations. For example: I have multiple transformations for Daphne that I’ve done, but there are a lot of traits carried over in the designs (her tirar, her color scheme, cut of cloth, etc) since she was always very self assured in who she was. She was Marion and Oritel’s daughter, future queen of Domino, and the keeper of The Dragon Flame and she was going to become as strong as she could for her people and the universe so she could use The Dragon Flame as best as possible. (I swear I’ll upload her stuff at some point they’ve been collecting dust for literal years now sskdjkjfla).

The same can’t really be said of the girls here, and that’s fine too. Aisha is the one with the most confidence in who she is and that shows here in the carrying over of her metal accents (arm bands, a metal ring at her waist, albeit with a jewel in it this time) and the cloth that goes across her chest and wraps around her waist.

Another thing that can influence the appearance of a fairy transformation is closeness with another individual. Aisha at this point already knows she likes Musa (I’m going to upload a post after this going more in depth on their relationship in my version) and her double buns are influenced by that since that’s one of the main ways Musa likes to style her hair (she also helped Aisha really perfect how to do the hairstyle and as that was one of the first thigs Aisha ever really did with a friend after Anne left when she was young and not including the pixies, so it holds a lot of sentimental value to her. Musa was the one who went out of her way a LOT more than anyone else to try and get Aisha comfortable with everything. The other girls did too of course but Musa just kind of gets how it feels to be alone more than they do so they really understood each other.) Musa in turn also has armbands like Aisha and some cloth hanging from the tie around her waist in a way similar to the cloth trail around Aisha’s.

Bloom also has similar armor to Stella because of this, since Stella is Bloom’s closest friend out of the 6 and is the one who introduced her to magic and what it can mean to be a fairy.

Enchantix in itself works basically the same as it does in the show, and as the main focus of it is to save someone from your planet so you can become a guardian of it (there can be multiple guardians for a homeworld too. I always thought it was weird that it was implied there can only be one. The guardian fairies of a planet act as a protective council of sorts. They are expected to place the priority of protecting life on the planet above all else and sometimes align themselves with royalty as advisors for things if they it is requested of them by the royalty, but they are expected to be willing to break ties with any allegiance if the leader is doing things that upset the balance of the planet and enact cruelty, not that guardians have always done that in the past). As a result, it is tied closely to the culture of their homeworld, or the culture that the fairy is from if the planet doesn’t have a largely homogenous one.

Musa is based off of Chinese and Japanese culture, which is a really broad statement I know since there is so much that goes into those countries, but I tried my best to have it line up with the clothes she wears in the show and it seemed to be similar to that (and obviously her homeplanet is clearly inspired by Asia). Similar to what her original skirt seemed to be, the pants are inspired by paper lanterns, and the upper shirt part is inspired by the tops of dresses during the late tang dynasty. The design of the belt she has, although I didn’t really do a close up of it, is braided similarly to shimenawa (a rope used in ritual purification in the Shinto religion). She has an open lotus blossom that her hair is in the middle of that holds her buns in place and her makeup is based off of the Tang Dynasty and the little hair piece she has acting as her tiara thing (all the girls had one so I tried to carry that over) is based off of Quing dynasty hair styles specifically but like, similar hairstyles were used in other eras too I just liked those specifically.

Flora’s is based off of Mexican style clothes. The top part is based off of Folklorico dresses and the petal style I used for it is based off of marigold petals, which are used to lead deceased loved ones to the families shrine during Day of the Dead. Her makeup is also based off of designs seen on calaveras. Her head piece is a flower crown which is now a common staple seen in women’s fashion during festivals due to Freda Kahlo and her hair is divided into two parts. The upper part is pulled back into a braid that has a vine weaved in with it, which I took inspiration from hairstyles down there that thread ribbon into the braids.

Aisha’s was a trip to figure out. So her homeplanet really is,, something. There’s some middle eastern influence (her name is also Arabic), her mom and her when she was younger wore some 1500s style renaissance clothes, and also they have a shaman that seems to be based off of African medicine men, and then also there are mermaids wearing European style armor, so I had to do some looking around to figure out what I wanted to do here. In the end I went with Moroccan and Zulu style clothing overall with a few other influences as well and tried to mesh them together. The headpiece and the sash/hood are based off of women’s head dresses in Morocco and the facepaint, arm and leg bands are based off of traditional Zulu attire. Cowrie shells are on the bottom of the leg and arm bands as they are used in Zulu attire in the same place as well sometimes, but also because a lot of African cultures see cowries as being representative as gateways to the spirit world (a lot of cultures have the spirit world and afterlife tied to the ocean). Her stack of necklaces are based off of the necklaces worn by the people Ndebele people of South Africa. Her shorts and top are rimmed with silver and the shape of the attire itself is meant to be athletic and practical for her. It is covered in fish scales. Her ears are a different color here than they were in her winx transformation also. That isn’t an enchantix thing but a biology thing I have made up in my head for Androsian people. The fins start off a light shade and then over time settle into a darker color, which is what it will permanently be.

Tecna’s outfit is ready for the cold. For the longest time we didn’t know anything about her homeworld except that it was cold, so, anyway Russia and Siberia lmao. The green lines on her body suit have light moving through them also which I just thought was a neat idea because technology is a thing. Her glasses aren’t a permanent part of the outfit also. They come out if she wants to concentrate her magic to do something very technical and intense. I thought it would be a nice way to carry over that faceshield thing she sometimes used in her winx form. Her physical features btw are based off of the Nenets people of Siberia.

Stella’s outfit is Greek based because I’m not original and I don’t know why almost all of us collectively agreed Solaria is Greco-Roman but we sure did do it. Maybe it’s because of the word Sol being in it.

Bloom’s is just,, European lol. Domino is a Renaissance Era place it feels like (probably because of her mom’s ermine stoat cape). So there. There are some similarities of hers with Daphne’s inadvertently (family ties can influence things sometimes too, which can be seen in the Bloom and Daphne comparison sheet on my blog), but Bloom doesn’t know that. When Daphne eventually does see her in her enchantix outfit during the time of or before the movie (which does happen in my version but with a LOT of changes. Daphne still talks to Bloom though and helps out like in the movie) you bet your bottom she takes a second to collect herself (happy to see the bond is strong enough that it did manifest physically in a way, sad because she remembers what it was like to once have that transformation and the general bittersweet longing for the time before shit hit the fan. I have so much stuff about Daphne I need to upload some of it soon).

So yeah! Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk:)

[disruptedvice]

live like your love wasn’t meant for mine (starmora soulmate au)

Summary:

“I don't even know what my name means,” Gamora admits with a wry chuckle.

They're having another late night conversation, keeping watch, one of those talks that she's come to appreciate more and more lately. She's never talked to him about soulmarks before. She never talks to anyone about soulmarks.

It's too... she doesn't have a word for it.

It makes her feel the loss of her people keenly. Quill is probably the first person she's ever told this to.

“They don't have any databases?” He asks softly. Because of how soulmarks worked, name meanings were one of the most well documented thing for each species, considering the significance of it.

Gamora shakes her head. “No. We didn't have much contact from intergalactic travelers. I don't think we had any. There was no one to keep an independent record, or to input anything into an intergalactic database. It all burned with Zen-Whoberi. It won't matter what is written on my soulmate's skin. Could be anything. I'll never know. Whatever their soulmark is- might as well be nothing.”

“I hope you find them,” Peter says, a soft earnestness that makes her throat feel thick.

Even if they're not me, he thinks.

AO3 link

_____

Live like your love wasn’t meant for mine _____

“I don't even know what my name means,” Gamora admits with a wry chuckle. They're having another late night conversation, keeping watch, one of those talks that she's come to appreciate more and more lately. She's never talked to him about soulmarks before. She never talks to anyone about soulmarks.

It's too… she doesn't have a word for it.

It makes her feel the loss of her people keenly. Quill is probably the first person she's ever told this to.

Peter's expression softens, knowing exactly why that is. Because Thanos wiped out her homeworld, every piece of Zehoberei culture destroyed or erased, trying to wipe her species from history, any remnants that had been preserved off world had been hunted down and eradicated too, to keep it from “polluting” the galaxy. She had told him this much before. Why there was so little left of her people. She was the only thing left of Zehoberei. Because genocide wasn't enough. Thanos wanted them erased.

“They don't have any databases?” He asks softly. Because of how soulmarks worked, name meanings were one of the most well documented things for each species in the galaxy, something that was made sure to preserve, considering the significance of it.

Gamora shakes her head. “No. Before, before-” him, she thinks, “we didn't have much contact from intergalactic travelers. I don't think we had any. There was no one to keep an independent record, or to input anything into an intergalactic database. It all burned with Zen-Whoberi. It won't matter what is written on my soulmate's skin. Could be anything. I'll never know. Whatever their soulmark is- might as well be nothing.”

“I hope you find them,” he says, a soft earnestness that makes her throat feel thick.

Even if they're not me, he thinks.

______

“What does Peter mean?”

“Rock.”

Her brows furrow. “Just rock?”

“Boring, right?” He chuckles.

She grabs his shirt sleeve, tugging him into looking back at her, see how serious she is. Her heart is racing. “No, Peter, this is important. Just rock?”

He frowns, face falling in concern at just how- alarmed she looks. “Yeah, just rock. Gamora, what's going on? What's wrong?” He lifts his hand to brush her hair behind her ears, but she pulls back, avoiding his touch, and when she steps away from him, it hurts more than she could ever know.

He tries not to show it, how hard his heart drops into his stomach at Gamora moving away because he tried to reach out to her.

But then she pulls up her sleeve, exposing her forearm and shoving it in front of him. “Does that mean anything to you?” She asks, almost anxiously.

She always thought it was a compound word, though a bizarre one at that. But rock was close enough to stone, right? Maybe this was a specific type of stone on Terra, though she knew that if Peter meant “rock” he wasn't her soulmate. If that was the case, she would only have “rock” or “stone” printed on her forearm. The meaning of her soulmate's first name. But still, she holds her breath as she shows him her soulmark, feeling like this could be… maybe…

Peter peers down at her forearm, running his fingers over the lettering. It's entrancing. He traces them over and over, absolutely drawn to the beautiful lines, curving over her skin. “I… I don't know,” he says softly, almost apologetically. “I can't read it.”

Gamora lets out a shuddery breath. Of course he couldn't read her native language. No universal translator existed that had programming for Zehoberei language, spoken or written.

“It-” she takes a deep breath in. “It says featherstone. As one word.”

She catches the flash of something in his eye. “What? Is that- is it something from Terra? Could it mean Peter? Maybe it's a specific type of- of rock or something. Your first name. Are you sure it's just stone? Not featherstone? You were a young child, maybe, maybe you're not remembering it right.” There's a hint of desperation to her voice, and she doesn't know why she's trying so hard to make this fit. To make his name fit her mark. He got it half right, couldn't that be close enough? 

She knew it wasn't, but there was something straining in her to make him fit her mark, for it to be Peter. She knows it doesn't work like this, but she's clinging onto a desperate shred of hope that Peter's hers. Even though she knows she's just lying to herself.

“No, Peter just means rock, or stone,” at his words, she feels like she's gonna cry. “But,” he continues, tracing over her lines again, cause that's not how it's supposed to work, he can't believe it, but it's kinda hard to deny. “But that's what- quill. It's a writing instrument. On earth. Made out of a feather.” He meets her eyes then, and Gamora doesn't know what to think. That wasn't how soulmarks were supposed to work. It wasn't supposed to include last names. But his name was Peter Quill. And she had featherstone written on her arm.

Suddenly, he pulls away from her, and she swears her skin burns in the absence of his touch. Before she can ask him what he's doing, where he's going when he turns away from her, they need to talk about this, Peter's pulling up his shirt, so she can see what's scrawled across the right side of his ribcage.

“Does that mean anything to you? I've never been able to read it. I have no idea what it says.”

When she sees the words he has written on his skin, Gamora lets out a broken sob into her hand. Because Peter has the words song giver written on him in her native language. After the first sob, more follow, and she's just clutching herself and sobbing into her hand, shaking, like she's about to fall down. Peter catches her before she can, holds her. He doesn't know if she's crying because it means something or because it means nothing. He's almost too afraid to ask her. He doesn't know if he can.

He helps her sit down on the bench, sits down with her, and Gamora buries her head in his chest and cries, nodding into him.

She can't stop crying. Because she finally knows what her name means. Gamora. It means song giver. ______

They're not sure why their marks are so weird. Why they're both written in Gamora's language, rendering them unreadable to anyone but her. Maybe- because they were different species? But, she was fairly certain that, of the stories she's heard before of intergalactic soulmates, your soulmates name was written in your language on your skin.

And that doesn't explain why the meaning of Gamora's first name is ostensibly written on his skin as it should be, but why the meaning of his first and last name are written on her arm. Maybe because of his hybrid nature? His celestial parentage? They aren't sure. It doesn't really matter anyway. Because he was hers. There was no changing that. He was hers, and she was his. They found each other. Nothing else mattered.

[ialwayscomewhenyoucall]

Finding Flight 4/?

tumblr: ch1 / ch 2 / ch 3 / ch 4

ao3: ch1 / ch 2 / ch 3 / ch 4

Castiel is still staring at the fallen chair, wondering what he did to upset Dean, when the silver band wrapped around his wrist buzzes slightly. He twitches his hand at the unfamiliar sensation, then remembers--it’s the Star Voyagers communications device he was issued when he’d arrived on the station. Just one more thing to get used to on this place, he thinks, looking around. He depresses the small indent on the band and says to the air, “This is Castiel.”

A squeaky voice answers, “Ambassador Novak. This is Charruk Tok of the Preet delegation. Please report to Ambassador Flrr on deck 24. You are late.”

Castiel sighs internally but keeps his voice pleasant when he answers. “I was not made aware of any appointments until tomorrow morning’s briefing. I apologize for the misunderstanding; I will be there momentarily.”

“We will be expecting you,” Tok answers. The communicator buzzes again to let him know that the channel has been closed. Standing, Castiel flicks his wingtips, hoping none of the humans in the lounge know Astorians well enough to recognize it as a visible sign of frustration.  The sound of his steps on the hard floor fills him with a flood of…it’s not homesickness, not exactly. This place is metal and glass, shiny and black and grey, hard and bright. What he misses is the softness of home, the green and brown. Astoria is towering trees and trailing vines, flowing rivers and wide lakes. Even the sun, due to the makeup of the stratosphere, gives off a pale greenish glow.

He also misses having a place to stretch his wings.

Castiel has been a negotiator of sorts for the past ten years. He’d been traveling off planet—a very un-Astorian thing to do, as his siblings remind him as often as possible—when he’d found himself in the middle of a dispute over farming rights to a tract of land between two neighboring families. Without even realizing what he was doing he’d stepped in, gentling the arguing neighbors into actually speaking rather than ranting and raving until they’d landed on a compromise that left both sides happy for the first time in several years.

It had been a small thing, really, barely worth notice. But a high-ranking officer from the local military happened to be visiting friends in the nearby village, and she did take notice. She’d been impressed by how he’d known just how to handle the arguing families. She didn’t know much about Astoria--no one did, really--was he a middle child from a big family who was always trying to help his brothers and sisters work things out? Was it something all Astorians learned, a subject taught in school alongside math and reading and coloring in the lines? Or was it a skill specific to Castiel alone, one he’d just discovered one day and nurtured until it bloomed?

Slightly overwhelmed by the expectant, chatty woman standing before him, Castiel had smiled slightly and said, “Actually, I’m not sure how that happened. I’ve never done anything like that before.”

And with that simple statement began Castiel’s second life. The officer, Admiral Amia, took him under her wing...so to speak.  Much to the disdain of Castiel’s people, he left Astoria and studied negotiation and mediation tactics under the Admiral’s direction. Even as he studied he had work; first nearby but then farther and farther afield. Almost immediately Admiral Amia sent him to a neighboring colony world, where he successfully negotiated a compromise between two rival clans who had been vying for a small island in the river that separated their two lands. To Castiel’s surprise--but not to the Admiral’s--his reputation spread quickly, all across the galaxy. He didn’t work specifically for her government; soon he traveled from planet to planet, living mostly aboard spaceships, going wherever he was needed. Soon he was in demand, and he could go where he wished. He enjoyed the freedom to choose, something he never really had on Astoria, but he did miss waking up with the sun on his face and the wind ruffling his feathers, the way it did on the open aeries of his homeworld.

What he doesn’t miss is being told what to do all the time. How could I, he thinks, making his way toward the lift. His brothers, his sister, his parents. They haven’t exactly stopped.

His mind flits back to the latest message from home, this one from Gabriel, one of his older brothers. “It’s been ten years, Castiel. Hasn’t this ‘finding yourself’ thing gone on long enough? Time to grow up!” Castiel’s feathers ruffle involuntarily. Grow up indeed. Castiel may be going against normal Astorian behavior by living among other species, but Gabriel is inarguably the most childish of his siblings. He flies through life seemingly without a care, playing practical jokes on his brothers and sisters, barely more mature than his own children. He did finally settle down with a mate, but that’s as close as Gabriel has ever come to “conforming.”

It’s not that Castiel dislikes his family. He’s just always felt…different. Even when he was very small he knew he wasn’t going to stay on Astoria all his life. He loved to soar above the treetops, to feel the warmth of the sun on his feathers, to smell the damp, rich smells of the forest. But while Astorians were very integrated with their ecosystem, they also spent their whole lives learning, and were actually quite technologically advanced. And Castiel just didn’t have the drive to spend his days in a lab trying to find a better treatment for an old sickness or reading stacks of books to determine the best place to build a new village to have the smallest impact on the local ecology. He didn’t want to sit and study. He wanted to get out and see what was beyond Astoria.

Even if that means living on crowded space stations from time to time.

Castiel suddenly remembers blushing cheeks and moss green eyes, a warm voice calling him Cas. He smiles to himself. Perhaps this particular space station will be better than most. The smile falters a bit. Why did Dean run away? He must have felt the spark between them.  Castiel is looking forward to these peace talks more now: Dean will be there.

Lost in thought, Castiel reaches the lift, bracing himself for the uncomfortable ride to come. If being on a spaceship or station feels cramped, being inside a lift is nearly unbearable. He bites back a shudder when the doors open to show six people already inside; if the Preet weren’t already upset that he was late for a meeting he didn’t even know about he would have let the doors close without entering. Instead he takes a deep breath and steps onto the lift, pulling his wings as tight to his back as he can. Looking at the ceiling, he makes a mental note to find out where on this station he can go to stretch his wings, to fly. Even if it’s just a cargo bay.

“Hi,” says a breathy voice. Castiel looks down to see a young woman with dark blond hair staring up at him with wide, intense eyes, her face only inches from his own. Startled, he nearly takes a step back, but the wall of the lift is directly behind him and he manages to stop himself before he crushes his wings. Apparently this particular human doesn’t recognize his need for personal space.

“Hi,” the woman says again, then she giggles. “I mean, I’m Becky. It’s so amazing to meet you! Your wings, your feathers, they’re breathtaking. Can I touch them?” The fingers of one hand stretch toward him.

It is only years of training that keeps him from shuddering, although his insides heave at the thought of this stranger’s hands on his wings. He keeps his voice calm, even as he wants to shout. “Please. No. What you are asking…it is very intimate. Among my people a parent will preen a child’s wings until he is grown, but after that wings are only ever touched by a lover.”

“Oh!” Becky giggles again, eyelashes fluttering. “Of course, I’d never touch you…unless you wanted me to,” she breathes. Again her fingers twitch in his direction.

“Good god, Rosen, leave him alone! He’s not your pet.”

Castiel looks up, blinking in surprise. While fending off Becky’s advances he failed to notice the lift stopping and emptying out; the only other occupant is a small, dark-haired woman. She’s glaring at Becky, arms crossed over her chest. When Becky turns to face her the change in her body language is instantaneous; instead of an expectant huntress she is a feral cat. “It’s none of your business, Masters!” she practically hisses. Castiel almost expects claws to extend from the ends of her fingers.

The woman called Masters is not cowed in the least. She nods her head toward the opening doors. “Isn’t this your deck?” she says pointedly.

Becky glances at the numbers displayed by the open doors and then turns to take one last, lingering look at Castiel. “I’ll see you around,” she says, all seductive sweetness again, no trace of feral Becky.

When the lift doors close, Castiel lets out a breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding. “Thank you,” he says. “That was…uncomfortable.”

The woman chuckles softly. “Yeah, I could see that, Clarence.”

Castiel squints at her. “My name is Castiel.”

She barks a laugh. “I knew Astorians were intelligent and beautiful. I didn’t know you were funny.”

Castiel quirks a smile. “Most aren’t. I’ve never really fit in.”

“Seriously, though. Stay away from Becky Rosen. The last man she took a liking to…well, he’s not here anymore. She followed him around, tried to break into his quarters, even showed up on the flight deck.” At Castiel’s confused look she adds, “He was a pilot.” He nods, understanding. “Anyway, he asked for a transfer. He never told anyone why he left, but he was pretty freaked out about something. She’s never been officially reprimanded because she’s never been caught doing anything that’s technically wrong. But the way she looked at you just now, you’re definitely in her sights. She looked like she wanted to marry you. Or eat you for breakfast.”

The tips of Castiel’s wings flutter. The woman glances down, then raises an eyebrow. She knows about Astorians, Cas thinks, surprised. Some things, at least. She knows that means I’m frustrated. “I’ve only been here for a few hours, but already I’ve found the people on this station to be full of surprises,” Castiel says genuinely. “Thank you for the warning about Ms. Rosen. I’ll do my best to keep my distance.”

Scowling, she looks away. “Don’t get any ideas. I’m not a very nice person.” After a pause she adds, “You seem like a good one, though. Too good to get tangled up with Becky Rosen.”

The lift stops and the doors slide silently open. “See you later, Clarence.”

Off balance, Castiel doesn’t speak until she’s moving out of the lift and down the hall. “What’s your name?” he calls after her.

“Meg,” she says. She doesn’t look back.

The lift doors close. “Nice to meet you, Meg,” he says to the empty air.

thanks to my betas! I got lots of help with this chapter (which tried to kill me)... @bend-me-shape-me and @ajacentlee

tagging: @unlikelyteller

If you’d like to be tagged in future chapters (chapter five is coming soon!!) just let me know, I’ll keep a tag list. :)

[monkey-network]

Good Stuff - THE (FULL) TROOF ABOUT STEVEN UNIVERSE

WARNING: What you’ll see under the cut is possibly one of the grandest things I will ever do and generally one of the biggest SU Crit posts of all time. Be advised that explicit language is present and we ask that readers are open-minded and reasonable with any given retort. Note that this has been edited due to Tumblr’s limitations of presentable media so click here for the Director’s Cut.

Do like & share if you enjoyed it or if I fought your boredom. Thank you and take care out there. 

Steven Universe is a charming, popular show with a quad-polar fandom, and I’m only here to point out what I say is legitimately wrong with this cartoon. Simple enough? Fair enough.

POINT #1 - THE ACTION:

Okay, my first point really doesn’t just apply with cartoons, but fights in general. Question: what’s the one thing that people get the most out of seeing a fight? The impacts. Those moments where the opponent is given such a crushing ass blow, that you can feel the effort that went into that attack. Yeah, Steven Universe lacks this. I mean, it can look like the characters are putting effort into fighting their opponents and it can look like they’re getting hurt pretty bad (thanks to applied visuals and sound effects), but it never feels like the characters are actually hitting each other. There are instances of impact, but they’re menial and they’re scattered between the duelists smacking each other like helium filled action figures; feeling as tender as any other motion the characters do throughout. Now if you’re wondering what I mean by impacts, note these prime examples; because animes know their action.

Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure

Hajime no Ippo

Summer Wars

My Hero Academia

If present, violence can/should provide a stark raving contrast to the supposedly grounded world in any series, and the impacts of violence should be escalating with every punch or kick. Attacks should fly with fierce swiftness, the weight/force of any blow can be seen; raw power, speed, and stamina should be pushed to limits unknown. Now, I’m not saying Steven U has to imitate any incredible, well animated fight scene that anime has flawlessly provided by now, but more effort should have been made to escalate the impact of their fights, not keep it steady tuned with

*Smear work to make the boring motions look fast paced

*Spiky white marks to show a clash

*quick visual instances of impact that lets you know a character is getting hurt

*and tons of smoke to cover the possibly graphic imagery

Steven Universe has the fundamentals of action down, but they don’t go beyond that (plus ultra). Their fights can look technically similar with the characters being the only real source of variation, especially when you can figure out their attacks ahead of time. So I hate to say this, but if you’ve seen one fight, you’ve seen ‘em all.

Another reason I presented Steven U’s lacking action is because tts not just about fists flying or weapons clashing, but the balance of emotion that goes with the foes putting their heart and soul into taking each other down. But, for most of the time, I don’t see SU’s fights present any real hook of seriousness, even if it wants me to, and most of them feel present for (basic) comedy. I feel less invested in who’s fighting, or why, than I am at how they’re getting beat up. Ironic, being a show that’s all about being open with its “serious” emotions. Combined with its lackluster animation, and they don’t add much contrast towards an otherwise easy going series

This here is honestly the most funniest a fight scene of theirs can get (mostly ‘cuz Peri deserved that), but after seeing the pretty slow animation, it can lose its luster no matter how deserving it may seem. Now notice this whopping scene, from the anime One Punch Man, below.

You can know nothing about One Punch Man, who these characters really are, but you can tell from these 5 seconds alone that when a fight happens, there’s a fast, over the top sense of comedy that comes with the brutal nature of a man that can apparently KO anybody in one swing, ironic and even more comedic with said one hit wonder being the most emotionless looking character on the show.

Seriously, that’s his face for almost the whole series

Now I know what you’re thinking, “But Monkey Network, it’s mostly a slice of life cartoon. The action scenes aren’t that prominent in the series as you might think and hope. It’s not supposed to be a violent show.” And I’d say fair point except for the fact that Friendship is Magic is also a slice of life cartoon that only has a few real action scenes under its belt, and this particular one is the best fucking thing I’ll ever see.

AGAIN, you can know nothing about the series as a whole, or this episode in general, but this fight alone perfectly captures the game Steven Universe has never really utilized since its early days. It has some seriousness with its escalating over the top attacks, the pace never feels constant, and even though they’re evenly matched, the things they do look fucking cool. The only downside is that since the show has puppet flash animation, it does looks limited, but even then they made the most of it. Steven Universe is hand drawn, so with all due respect, they have no fucking excuse. Their fight scenes amount to stay the course animation with glimpses of impact and a flashy style to avoid it from being pod racing levels of BORING. I’ve seen fan animations that would give this show a run for its money.

The Fandom provides more than the actual show

Even before Garnet’s fight with Jasper, Steven Universe’s action sequences was a sweet chunk of what made the show investing to watch, and looking at back at it, I was a bit too invested in something that wasn’t that invested in itself. Again, I know it can’t stack up to the God tier works that the anime world’s made for itself, but compared to other action present cartoons (Voltron, Star vs. the Forces of Evil, Avatar, The Powerpuff Girls, MLP, OK KO, any shonen anime), I think maybe they could/should git a little gooder in providing actual fights, not sparring matches. That, and if Sugar Honey Ice Tea and her crewniverse can put such effort into the facial expressions, they can make the fights more expressive too.

POINT #2 - THE “VILLAINS”:

Now, I fucking love villains. Not just for the who, but why and how they do it. When bad guys like the Joker, Lord Dominator, DIO, or Him do their thing onscreen, I enjoy every moment of their threatening essence (except Jared Leto’s Joker, he sucked). Villains remorselessly do unethical, downright vicious, things to fulfill their goals while initiating setting up the heroes to correct these effects with their efforts and abilities. Steven Universe has villains, sure. Yet, after having so many chances, Rebecca Sugardaddy has failed to make them REAL villains, specifically the Great Diamond Authority.

Now originally, I was gonna compare the Diamonds to the likes of Fire Lord Ozai(Avatar: The Last Airbender) or DIO (JJBA); villains that work in the shadows and when they’re eventually revealed, they’re already a force to be reckoned with. But looking into how they and Homeworld is set up, there was no other villainous ensemble that could stack up with the Diamonds perfectly like the Gorosei from the anime One Piece.

Looking more badass than the US Government

Now these five gentlemen aren’t necessarily what make up the end all be all for the series, but above all, the Gorosei are the ruling leaders of the organization that controls the entire world of One Piece. They command the military, the police, and other agencies, like their investigative and espionage departments, and the only people that out rule these gentlemen are the descendants of those who created it several centuries ago. Like the Diamonds, they seek to maintain order and justice for the people of their world and doing so means taking on any sign of revolution (namely Pirates) that could damage not only their image, but their purpose. Both Authorities possess absolute rule over the many classes that are under them and their stance of power can be present with the many actions that effect the characters we focus on currently. The difference between the two ruling classes is nuance, aka a grey sense of morality, aka an actual sense of relatability. So when I see a series having an overall narrative villain, Steven Universe has shown me that sympathy should NOT be a factor in storytelling.

Now when I say this, I don’t mean you can’t sympathize with any villain you see. Most of the time, you can feel for the antagonist when their lives never were good to begin with, that’s namely how villainy starts out, therefore making their actions not so much justified, but understandable. Take the rogues gallery that are the enemies of Batman.

Every one of them has a story to tell and a method to their madness. Their histories weren’t as nice or as hopeful as they may have hoped, and you can feel their pain as their efforts to be successful at something grand falls apart due to the Dark Knight or life’s unforgiving nature. However, the sympathy stops there because none of these masterminds, with the Joker being an exception, serve as a main villain to Batman’s crusade for justice, they’re continuous rivals and one off stories that expand the DC Universe. No evil in Gotham is powerful enough because Batman’s story has no real endgame. Steven Universe and One Piece will eventually have an endgame. And while the Gorosei represent an Oligarchical commodity that separates its order seeking rule from their affiliating countries, The Diamonds have amounted to being under one system alone:

Or generally cruel Collectivism if you wanna sound smart

And it’s weird I bring this up. For I would’ve thought to have called Homeworld an authoritative caste system where the gem you’re born with defines your class and status, coinciding with the gems’ natural abilities. The specific gems are given a role and everyone plays a part to maintain societal order, like what India has, with the Diamonds being the biggest and strongest gems and therefore are the de facto Matriarch of the gem society, you feel me? That would’ve earned a little sympathy from me, because the Diamonds losing Pink would’ve meant the massive changes to accommodate their order and resources might not have worked out so well and their image as leaders are slowly diminishing and that can explain the huge resentment for Earth and Rose’s Rebellion.

But no. Instead the Diamonds are a repressive totalitarian government that basically control everyone and everything, all the gems below to strictly follow and almost never question their line of reasoning, and they’re reasons for destroying the Earth has been summarized down to the emotional baggage and grudge that came with their failure long ago.

CAN YOU NOT FEEL THEIR STRUGGLE?!

Wanna know why I didn’t compare the Diamonds to Avatar’s Fire Nation when talking about humanizing the enemy and the connection couldn’t be more obvious? Because before Ozai is ever mentioned, The Last Airbender states very clearly that the Fire Nation is the region Aang and his friends need to infiltrate to stop their manifest destiny. And when we’re early hinted that Zuko’s not full on evil, it lets the audience know that not everyone is on board with those in charge of the Fire Nation invasion, leading up to Ozai’s big debut where we see that as the endgame villain, he’s irredeemable and has such a lust for power, that he’s recognizably the main drive everyone has to stop. Avatar did this right because little by little, the main enemy was narrowed down to a single force that hasn’t made itself known until near the end when his presence bear more importance. The same can’t be said for Steven Universe because Rebecca Sugar Rush presented yet another faint mistake.

The Diamond’s personalities are given to us before they’ve shown us who they are and what they’re capable of…

So we see Yellow Diamond as a vindictive, no nonsense leader that wants shit to get done and Blue Diamond as a more tender looking, yet no nonsense leader that’s grieving over Pink Diamond’s death and does whatever she can to move on and remember the fallen fondly. So, have they done anything before we’ve met them personally? Sure.

*They corrupted thousands of their own kind (because of the rebellion)

*Allowed experimentation towards shattered gems to make artificial fusion or disembodied amalgamates (because of the rebellion)

*And let’s not forget the Cluster (because of the rebellion)

So yeah, quite a lot actually. Now you might be thinking, “But Monkey Network, what does those five old men have to do with what the Diamonds did?” Well, when you see the villainous shit the Gorosei have commanded, their actions are actually more relatable than one would expect.

*Ordering the destruction of an island of archaeologists because they were secretly researching forbidden history

*Ordered death to any pregnant woman in sight fearing that one could be pregnant with Gol D. Roger, the OG Pirate King’s, child. Said slaughter lasted for around two years (Special thanks to @des-the-girl​ for this info)

*Directing the Marines, or the front line enemies of our Pirate heroes

*And contemplating their system’s next move when updates arrive

Now I don’t know about you, but these gentlemen make up quite an authoritative class with understandable motives and relatable notions on running the world without necessarily being on the front lines. Kinda like the US over the years? Even when their level of corruption can be on par and we still know little of their true power and who they really are, they’re instantly better than the Diamond Authority because we can see why they’re in command, their thoughts and actions towards our heroes shows no sign of being sympathetic, and yet we see where their motives lie. I mean, their Government’s enemies are pirates. You know, Pirates? People who’ve robbed and killed and are the opposite of order? See where I’m going here? They namely go after our heroes who are seen to be the enemy even when the Pirates and plenty others consider them the enemy. It’s almost as if there’s a grey choice for the audience to wonder whom the real bad guys are. OooooOOh. Also, quick side note. The Gorosei look fucking cool. Like their designs aren’t exactly human, credit towards Eiichiro Oda and his expressive designs, but they’re drawn with such a level of seriousness and stature that it presents their elder wisdom and grave subtlety towards a subject in a contrasting light to the pirates bombastic, emotional appeal.

So, what’s the tl;dr aspect of this since you probably won’t take this seriously? Well, call this a domino effect. Basically, Rebecca Sugardop has given us nonthreatening villains that showed no sign of any redeemable qualities beyond their ability to mesmerize us with their acting, and the audience should have a bit of sympathy for their side (see ”Bismuth”). In doing so, she failed to make them real villains. In doing that, there really are no real villains in the show. And when there are no villains, the conflict feels dry and absent. And without conflict, she failed at putting together HALF an overall story. And when you’re a coming of age story where it has to end on some note with maturity and change, after almost five years in the making, you just FUCKED yourself over when you didn’t even invest time in HALF of what makes an overall story of good and evil investing and engaging. Oh I’m sorry, what makes an overall story of a blurred line between good and evil. Investing and engaging.

Ugh, I can’t care anymore. If they get redeemed, sure. If they end up dying like a tragedy, fine. They feel less like villains to overcome and more like stairs Steven has to step on to become a better person. Just let White Diamond be as grandiose and badass as Tumblr’s AUs of her, because again…

The fandom is doing the show a bit of justice

POINT #3 - BEACH CITY:

Okay, before I provide attention to our main gem heroes, I thought I’d give their home of Beach City a vocal point to express the diversity they offer and what makes them an essential drive for Steven and the Crystal Gems to protect the Earth by any means. I mean, they offer such valid representation for the show’s world building and can offer plenty of stories to tell to give us that slice of lifevibe the show really needed. But I believe, after seeing Beach City time and time again over the course of 4 years, that I can summate its presence in the show with a single- Nay. With two simple yet comprehensible words.

Who cares?

Whooo CARES?

Thank you, respectable actor Elaine Stritch. Rest in Peace

To continue, don’t get me wrong. Worldbuilding is more than essential for a story like Steven Universe, Berserk, Friendship is Magic, Legend of Zelda, and so on. Whether big or small, expanding a setting is important to giving characters a versatile way to look at their world in a differing light than before. But suffice to say, what world has Steven Universe built for itself?

*A populated province in the East Coast?

*A barn?

*Ancient ruins? Among other distant gem territory?

Aye, this troof is gonna be hard to explain. We just have locations, people. That’s it. They’re no special than the mini Galaxies from Super Mario Galaxy 2, only on Wii, Rated E for Everyone. A place can look cool and a population there can bring life to it, but they should have something for the characters to interact with and visibly wonder about what they might get into as they adapt and progress in some way. And by some way, I don’t mean insert plot devices that help make the characters do significant looking things, and I’ll get to that a bit later. But to sum it up, Steven Universe present locations, but those locations lack identity and coordination.

Stick around, Link, I might need your example

I got a short story to tell. True story. And this story provides my reason, above all else, for why Beach City doesn’t hold much water anymore when talking about world building, specifically after the show’s first season (or Full Disclosure).

There’s a comic book TV show called Preacher, premieres Mondays @ 9, only on AMC. Essentially it’s about a criminal turned Priest, possessed with a supernatural power, going on a cross country road trip to find the physical form of God with his his mate who’s also a vampire and his ex-girlfriend. Pretty vivid premise, but see for yourself. The first season however sets up the road trip where the priest, his ex, and vampire friend stay in a small town in Texas to not only introduce them, the power that the priest gets, and the type of humor throughout, but flesh out a few citizens they encounter pretty well in a thematically connected turnabout for ten episodes straight. All seems good.

Up until the entire town loses their minds, after losing all faith in belief, which eventually leads to a methane nuclear sized explosion that wipes out everybody except the three main characters who exited a few scenes before.

The End.

Now, let’s talk relevance. If I ran Steven Universe, and I don’t think I can, and I pulled 👆👆 that on Beach City at season 1′s end. Erase everything you’ve seen, every citizen will be forced to disappear except the major plot oriented characters, basically resetting the structure. If I did that, how much would it change? What would we really lose? The diverse Beach citizens that don’t and can’t do shit against the enemies we’ve see unless they’re forced to get involved in some way which rarely happens?

You can put as many people of color and as many personalities in your world all you want, but effort should also be put into not just making them NPC levels of value to the point where a reset button wouldn’t put much a dent to the “world building”. The worst part is that it’s not like Batman’s Gotham City or Spider-Man’s New York; places where the villains are plotting while they’re within city walls. Steven Universe’s enemies have to either be brought out somewhere (gem monsters, Lapis) or brought to (Jasper, that red Eye, Aqua and Topaz) Beach City for the place to provide any significant or value. So…

Just saying.

Now if the whole series was like season one with the non “To Be Continued”slice of life episodes, then it would’ve work. Phineas and Ferb, Foster’s Home, and Friendship is Magic has done this well with keeping their main location (The Foster House, Danville, Ponyville, etc.) as their central hubworld for casual stories with a venture outside of them from time to time. I would’ve been okay with Beach City being the spot for Steven and his limitless squad to grow together like Rebecca intended at first. Then I’m reminded that there’s an world expanding story in this, with bigger consequences and threaded arcs, and I’m stuck between investing in the many things they give me, complaining towards full episodes that add up to nothing and went nowhere special, and whining about the lack of reruns it gets on TV compared to Teen Titans GO.

Bottom line, you had/have your comic series to commit to your slice of life genre instead of trying to keep it in the show.

Now, I’m at a disadvantage here. If I want to talk about the actual “SCIENCE FANTASY WORLD BUILDING”, then I’ll have to talk about the Crystal Gems’ involvement in them and I can’t really do that. Luckily, I don’t have to, for SU has unintentionally played itself: when it comes to the Gem oriented locations outside Beach City, they tell but never really show. And turns out I don’t need Link’s example, but Samus Aran’s. Namely, her universe in the Metroid Prime series.

A key element to world building is the control and fun in exploration where you find and somewhat interact with aspects of an environment’s purpose and history while you’re on the go, giving the place more of an identity. Metroid Prime does this well where you journey through different parts of the Galaxy and with your scan visor, you can catalog and figure out the intricacies of the settings, the enemies within them, and info that seem trivial at first, but can offer much in progressing ahead in the game. Note the example before you…

And don’t stare deep into Samus’s blue eyes

Sure it’s an optional part of the game, and you can still trek on with or without having to continuously research the world’s lore, but it offers that versatility where you’re well in control in how to experience the game. Then again, this is a video game, where your skill in figuring things out is the only way to progress anything. What cartoon has this similar level of versatility? I mean, what else?

What else?

Gravity Falls may have stayed in one place, but it gives the characters and audience so much to explore and theorize on. They don’t tackle “everything” the world might have offered (bigfoot), but still give you so much to look out for without ever holding your hand or giving a cliffnotes version on a mystery of theirs. Hell, the fandom was hollering on Tumblr over predicting one of the show’s biggest mysteries being confirmed long before it aired. Hirsh didn’t just give those theory nuts what they wanted, his crew eased us in on how the narrative is taking a turn to someplace different and new without really forcing it on everybody. There was still that enjoyable sense of control that resonated in both the show’s direction and the audience’s experience.

I mean come on, this just oozes the moment of truth

Don’t get me wrong. The crewniverse offer very interesting locations and things that resonate with Gem stuff. My final problem with this is that when I think they might utilize these different places and things, they hold back to sharing but a glimpse of anything the show has plenty of utilizing potential for. Like…

Could this control room present more information about Homeworld’s plans for the gems than just the Cluster? “Probably not, it fulfilled its purpose. Let’s move on.”

What about these drills? Could we personally see how one works, like accidentally reactivate it to see how it functions? “Nah, they’re all dead. Let’s move on.”

Or what about the holes? Could we have some kind of flashback depicting how a gem leaps out the ground? “Nope.” Not even the off col- “NOPE.”

What’s that supposed to be? Is it something important to Homeworld? “We’ll get to that later. Let’s move on.”

Man, this place looks cool. Connie might consider this since she handles weapons and might want something new, like armor or throwing weapons. “Look man, this tour is scheduled. You’ve seen it, we’ll get back to it later. Moving right along.” This tour sucks. “You paid for it, my friend.”

Egoraptor said it best: I’m not witnessing an adventure, I’m a guest at their theme park. This is Kingdom Hearts levels of dragging it along, and I know… “But Monkey Network, they might come back to all that stuff soon. It’s called foreshadowing, you whiner.” To that, I say HA! There’s a huge difference between foreshadowing and giving us cameos. And that is in...

PRESENTATION!

Long story short, if it’s subtle and holds a threatening or vague presence, THAT’s foreshadowing. If it’s already out in the open and is not given a lot of screentime or detail, that’s cameo-ing and waiting for more. The last thing a show should do is hold back and have its audience wait like shoving a secret box in our face, and that’s all Steven Universe has been doing. That’s why so many rant about what’s filler or not. That’s why so many theorize on the most reaching of details. That’s why people proudly growl at what could be the crew’s simple decisions. Because when everything must come back to Beach City, post “Full Disclosure”, exploration can be limited, detail can be limited, and it’ll be up to the audience to speculate/construct the world-building for themselves, making the control and experience for the show feel one sided, therefore UNFAIR.

Like I said, the things I’ve seen offer so much to think about, but Rebecca Sugar sack could’ve done better with presenting them in a better light than a dim mode. The fate of Steven Universe’s future is a mystery to me, and I don’t know what they’re gonna cram in season 5 this fall. All I know is MJ (or Mystery Girl) is fine as fuck and we’re all gonna get something good eventually. My man Ian Jones-Quartey said good world building takes time, and they sure are taking their time.

POINT #4 - THE REPRESENTATION:

Representation in media can be easy when the right writers are at the helm to present (not push) a message of acceptance and acknowledgement towards an audience that may or may not feel the same way. It takes different strokes to rule the world, after all. However, when it comes to character in general, there are two factors in characterization that when used correctly can appeal their message of acceptance for their audience. One, visual acknowledgement of the representing characters (POC, LGBT, belief, etc.) in question and two, giving the subjects good quality participation to show that they are just as adept to the world as any other without phoning in the fact that they are this or that. Long story short, make ‘em good characters and the representation can earn the audience’s respect for itself. Steven U lacks this too, and this comes from them often showing us stuff and expecting us to just go with it, with themes that are enough just to get by fans. Hell, they show us as much as a drive by…

Not even a cool one at that, fresh

I’ll say this to start off: Lars Barriga (my neega) was a stagnant and frustrating character to deal with; nobody in Beach City moved him in any way (not even his own supporting parents), and the writers just shotgunned him growth (more than once) after he basically had to cheat death (more than once) to gain a better conscience. It’s like they wanted to call him a lost cause but had to hook him back in some way for the audience to not deem him a lost cause. So with all due respect, does it matter that he’s Filipino or a trans boy when nothing valuable or thoughtful has come from him especially? Those trivial tidbits can mostly come off as add ons or secondary nods, when they should’ve been welcomed knowledge about his character. Want an good example? Look to the comic series Lumberjanes, especially issues 14-17 and 28. SPOILERS, though…

They did this right for characters Jo and Barney (Jo’s the one in the 2nd panel, Barney’s in the first). They already established these two as well defined characters that make mistakes but are willing to get shit done for their friends by any means. The dialogue above is when Barney is thinking about joining the girl oriented scouts even when he’s considered a boy scout, wondering where does he want to belong. Jo gives him reassurance that she herself felt the same and just wants Barney to assert himself with what he wants to be like she did. And when he does later on, he’s accepted without any forced gratification and the writers gracefully accommodate this to not only make him (now “them”) a good addition to the story’s world, but a welcoming new perspective.

The representation is therefore earned, not just shown off

Now I’d talk further on other characters like Lars, but that would be singing the same beats as my previous piece on world building and would spoil notes on the final 2 parts I’m working on now. Instead, the gems are another reason why the rep-pres-sen-tation in SU is nothing but small fractured penny in the gold mine that is anything else going on, with fusion diminishing the relationship representation of Steven U; however you may see it. Now excuse me… this is the hardest part of my job.

Criticizing love

Garnet is not a good embodiment of Ruby and Sapphire’s love; Ruby and Sapphire is. I would love to see Ruby and Sapphire being together and showing me why they decided to elope, but I can’t because Garnet is a curtain that metaphorically and literally covers said love from having anything more to say than “HELL YEAH WE LOVE EACH OTHER!”. You could say ‘Keystone Motel’offered some adversity for the two, but knowing Steven U, it didn’t feel like much beyond me knowing they’re getting back together in the end because they love each other and they just go back to being Garnet because she’s the personification of their love and such.

Fusion is something I have a disdain for now because they’re exchanging two characters’ development of united growth for basically an entirely new/different character, that don’t have much screen time or development anyways (vice versa in Flourite’s case). You could say ‘Know your Fusion’ presented an evolution for Smokey Quartz, among the other known fusions, to being more than a versatile fighter, but not really no. We were already aware that Steven and Amethyst were acknowledged sad sacks before they fused, so what else does this fusion offer differently than in their ability? As for Sardonyx, she hasn’t changed from her first cameo awhile back and her vanity was the only thing that made her stand out in said episode. All in all, fusion doesn’t reflect a relationship, no matter how hard Rebecca Suge Knight is saying otherwise, it reflects an aftermath; one that’s in and out as a firework. This and up ‘til now, the real couples we see are pretty general or under the rug. To show how the most mentioned and presented couple in the series, RubyXSapphire, has continuously got the shaft, I present the one dynamic you’d least expect: A boy and his stuffed toy.

My personally favorite example so far.

Calvin and Hobbes is a series about boy Calvin and his stuffed tiger Hobbes that comes to life through Calvin’s imagination. Reality is like Garnet in this case, where it’s just Calvin having his stuffed animal around to get into zany hijinks like any other kid his age. Then again, the imagination or the living Hobbes is whom is given more of a focus, allowing their dynamic to bloom in a way that wouldn’t be understood if we just saw Calvin just talking to his toy the whole time. It makes their bond feel real and that’s what RubyxSapphire should be, giving them the floor in a way that adds up to Garnet’s eventual debut. “But Monkey Network, what about ‘The Answer’?” The Answer is an episode that, while sweet and good looking, literally danced over much necessary development in favor of only showing us how they eventually stuck to being Garnet forever. Not saying Garnet doesn’t have any character herself, but her integral backstory was/is one of the most beloved and talked about in terms of relationships, yet little has actually been given to us beyond face value and basic understanding and the writers have generally avoid pressing this any further. In a way, that episode diminishes the representation of real queer relationships, bogging it down to early Disney romances like Snow White’s, and practically blindfolds us about what we want to see vs what we should be seeing.

And I already got cute girls not kissing last year. It’s the current fucking year

I would talk about all the other canonning “ships” but nothing comes to mind other than the gems are getting along better than before, Mystery Girl is still fine as fuck, Steven and Connie are bound to elope since it’s been presented since the beginning, Lapis and Peridot get along as college roommates, Lapis might still have issues after Malachite happened, Jasper regrets nothing, Topaz sounds cool from the little we got of them, and everything has amounts to having a sob story and/or a recollection of thoughts just to say “Hey, we’re good together”. They implicitly share infatuation and good vibes to each other, but nothing to say their themes of LGBT, relationships, and characterization are groundbreaking. The latter I’ll get to next time. I mean anybody can put effort into writing a genuine romance novel, though it takes more effort to push the romance to challenging means without leaving skeptics at the door, something Sugar has been very casual about and is starting to openly show in the show. That and tears. Because you know what they say, open emotions are better than emotional maturity. Isn’t that right, TV?

Don’t get me wrong. Rebecca Sugarbark is out here doing her darndest as…

CARTOON. NETWORK’S. FIRST. FEMALE. ANIMATED. SERIES. CREATOR!

and when she does themes right, the show provides some good things to think about. But when she muddles them up or casually throws them in, especially when these themes come from the different aspects of what makes a person different yet real, it is unforgivable. And when people of all ages are watching this, thinking with their living ideologies about what could be used to think differently? This makes for a very risky tightrope that can lead to either people taking it appropriately or blindly, good and bad alike. I can only hope that as the show goes on, there are less assumptions and implications from both the show and the audience alike and more assertions and certainty that elements like representation of any kind are brought to a more applied approach than a glanced approach.

AND STEVEN - POINT #5:

What makes a great character? Charm? Growth? Badassery? Nah, it’s the struggle son. To cheaply quote Pixar: “You admire a character more for trying more than for their successes.” And while Steven does try, does he really fail? Let’s look back. He has three skillful and powerful guardians that care for him. He has a father who is filthy rich (’member that). He has a sweet ass pad. Everyone that knows him likes/respects him. He has powers retained from his mother. He has a lion for a pet. He redeemed/helped three of what were once his enemies. He has a best friend that joins in the action with a sword. He clearly has the capable knowledge of reaching out to anyone. He’s outdone death more than once. He’s practically invulnerable (see “Steven vs. Amethyst”). Everyone that doesn’t like him could eventually see his way with good convincing and a middle road to come to (except Kevin). While there are things he needs to do and characters that’ll he have to confront sooner or later, I’ve started to think less of how he’ll succeed and more of when he’ll succeed. I’m thinking less of who he is and more of what he is. Here’s what I mean…

I don’t see Star Butterfly as an upbeat, independent, cocky, and enduring magical princess who loves rainbows and puppies and struggles to balance fun, romance, and responsibility in one go. I see an up and coming teenage princess that’ll defeat all the evil, hook up with her friend Marco, and claim the title of Mewni’s Queen while doing it all her way.

And I don’t see the JoJo bloodline as a group of distinct protagonists that have their own goals and passions all the while seeking justice against the evil that surrounds them. I see the main characters of 8 different parts that have the ability to defeat the final enemy at the end.

It’s the “Man of Steel” effect; when you do nothing but show how Steven is becoming like or better than Rose, it takes away from letting Steven see who he really is and wants to be. Season one did Steven good (begrudging to say, I know) where he was devious, self-centered, and oblivious but basically was a goofball kid with a good heart; like Ash Williams from Evil Dead. Halfway in and they basically took that away in favor of him just being the pacifistic hippie boy scout that doesn’t want to do wrong or hurt anybody and wants to be a better version of his mama and… and…zzzzzzz. Yeah, I don’t know how to put this, but Steven is now as good of a main character as a sheet of paper. Like, on paper he had potential, but as paper he’s pretty ineffective.

Hell, even paper can show you wonders

“But Monkey Network, he’s a character that goes through many hardships and has a lot on his mind and is going through plenty like most people.” Yes he is, but he’s really done nothing to better himself. “Mindful Education” brings this up, but immediately sweeps it clean in favor of a song about trauma (ironic) and giving Connie more of the floor. And “Storm in the Room” perfectly captures how flat his guilt complex really is…

This episode could’ve given Steven a better perspective on what he wants to be, how he should see Rose, and how things in his life will change from that point on. No, it amounted to saying Rose wasn’t in the wrong for anything (clearly a lie) and Steven being basically gaslighted to believe that he’ll be around to fix what she didn’t do herself, never stating how he should go about doing so. He has guilt and unsure regrets, and yet now nothing feels like things for him are getting any better through his efforts. Knowing that he’s basically Jesus, I am stunned I don’t see him curing every ill-ridden human on the planet and is instead trying to make peace with everything that wants him dead. Also, if I wanted a show that mirrors the possible regret and turmoil I force myself to suffer with everyday, weed and a literal mirror would create a similar effect. And all this leads to–

“But Monkey Network, he’s at least a pacifist who tries. He only wants to share peace and enlightenment to everyone he meets and that includes those who are trying to defeat them.” True, but there is something called “being pushed to a limit”. Yeah I see Steven stand up for himself while choosing not to hit anybody, but there are some people that don’t deserve anything but a good blow to the face. We see Steven get angry and mean, but has he really been pushed to a limit?

Mob Psycho 100 (Ep. 3) A limit that, while possessing regretting, let’s one know they can be a force to be reckoned with?

Trigun: Badlands Rumble A limit that forces them to take immense action without breaking their code of pacifistic honor?

I mean there’s being a pacifist, and there’s being an peaceful spouting wimp I can whup easily before somebody beats me up to stop it. The point of having pacifism in a show is the counterpoint where that ideology’s being tested and momentous reactions result from it. Yeah, he showed sheer ire towards Kevin in that one episode but that was it, and that was a one off excursion with the only irredeemable character in the series. Now I know violence is not always the answer and this isn’t suppose to be a violent show, whatever, but violence is present more than enough times in this show. So I must topically ask, what was stopping Steven from five knuckle shuffling Aquamarine when he clearly had the chance to, freeing his friends and getting the chance to escape their clutches? There’s the peaceful route, and there’s showing us nothing.

Boy must have a weak ass jab

“But Monkey Network, he has development and growth with this being a coming-of-age story.” True dat, but to an extent. I’ve noticed that when it comes to Steven Universe’s development, everyone is given development with Steven tagging behind. Connie, Amethyst, Pearl, Peridot, Lapis, Lars, you see them learning and growing on the front lines, but Steven’s been kinda consistent wouldn’t you say? I mean, he does grow in seeing many different perspectives, but does he really grow with the said varied perspectives or does he just acknowledge them while doing his usual helping routine to try making things better? You know who is a better main character than Steven? Well….

You could get with this^Or you could get with thatv

Wouldn’t you agree? They’re forced to look out of their comfort zone, they make mistakes but see to getting back up, they grow to understand how this new world works and take it to heart, they’re not mopey little shits and constantly take initiative, still having a lot to learn, and I find their voices less annoying than Steven’s. Okay, that last part is a preference but still.

I’ll say Steven’s a fine protagonist, but he’s a boring protagonist to sum it up. Nothing about him makes me want to care anymore and while I look towards new episodes, all I can do now is tolerate him. They could do better with season 5 upping the ante, but at this point I’m more invested in the world of Steven Universe than Steven himself, and that is sad. You know your cartoon is crumbling where your world generally revolves around the main character and said MAIN CHARACTER is whack! Rebecca Sugar Schnapps and her crew just better git good this season; because it can look good and sound good as long as it wants, but it needs to feel good to be a real show, you feel me?

And that’s my Troof. The whole and nothing but. Thank you <3 Roy M.

[jyushimatsu-falls-in-love]

steven universe/crystal gem(atsu)s au

Alternative post title: ‘In which Nature tries to make a silly Matsu AU out of something she hasn’t actually watched but because it’s so prevalent on Tumblr she picked up a lot about it and is now trying to make a silly Matsu AU out of what she knows’

I’m going to get hate for this aren’t I

So yeah, as mentioned above, I don’t actually watch Steven Universe (I think it’s mostly because the fandom scares me orz); however I do love some of the concepts it has, like the Gems themselves, and fusions, and some of the lore surrounding the Gems. Oh, and the songs! I’ve listened to some of SU’s songs and they’re absolutely lovely :D

I was talking with @chororine yesterday about the recent SU episodes, and she linked me a couple of Gem!Matsu AUs that are really cool! And then it got me thinking of ideas for a Gem!Matsu AU which I kinda feel bad thinking up of since I haven’t watched the show orz 

Perhaps those who watch SU can tell me if this makes sense as a Matsu AU-slash-SU adaptation or not? XD;; Feel free to correct me on certain things, or even share ideas! This AU’s actually kinda really fun :’D

Anyway, all of it under the cut! (It’s very long orz) Content warnings for suicide mentions and pregnancy, but that’s all there is to it I think.

So, as always when it comes to these Crystal Gem AUs, the Matsuno brothers are a set of six similar-but-different Gems. Tbh I have no idea what kind of Gems they would be; some AUs make them the same type of gem, some make them different kinds of gems. I still want them to be “brothers”/“sextuplets”, in a way; is there a way to strike a balance? (This person’s AU has all six be a kind of gem that can be dyed different colors; that’s a good idea, but I feel like if I applied that here I’d be ripping them off...) But either way, they’re Gems. (I have no clue what their roles in Homeworld would be, either...)

The thing about the Gem!Matsus is that they’re not part of Rose Quartz’s rebellion - but at the same time, they’re not totally loyal to Homeworld either. If anything, the boys’ true loyalties are to themselves and to each other (for the most part). So they’re neutral parties in the Gem War - but they do consider Homeworld, well, home, and can’t imagine home being anywhere else.

Then one fateful day, the Gem!Matsus end up becoming displaced from Homeworld. Maybe it’s because of the Gem War, maybe they were running away from someone/something, or maybe they were dicking around in space and then they crashed their space ship, I dunno. Either way, the Gem!Matsus lose their way home, and they find themselves stuck on Earth - specifically, they find themselves stuck in a small coastal town somewhere in Japan.

With no means or even any idea on how to get home, the Gem!Matsus settle down on Earth. They assume - some of them (e.g. Choro), hope - it’s a temporary thing; after all, Homeworld is home, and even the shittiest Gem would want nothing more than to be home, right? So they stay there and wait for help, or anything to come their way that can bring them home. (Meanwhile, maybe they can fight corrupted Gems that they come across? Assuming there are corrupted Gems in other places besides Beach City. And maybe the boys don’t even know they’re corrupted Gems at all...)

Years pass, and the Gem!Matsus are still stuck, but still trying to make the most of their time in that Japanese coastal town. They observe the humans going about their daily lives, but never really interact with them and kinda look down on them the same way the Crystal Gems initially looked down on humans. And then one day, a certain yellow Gem strays far from the Gem!Matsu’s main base to a part of the beach he hasn’t explored yet - and there he sees a pretty human girl with freckles on her face, standing at the top of a really high cliff facing the ocean...

Because Jyushi is a Gem here and not human, I don’t know if he’ll be able to pick up on or understand Homura’s suicidal tendencies like he did in Ososan canon; but either way he distracts-slash-talks her out of jumping off the cliff. He does notice that this pretty human girl is very sad though, which isn’t good! Humans are cute and nice when they’re laughing and smiling! So in true Jyushi fashion, he does whatever he can to make her smile and laugh. Through her, he also gets to understand humans more, and thus be able to empathize with her (and by extension other people) better. Perhaps he also learns her backstory, and surely tries to assure her of her worth despite it.

The other Gem!Matsus don’t understand why Jyushi’s so enamored with this Homura person. Oso and Kara shrug it off and say, hey Jyushi’s having fun, let him have fun with his human friend as long as she doesn’t hurt him (and soon enough they end up befriending Homura too); Choro and Totty are more worried about it, why is Jyushi fraternizing with a human, what if she gets him (and by extension us) into trouble? (although maybe they warm up to her eventually); and Ichi is rather irritated that this dumb human girl is taking all of his best friend’s attention, but seeing as Jyushi’s very happy with her, he tries to suck it up as much as he can (although he’s still rather prickly, if civil, towards Homura).

Of course, it leads to Jyushi and Homura falling in love with each other, as well as Jyushi falling in love with the planet Earth itself and with human beings (and baseball!). After everything, he realizes he doesn’t want to return to Homeworld; instead he wants to stay here on Earth, so he can be with Homura and make other human friends and play baseball! This gets... mixed to negative reactions from the other Gem!Matsus. (Oso and Kara are torn, Choro and Totty are upset, Ichi is fucking pissed.) They all probably argue about it for the next couple of years - not that it really matters, as they’re still stuck on Earth whether or not anyone wants to stay or leave.

And then things get worse when said couple of years later, Homura finds out that she’s... pregnant. With Jyushi’s child. This causes yet another stir among the Gem!Matsus, as they never knew humans and Gems can have create children together; however it also causes more issues and more arguing between them over what to do now that this baby’s a thing. Half the team still want to go back home, after all.

Then another bad thing happens - around the time Jyushi’s baby is about to be born, Jyushi ends up having to give up his physical form for it. I’m not sure how or for what reason exactly, but it has to happen and there’s no escaping his fate. 

This leaves the other Gem!Matsus incredibly upset. I mean sure, Jyushi's no Rose Quartz; he isn’t a major figurehead in any wars or rebellions, he doesn’t have a huge legacy to follow. Hell, he isn’t even the leader of the Gem!Matsus. But for the brothers, losing any one of them can be just as devastating as losing a major figurehead - especially since the one they’ve lost was the sunshine of the group. This leaves Homura extremely devastated too, not to mention that the poor woman is now left to be an unmarried single mother.

The Gem!Matsus figure that there’s no point returning home now that Jyushi is gone, so they reluctantly decide to stay with Homura to help her watch over her child. Imagine their surprise when they see that the baby (who I decided would be a little girl, mostly because the idea of the Matsus trying to raise a little girl together is funnier) is half-Gem, half-human! She has her dad’s exact same gem somewhere on her body, all shiny and yellow. The boys come to the conclusion that part of Jyushi is still there, so resolve to stay on Earth so that they can help raise the girl as well as train her in order to be a good half-human, half-Gem. They may or may not have a plan to bring her along with them back to Homeworld once they deem her ready, so they can finally be home and complete...

Homura names her daughter Aiko (”child of love”; because tbh Homura would be a sap when it comes to naming children :P). She, Aiko and the Gem!Matsus move to a house that a relative used to own, and Homura takes a stay-at-home job as a translator (like Yotsuba’s dad from Yotsuba&!). (She can’t bring herself to work outside of the house, as she’s still ashamed of some parts of her past; that and she wants to be able to raise as well as home-school Aiko by herself and watch over the Gem!Matsus. Maybe Gem technology can provide free fast WiFi? :P) The Gem!Matsus are once again NEETs, doing nothing but staying around the house all day; their only job is training Aiko in the ways of being a Gem, so training her to fight and shapeshift and fuse with other Gems and stuff like that. Also getting her in trouble.

So begins Aiko and The Gems, the adventures of a little girl, her single mother and her five Space Rock Dads. Hilarity (and some angst, but mostly hilarity) ensues.

so yeah it’s basically Rose and Greg’s backstory ==> Steven’s story but with Matsus and Homura and a fanchild instead how original right

Compared to canon SU, this AU might be less... serious? I mean, there’s still a lot of sad things, all the Gem!Matsus + Homura have serious issues they need to deal with, and there’s still a lot of room for character + relationship development; but at the same time, the Gem!Matsus don’t have as much pressure on them to keep fighting off anything and/or preserve a rebellion’s legacy as the Crystal Gems do? They’re neutral parties who just want get home-slash-want to take care of a kid. Unless there’s something I missed and the boys could very well still be in trouble with the Diamonds...

(Also it’s probably not as serious as SU because the Gem!Matsus are, well, Matsus. :P)

Honestly though this AU idea is a lot of fun!! :’D I have a few more ideas based on it; I’ll get to writing a post about those soon (later?). Um, so tell me what you think, I guess? :’D

Also, please: if you have ideas for this AU too, please tell me!! Building AUs with others is fun c’: (That and I’m not an expert on SU anyway, as mentioned above; maybe you guys know better than me XD)

(P. S. @chororine​ @irkimatsu​ @risuquest​ you guys like SU, right? You guys might like this, hopefully :’D)

(P. P. S. Not Gem!Matsu related, but still Gems - even though I don’t watch SU yet, for some reason I thought that Phillipa Soo could be a guest star VA on it - and I would love that. I’d gladly watch for her :P)