#hilary florido

[crackedgemroom-26]

The pearls

[small-witch-big-hat]

Just watched the movie again with a friend, and we're going to go through Future with him next. What a ride. SU really is one of those shows that gets better the more you watch it, and the older you get.

thank you for watching <3

[faelapis]

alright so re: my greg/pearl “discourse” post, i need to say another thing. calling out biphobia is important, yes... but apparently, i really should have stressed more how non-canon this is. like. i keep seeing people on twitter being like “wow, i had no idea pearl was canonically bi the whole time” or similar sentiments, and i’m like… no? she’s not? not as far as we know?

guys. random crew doodles are not… canon… 😭 there’s crew art of young greg, rose and 13-year-old STEVEN hanging out. which is impossible for several reasons.

i have yet to see anyone react to those whatever doodles with this response of “wow… this made me reconsider their relationship… it really Makes You Think.”

if a new SU spinoff/sequel came out, and pearl was openly like “i am bisexual and also in love with greg”, sure. i would get why people would have feelings about that. THEN we could discourse about biphobia vs lesbian representation.

but that… hasn’t happened. literally nothing canon-altering has occurred. at MOST, this was an earlier idea that got scrapped. that appears to be the story. but that’s about it.

calling out biphobia is important... but facts also matter? this is a non-story. yet people are out here writing essays about how this is Reframing All of Canon. 😭

this is crew art! by hilary florido!

so again, i ask you: where are my discourse essays about how greg is secretly still in his 20s, his balding is a lie, rose is alive AND they're both hanging out with steven? in alone at sea, of all episodes?

[rosenotactuallyquartz]

pearl + rose + greg

(the importance of these complex relationships, along with some very common misconceptions)

first off, no one is married

i’m surprised by how many fans, particularly on other platforms, are under the impression that rose + greg were married.

even though it was confirmed that they never got married in gem harvest. pearl also said, “we heard you like marriage, so why don’t we all marry each other!” after andy & greg argued about the fact that greg never married steven’s mother. when ruby + sapphire’s wedding happens, it’s clearly a novelty to all the gems.

i also think that rose + greg not being married is an important detail. people like to assume that their relationship was one that was completely human, fitting into all the norms of human society & using a bunch of labels. it’s as if rose was human herself, as if greg ever expected her to fit in, in any way, shape, or form (no pun intended).

their relationship was anything but conventional; that was how they wanted it to be.

their relationship was unique. there was little to no pressure or arguing. it was based on love & respect & comfort instead of rules. rules held greg back his whole life & in order to be his true self, he had to rebel against those he knew throughout his early life. of course, rose can understand not wanting rules. as seen in we need to talk, rose also gets very uncomfortable & anxious when she can’t fully understand human beings, what they expect and how they feel. so, they found an in-between, where they could relate to each other and connect as individuals, instead of forcing themselves to have an entirely human relationship or a gem relationship. their relationship was relaxed, open, and they were able to destress when they spent time together.

they’re similar people. impulsive, playful, naive at times, soft-hearted. there were things that scared him from the past, and it was clearly the same for rose. when it came to emotional conversations, there was a line that they would never cross. past that line was a lot of very, very serious conversations. the demayos, the diamonds, secrets, fears, traumas, questions about gem stuff that greg felt wary of. they strived for an equal relationship, so their issues were often mutual. if greg’s not asking for complicated details about gem relationships, he likely won’t expect rose to comprehend marriage.

image description: sketch of rose + greg by rebecca sugar. greg is smiling and blushing but looks calm, his eyes closed. rose glances back at him with a slightly mischievous yet soft smile

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧ ⋆ ☁︎ ✩₊˚⋆⁺₊✧ ⋆ ☁︎

misconceptions

the assumption that rose + greg were married only worsens the many pearl + rose misunderstandings. consider this: greg + rose were married, but rose never married pearl, who she knew longer than everyone? must be unrequited. or, at least, exes (confirmed not unrequited; also, i doubt pearl + rose understand the term ex). greg + rose were married, so their relationship must have been more important than rose’s relationship with pearl. greg + rose were married, so pearl was talking about what actually happened when she said, she chose you. this assumption overlooks pearl’s self worth issues & insecurities, the true meaning behind both of you, the importance of pearl + rose’s relationship, the miscommunications, the differences between gem & human relationships.

image description: alone at sea promotional art by hilary florido. greg is about to jump into a pool with steven standing next to him in a coach outfit, with a whistle. pearl, amethyst, and rose are sitting against the wall in swimsuits. rose looks at him with admiration, amethyst is grinning, and pearl has a look of disapproval.

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧ ⋆ ☁︎ ✩₊˚⋆⁺₊✧ ⋆ ☁︎

pearlrose & gregrose

steven universe ships are often sorted into either “good” or “bad” categories by the fandom, which overlooks the fact that both of these relationships are… far more interesting. i wouldn’t be here if it were that simple. both relationships are comforting & beautiful & sweet & complicated & flawed & important for rose’s character. i love exploring the complexities of both, because:

"the thing that she really lacks is balance, any ability to temper her extremes. this is part of her character throughout her forms: she's always very extreme." — rebecca sugar, end of an era

rose’s two intimate relationships are with individuals who are opposites in various ways, their contrasting traits being different extremes.

pearl + rose had a lot of mutual codependency, which makes sense considering their contrasting personalities, witnessing a lot of each other’s trauma, and having shared trauma as well as intense, dark secrets. rose + greg both loved escapism, which is fitting as they are similar people who cope in similar ways, meeting after major traumas.

one of rose’s partners is overprotective, the other laidback; one is particularly serious about being told everything, and for good reason considering what she knows and what she + rose have been through. the other really, really understands not wanting to discuss painful pasts, and for good reason considering what he doesn’t know and what he’s been through.

rose forms meaningful relationships with both of them. her feelings were similar in the way that she loved them both. she related to both of them & admired both of them, too. she particularly admired pearl in a i-think-you’re-so-good-and-i’m-nothing-like-you way, because they have so many differences. she particularly related to greg, as they have so many parallels, she loves humanity, and she feels like she would be a lot like him if she were human.

both of them were comforting to rose. pearl was incredibly caring; she cared a lot about the pain that no one else could know about. she was gentle but very encouraging when it came to rose not needing to keep things from her. and if rose was sad, i’m sure she could tell. i was the one she told everything to! i can imagine pearl comforting rose, knowing what was going on without rose needing to say much. it was also comforting to rose that pearl knew about so many things she was ashamed of, but she remained on her side at all times and loved her so deeply and openly. rose had very intense emotions, & greg had a way of keeping life light which gave her a very particular kind of comfort. he would make her laugh when she wanted to cry & he would distract her whenever she was consumed by her emotions and spiraling thoughts. she loved the simplicity and it was comforting that he didn’t know about her past because they could start fresh together.

greg took pride in being accepting and supportive of everyone’s decisions, never trying to control things. it’s what he always wanted, and rose reciprocated. she supported & believed in him, which helped him heal from his childhood in a lot of ways. but, there’s also this:

"on the flip side, they enable each other. she never unpacks what scares her about her past, and neither does he” — rebecca sugar, end of an era

greg's relaxed personality & not knowing about her past made rose feel very comfortable… but almost too comfortable with hiding things. greg was happy when rose was happy, and this was very sincere. he taught her so much about humans & she ultimately decided to have steven. the love that she had for her unborn child was so strong & genuine & she trusted greg, knowing that he would be a wonderful father. i don’t even need to say anything about how much he loves steven. the issue is, she couldn’t quite understand the pain he would feel if she was no longer in his life. rose also had self hatred that was connected to pain from the past that greg didn’t know about.

in contrast, pearl knowing so much & having a history with rose made rose feel concerned about causing her stress. due to her self hatred, rose always focused on the negative aspects of herself. she couldn’t quite understand all the positive things she brought to pearl’s life, the ways that she was good for her (despite how expressive & intense pearl’s love was). don’t get me wrong, pearl’s love helped rose in so many ways, but due to lack of love for herself, rose could never quite wrap her head around why pearl adored her so much. the comfort, the closeness, the warmth, all the reasons pearl wanted to live with her forever.

with that said, she felt so much love and care from both of them. she simply felt undeserving of it because of the way she felt about herself. they all loved steven completely, rose was so excited for him to exist, and she wholeheartedly believed greg and the gems would be such important parts of steven’s life. nothing changes that.

this isn’t a one-couple-is-perfect-and-married-and-the-other-is-bad-and-unrequited situation, as some believe it is. both relationships are complex. rose was in a lot of pain resulting from personal issues, but pearl & greg both brought comfort to her in unique ways because of their differences. they now bring comfort to steven in their own, unique ways! i’m sure rose imagined that & she would be very proud of both of them.

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧ ⋆ ☁︎ ✩₊˚⋆⁺₊✧ ⋆ ☁︎

image description: sketch in black and white of greg, rose quartz, and pearl. greg looks behind him, appearing confused and he is standing up. rose and pearl are kneeling and pearl's face is in rose's hands as she looks up at her.

[ndotmov]

My Rose Quartz / Pink Diamond defense Initially a sociology report

@pearlhoardingdragon - since you wanted to know what I wrote for my Uni sociology class based on my previous post, here ya go:

"From Abused to “Abuser”: An Analysis of Pink Diamond from a Sociological Perspective

DISCLAIMER: While the fact that the Diamonds received a redemption arc, despite being intergalactic dictators, is a major gripe with fans (including myself) of Steven Universe, storyboard artist Hilary Florido stated in a podcast that the depiction of the Diamond Authority was suppose to be more akin to a "conservative rule-following family…” (Steven Universe Podcast, Volume 3, Episode 2 [EXTRACT▶], source). For the sake of the paper, I will be discussing the Diamond family dynamic from a “conservative rule-following family” standpoint and not from a corrupt Institutional perspective.

No matter what social, economic, or political background a person comes from, if they experience Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), they will develop some form(s) of trauma. Sometimes, victims of abuse, no matter the intent, harm others because of unhealed trauma, low-self esteem, and unhealthy survival habits. The case can be made for Pink Diamond (Rose Quartz), the deuteragonist of Steven Universe by Rebecca Sugar (she/they). Steven Universe is the story of the titular character, Steven Universe’s adventures on Earth as he fights monsters alongside the Crystal Gems. Gems are a sexless but female-presenting, alien race known for colonizing planets in their solar system and are ruled under “The Great Diamond Authority”, which consists of White Diamond, Yellow Diamond, Blue Diamond, and formerly Pink Diamond. Steven is the son of Pink Diamond (known as Rose Quartz) and throughout the show, we see Pink Diamond/Rose Quartz’s character develop backwards; the more Steven learns about the true identity of his mother, the more he is determined to no longer be like her, but to be better than her, to which Pink Diamond herself wanted for Steven to be. Because of this backwards development, many viewers misunderstand the complexities of Pink Diamond’s character and how she is neither evil nor good. However, despite her desire for breaking the generational cycle of abuse, Pink unintentionally is a part of the unhealthy Relationship Spectrum and inflicts trauma onto others due to her unhealed ACEs. While she may appear as an “abuser” to some, Pink Diamond is an example of a character defined by self-surveillance to the point of traumatizing others because she had a poor relationship with herself.

While the Diamonds had cared for and loved Pink, they were more concerned about maintaining their society’s status quo than understanding Pink, which led to Pink’s ACEs. Pink Diamond is undeniably a victim of Family Violence and power over relationships. The first instance of abuse we see Pink endure is in Jungle Moon when Pink Diamond is with Yellow Diamond and demands for a colony of her own, much like a child demanding for a new toy. She tells Yellow Diamond, a mother figure, that she deserves to have a colony like the rest of the Diamonds because she is just as important as them, but to her dismay, Yellow grabs her arm and tells her to act as expected of her. Yellow’s condescension is felt again in Familiar when Steven tries challenging Yellow into self-reflection, to which the former waves off Steven’s concerns and claims how “[Pink] always…[had]...a knack for making [others] laugh” and how Pink is “almost worth the trouble”, displaying a history of disregard and belittling towards Pink. Fans of the show often like to suggest that Blue Diamond is the “nicest” of the Authority, and perhaps a saving grace in Pink’s abuse, because of her explicit mourning for Pink when she thought Pink had been shattered, but fans fail to recognize that Blue Diamond was just as abusive as her counterparts because she actively upheld their family’s conservatism. As seen in Together Alone and Change Your Mind, whenever Pink acted in a way that was considered “unruly” by her parents, or the Diamond Authority’s standards, she would be thrown into an almost-windowless tower for long periods of time to “reflect” on her behavior. Due to the need that gems have for light, doing this would be akin to depriving a child of food as a punishment. As well, isolating a child only instills distrust in others, and the ability to be vulnerable with others is slowly diminished as the child matures. Pink Diamond had no support system and through deep-rooted memory, we see that it was Blue Diamond who would enter the tower and gaslight Pink Diamond for her “immature” behavior. Another instance we see her criticize Pink is in Can’t Go Back, in which Steven witnesses Blue Diamond scorn Pink Diamond for coming up with “excuses” for why she did not want to complete the colonization of Earth after begging for one for so long. While it seems Yellow and Blue Diamond are emotionally dismissive towards Pink, their acts of emotional negligence are overshadowed by White Diamond’s attitude towards Pink. In regards to White Diamond, we get subtle hints as to how White Diamond treated Pink in Legs from Here to Homeworld and Change Your Mind, when White Diamond senses Steven is back on Homeworld (their gem society), she brings him to her. Steven attempts to converse with White, but is constantly interrupted and condescendingly questioned if he “got everything out of [his] system”. Furthermore, White’s disdain for Pink is revealed in Change Your Mind when she admits that Pink is the part of her “she always wants to repress”. In this scenario, White Diamond’s language is reminiscent of a mother who sees too many of the features she dislikes about herself in Pink, and as a result, this bitterness leads to generational trauma and a lack of support for Pink Diamond’s upbringing. By the examples we’ve seen, whenever Pink Diamond tried advocating for herself, she was immediately shut down. 

This self-advocacy worsens when Pink Diamond assumes the form of Rose Quartz to momentarily experience life on Earth and soon recognizes that her initial colonization of the planet is taking life away, instead of creating something from nothing. As Pink Diamond, she tries turning towards Yellow and Blue Diamond for support, but the two turn their backs on Pink Diamond, causing her to resort to extreme measures for the sake of attention–starting a civil war. Pink Diamond’s sense of entitlement comes from a place of insecurity and neglect because in Familiar, prior to receiving a colony, Pink’s only role was to entertain (hence her jester-like outfit) and throw extravagant parties for the other diamond’s accomplishments. This example of self-surveillance established a deep level of resentment and insecurity towards her place in society because she had no accomplishments of her own, nor respect from her family, therefore is the reason why Pink Diamond begged for a colony of her own–she thought owning a colony would garner the respect and attention she’s been denied her whole life, and as such, did not consider the consequences of her actions. As Rose Quartz, however, Pink began to view life from a different perspective as she experienced new situations–like Garnet’s fusion in The Answer. 

In The Answer, we see Pink Diamond as Rose Quartz realize that the people around her experience sonder (e.g., Garnet who is composed of Ruby and Sapphire’s desire to live their lives together), causing her to shift her mission in protecting life on Earth to advocating for gems’ freedom to self-express, which is her genuine attempt at trying to break generational trauma by establishing something new. However, her method was extremely selfish because even though she lacked the proper support from the Diamonds, Pink Diamond still incited a civil war in order to protect her creation, causing numerous casualties, including those that she loved. This callous, unhealed nature displays an unspoken justification that some abuse victims that experience emotional dysregulation have: “I am hurt so everything else does not matter”. But below the surface of Pink’s selfishness lies self-hatred, to which is the true reason as to why she started a civil war; often ACEs create internalized narratives of being the abuser, causing self-blame to turn into self-hatred. Rose Quartz hated herself so much that she literally and metaphorically waged war on herself in order to be detached from her childhood trauma and subsequently, old identity. This harm towards herself extends towards others as she becomes a self-fulling prophecy of abuse, starting with her Pearls.

Before it was revealed that the Crystal Gem, Pearl was Pink Diamond’s Pearl, Pink Diamond had Pink Pearl. As briefly shown in Together Alone, Pink Pearl was Pink’s first servant. Pink Diamond did not view her Pearls as such and would often seek personal advice from them, which went against her status as a Diamond. However, while Pink Diamond was kind to her first Pearl, she would often have unchecked temper tantrums, to the point of one day physically lashing out at Pink Pearl because she was denied a colony (Volleyball, Steven Universe). The event was so traumatic to both Pink Diamond and Pink Pearl that we see a shift in attitude and appearance (respectively), with subtle hints as to how the Diamonds would weaponize Pink Diamond’s behavior against her—Blue Diamond threatening to “take away her new Pearl” in Change Your Mind, a classic example of authoritative abuse. Pink Diamond is afraid of treating her new Pearl like an individual for a while as she is fearful of repeating her past mistakes, but is given the opportunity to when she assumes the identity of Rose Quartz, an identity that was presented to her by Pearl (Now We’re Only Falling Apart). The two were intoxicated by this new form as it allowed Pink Diamond to escape her responsibilities. Her escapist behavior is most prominently seen in her relationship with Greg in We Need to Talk .

The episode We Need to Talk highlights Rose Quartz’s inability to view others as equals because of her identity issues. Rose first meets Greg in Story for Steven, and the two are enamored with each other and develop a superficial relationship. As stated by Pearl in We Need to Talk, Greg is one of many humans Rose has “played” with and like a phase, she’ll be over him eventually because he is ultimately not a gem and cannot “fuse” with her. While harsh, Pearl’s words are later confirmed to be true as Greg tries to deeply connect with Rose, but his attempt is laughed off with a “You’re a human…that’s not a problem, I love humans, you’re all so funny…”. From this line, we see that Greg is just another part of Rose’s escapist fantasy–at this point, she is free from the Diamonds and living out her life with her newly found family in Beach City. Rose truly loves Greg, but does not understand relationships with others beyond a surface level; when Greg challenges Rose to talk to him like a “real person”, Rose is stunned and admits she’s “not a real person”. For so long, Rose has relied on others for advice (the Diamonds; Pearl, and Garnet with her future vision and wisdom as mentioned in the episode and in Now We’re only Falling Apart) that she lacked confidence within herself, hence why she was taken aback by Greg’s confrontation. For the first time, someone made Rose look introspectively, which is healthy boundary setting, but unfortunately, when Rose begins to question herself and recognize her past wrongdoings, Greg admits in Steven’s Dream that he told her that what matters is who she is now, which is not unsound advice, but did not allow for Rose to continue taking personal accountability for the pain she’s inflicted.

 Given the fact that Rose Quartz is an escapist identity Pink Diamond assumed, a small portion of her still cared for the Diamonds, which ultimately caused the fallout between her and a trusted friend–Bismuth. Before Amethyst joined the Crystal Gems, Bismuth was a prominent member of Rose’s entourage. Bismuth, like many gems, was fed into this master narrative of the Diamond Authority without questioning Rose Quartz herself. Eager to end the war and tear down their oppressive establishment, Bismuth presented Rose the “Breaking Point”, which was a weapon meant to shatter the Diamonds; it was viewed as a “radical solution” and because Rose still felt an instinctual and complicated attachment to the Diamonds, as seen in victims of childhood trauma, she fought Bismuth and “bubbled” her, vowing to never speak of her again (until Bismuth was unbubbled by Steven in Bismuth). Silencing Bismuth was one of Rose’s/Pink’s worst moments and does qualify her under the abusive category because she deceived Bismuth, and the rest of the Crystal Gems, on who she really was. The argument for her abusive behavior is added onto when looking at the case of Spinel.

First debuting in the Steven Universe Movie, Spinel was made to be Pink Diamond’s coping mechanism, but as we know in Week 12: Interpersonal Violence, not all coping mechanisms are effective. Shortly after harming Pink Pearl and before receiving a colony, Pink Diamond fell into a depressive episode. Instead of assisting Pink in managing her emotions, the Diamonds gave her a Spinel, or an entertainer, as a gift. For a while, Pink enjoyed Spinel’s company, but had little regard for her, as eventually Pink received her own colony and new Pearl, causing her to only consider her own emotions and momentarily conform as a ruler as a means of survival and satisfying the desires of her parents (again, whenever she attempted to self-express, she was thrown into an almost-windowless tower or berated). Pink Diamond did not want to outright hurt Spinel, so she tricked the unknowing gem into “playing a game” for 6,000 years, or the entirety of Steven Universe post-Pink Diamond’s “shattering”. This abandonment was prior to Pink Diamond witnessing Garnet’s fusion in The Answer, so she truly believed gems other than Diamonds had no intellect or free will, aside from their basic programming. Despite Pink’s desire to spare Spinel from harm, and belief that Spinel could not be harmed, Spinel developed severe abandonment and attachment issues, vowing to harm the Earth and kill Steven. Eventually, Steven learns to understand Spinel’s backstory and talk out the situation (his main go-to method of healing and resolving conflict), which in itself magnifies the major issue fans have with Pink Diamond/Rose Quartz: they believe Rose Quartz created Steven as her scapegoat, which couldn’t be further from the truth..

Yes, throughout the events of Steven Universe, Steven unjustly had to deal with the repercussions of Pink Diamond’s actions, almost to the point of death on several occasions, but to say that fixing her mistakes was Steven’s purpose misconstrues who Rose Quartz became and why she had Steven in the first place. From what we know in Greg the Babysitter, Rose Quartz loved humans and envied their ability to change and grow up; she believed that was the greatest power of all. In both a selfish and selfless act, Rose gave up her physical form so that she could make something new and good out of her life on Earth. Given her lack of confidence in herself and self-hatred, Rose truly believed Steven could love her family in a way in which she never knew how because he was a “fresh start”. Rose would not have had steven if she knew the threat of Homeworld and the Diamonds was still imminent, hence her decision to settle down with Greg and record Steven a loving goodbye message in Lion 3: Straight to Video. We can also cite Rose’s consciousness as evidence that she did not have Steven so she could avoid her problems; in Storm in the Room, Steven challenges the contentious belief of Rose having him so he can deal with her problems. Because Rose gave up her physical form, but not consciousness, she was able to manifest to Steven in their room and rejected his insecurities by affirming that she did love him as everything in her tape to Steven was true. While I personally don’t agree with Steven accepting the fact that he does have to deal with her issues, it goes along with the show’s underlying theme of attempting to break the generational trauma cycle. Regardless of whether or not Steven was born, we see in The Return, The Cluster, and Reunited, the Diamonds were planning on destroying Earth from the inside out with a planted time bomb deep within the Earth’s mantle, and if that failed to work, personally deal with the remaining gems themselves. In this case, because Steven was unlike his mother and focused on confronting his issues head on, valued self-love and established healthy boundaries, he was able to save Earth and dismantle the Diamond Authority and their imperialist empire, something Pink Diamond was unable to do in her lifetime. 

To conclude, Pink Diamond was a deeply flawed individual that was an unintentional, self-fulfilling prophecy; she harmed the ones she cared for, but had done so in a way that evades responsibility and accountability–assuming a new identity. Her careless and inconsiderate nature formed because of the ACEs she had endured from the Diamond Authority, resulting in a deep level of self-hatred that fueled a civil war between her people and family. Not to mention, her unfinished business unjustly transferred onto Steven, but to her credit, Rose truly did not anticipate her past coming back to Steven–she did not anticipate much of the future without seeking advice from others. While her troubled upbringing is an explanation as to why Pink Diamond/Rose Quartz lied to and inflicted pain on others, including herself, it is not an excuse. Even though Pink Diamond was struggling to voice herself to the Diamonds, she could have taken accountability by being open about her past with the Crystal Gems before having Steven. However, despite her unhealthy behavior, Pink Diamond was not an active abuser as we must consider the entire context. Pink Diamond most closely resembles an unhealed victim of ACEs that struggled with identity issues, self-worth, and unhealthy views of the world around her, but tried handling the situations in her life the ways she knew how. 

Sources: 

(the rest of the sources were for my assignment and relating to my school)

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Zqn56rVWAoy-UjwDDSWrk-ydTmvNFJri2mitK2kQg9U/edit - Hilary Florido quote source."

[teethcritter]

who is your favourite su/adventure time storyboarder??

now THIS is a good question

for adventure time, Steve Wolfhard and Rebecca Sugar 100%, i also like Tom Herpich's though

for steven universe probably Hilary Florido :)

[digital-roots]

i cant get enough of yellow and blue pearl, god bless hilary florido's parody comics

[dog-d]

Steven Universe Movie: Opening Title from Stephane coedel on Vimeo.

©2019 CARTOON NETWORK

Directed by Rebecca Sugar Visualized by Chromosphere Storybook Sequence Boarded by Hilary Florido Design / Elle Michalka, Jasmin Lai Animation / Tommy Rodricks Compositing / Stéphane Coëdel, Natan Moura Production Coordinator / Bryan Wolfson Producer / Sarah Kambara Director of Production / Myles Shioda Creative Director / Kevin Dart

[zukepositivity]

Episode promotional art by @laurenzuke

[desnaa]

Rebecca’s Blue, Hilary’s Spinel, and Ian’s beautiful Onion

[crackedgemroom-26]

Pearl looking sassy to me.

[hilaryflorido]

I believe this is the last chunk of proper boarding I did on Steven (as opposed to edits/corrections.) The song had some changes rather late in the game which made it hard for Drew Green to have a proper go at it with the time allotted so I had the opportunity to give it a go.  

I boarding the diamonds singing to Steven in the opening of the movie but, if I remember correctly, this is the only song (not montage) in the the series proper I did. It’s cool to feel like I was able to board a little bit of everything in series.

I love Blue but she’s tricky to draw...

[harrypotterhousequotes]

GRYFFINDOR:

"PERIDOT: That could take forever! STEVEN: Exactly! So let's get started!"

--Lamar Abrams et al. (Steven Universe: The Movie)

[screamingatnoone]

It looks like PE pearl zine that Hilary Florido made was a hint to Blue liking art and Yellow liking looking at herself.

[love-takes-work]

Steven Universe Podcast MiniRecaps: Made of Honor & Reunited (Volume 3, Episode 2)

This is the second episode of the official Steven Universe podcast Volume 3, approaching new episodes with behind-the-scenes peeks into the show. This episode covers “Made of Honor“ and “Reunited” together, and includes three Crewniverse members (one board artist, one board supervisor, and one voice actor). The official description:

Michaela Dietz, who voices Amethyst, Storyboard Artist Lamar Abrams, and Storyboard Supervisor Hilary Florido return to talk about "Made of Honor" and "Reunited." Discover what it took to the get the very special "Reunited" two-parter made, what inspired all of the great wedding outfits, and how they all feel about the return of Bismuth! Plus, hear the crewniverse's thoughts on Steven's maturity, the importance of owning mistakes, and the changing dynamics of Steven and Garnet's relationship.

McKenzie opens with an introduction; Lamar, Hilary, and Michaela say hi, and they jump right into “Made of Honor.”

The group immediately gets excited over Bismuth's return and Lamar makes the "back in Bismuth" joke. McKenzie throws out a compliment for the next-level puns in these recent episodes. Lamar floats the idea that maybe they pull the "back in Bismuth" joke too much with her, but everyone else is like "no!" Hilary says "I want to cringe ALL THE TIME. I really like puns. And the worse they are, the better they are." Michaela really appreciated the new one about "Did you Bis-muth me?" Lamar likes when they're all coming up with puns and someone comes up with one that really works.

McKenzie points out how much Steven's conversation with Bismuth reveals about both of them, and wants to know if Lamar boarded that scene since he was one of the boarders on the episode. He says he did the scene in the bubble room when Bismuth is first released, and how there was a LOT of discussion of how their conversation should go because it was so important for people to know Steven felt he was sorry and had been wrong. The later discussion of Steven being a leader figure and Bismuth's place on the team was important to get right too. If we're sorry, what are we sorry for? HOW do we apologize? Lots of back and forth went into making sure Bismuth and Steven's relationship was okay and their friends would accept the new status quo. Hilary points out that they also had to figure out how much recap was necessary in a scene like that, and maybe some viewers might not know who Bismuth is since she was only really focused on in one episode. (This led to an excuse to say "None of your Bismuth!" which cracked everyone up.)

McKenzie loved the bit when Bismuth stuck her head under the lava to scream as a reaction to the Pink Diamond reveal, and she felt she had a similar reaction herself (minus the lava). Lamar said he really wanted her reaction to be big and was glad the lava was there to do that with. Lamar says since she took a lava shower in her debut episode, it's clear she loves lava and finds it relaxing. He clarifies that she may be "chill and down to earth" but she's also a very emotional character, and her anger is justified. Even if she's fired up about something, you can still find a way to talk to her. McKenzie thinks it made a lot of sense that she had such a reaction to Rose being Pink Diamond because that also explained her reaction to the Breaking Point. McKenzie then asks them to talk about how Bismuth viewed Steven as a leader. Michaela wonders aloud if Steven accepts that, and Lamar says no, it's really only in the back of his mind--it's not something he's grabbed onto consciously as if he's now seeing himself as the leader. Hilary jokes about how maybe Steven would accept it if he knew his name is the show's name.

Lamar says regardless of how Steven feels about it himself, he at least knows that's how BISMUTH feels, because everything about Bismuth is honest and there's never any guessing with her. Bismuth asking why the Crystal Gems are still together finally gives a voice to the question of what their mission is and how Steven is so instrumental in giving them a purpose and a direction. Hilary speaks up to say now we're seeing different sides of Garnet acting as the default leader working alongside Steven who has really stepped up. Hilary expresses that it's not that Garnet is NOT the leader--she is--but Steven is taking on new leadership qualities as he develops the maturity to handle them. Lamar agrees with the idea that "Steven is the glue," but expresses that Garnet being the default leader is just obvious because of who she is, while Steven's personality doesn't really match well with a leader's need to be forceful and commanding and giving orders. He also specifies that the dynamic where you hate your boss for giving you orders does not exist in the Crystal Gems. Garnet takes charge, but Steven binds them.

Michaela had a thought occur to her about why Pearl didn't step up in a leadership position once Rose was gone, and the others agree that they're sure she was a complete mess. Lamar points out that Pearl may have been in denial about Rose's permanent departure since she still believed Rose was trapped in a baby. Garnet, in contrast, mostly accepted that this was the new reality and the rest of the team needed her firm reminders and gentle comfort. McKenzie asks how Bismuth's inclusion will affect the team dynamic and Lamar immediately says, "It'll be fine!" The group welcomed her so warmly, and Lamar thinks it's like when you don't see someone for a while and then just pick up where you left off.

Hilary describes wanting Bismuth as a friend--so they could get into "just the right amount of trouble together." They joke about metalworking together with her. After some more laughing about sports, they decide to move forward into "Reunited."

McKenzie wants to jump right into talking about the wedding outfits. Besides the obvious adorableness of Ruby's dress and Sapphire's tux, Michaela says Peridot's dress was so cute and unexpected. Also discussed are Pearl's outfit left over from their Empire City trip, Bismuth's armor, and the humans' reaction to someone in armor at a wedding. "Looking sharp!" (Hilary claims ownership of that pun.)

McKenzie brings up how wonderful it is that Ruby and Sapphire get a chance to DECIDE so specifically to be together. Lamar then brought up that it was difficult to get this episode made. Hilary says part of that is the fact that it was a two-parter. And Lamar says that since it was a wedding involving Ruby and Sapphire, it "took some work" to do this--not because of any problems with the Crew, but there were some speed bumps getting approved to show what they wanted to show and they were thrilled to be able to do it WITHOUT EDITS. Lamar felt a lot of the show built up to this moment. McKenzie was so blown away by the beauty of the wedding kiss.

McKenzie also says she didn't realize how much she'd been missing Garnet, and when Ruby and Sapphire finally fused and Garnet returned, she felt "everything was right with the world." Even if you love Ruby and Sapphire, Garnet leaves such a void when she's not there.

Hilary asks if Garnet is McKenzie's favorite couple, and she says they're basically the default "everyone's" favorite couple. Michaela loves the callback of Bismuth whining that Ruby and Sapphire are her favorite couple in "Made of Honor" after Steven said the same thing in "The Question." Bismuth crying when it's time to bring out the rings was another favorite moment.

And then . . . the action! McKenzie runs down the list of things that showed up in the second half of the episode--Blue and Yellow Diamond, the Cluster, the arm wrestling. . . .  Lamar wasn't sure if the arm wrestling was Jeff or Miki who boarded it, but it was Rebecca's idea that they were supposed to fight somehow. McKenzie says she loved seeing Garnet stand up to the Diamonds, after that encounter so many years ago when Blue Diamond threatened shattering as punishment for fusion. And it was still really meaningful even though it was also a ruse for her to hold Blue Diamond still so she could get a barn dropped on her head. So satisfying.

McKenzie really enjoyed Lapis's return as well. She wondered if Lapis slamming the barn into the beach was a callback at all to Steven's suggestion that she could bring the barn to the beach and be neighbors with him. McKenzie's sad that the barn is wrecked. Lamar also thought it was "amazing" that Lapis could resist Blue's sadness wave because she's felt worse. Michaela thinks Blue's sadness was easy to overcome because she's been so low for so long. McKenzie was impressed that Lapis had such strength because that wave totally incapacitated all the other Gems.

McKenzie brings up how great Connie was too, since she was unaffected by the sadness wave and could attack with Lion. Hilary and Lamar confirm that it only affects Gems (and half-Gems). Michaela brings up the weird noise the Cluster makes and how it's really spooky. Lamar refers to them as "spirits" and "souls," and that you SHOULD be scared. McKenzie loved the thumbs up from the Cluster. She also loved when Steven goes into his psychic state, and asked the guests to talk about deciding to do that. Hilary quotes the "classic psychic ghost situation" and Michaela makes a reference to the pottery wheel from the movie Ghost. Lamar said it was a challenge to show the internal mental battle while still showing the audience that a fight was in progress.

Michaela asks what inspired that weird head space and mentioned how struck by it she was. Hilary said it just needed to be clear it was an internal space, and she thinks Jeff boarded it, while she was just getting started as a storyboard supervisor on that episode. Michaela thought it was reminiscent of a video game. It had a void behind it and was similar to the psychic space they used when depicting the Cluster. McKenzie thought the depiction of Lapis getting poofed in that space so we'd understand what happened was really interesting. She felt bad for Peridot and Lapis getting taken out of that fight, but everyone agrees it's just part of being a Crystal Gem. And by this point the show has desensitized us a little to Gems getting poofed. We know they're all right.

McKenzie really liked seeing the Gems' internal thoughts when Steven was experiencing them in that space, and how he encouraged each Crystal Gem on his way to confront the Diamonds. Hilary points out that even though they've learned a lesson through the act of dealing with the fallout from the truth about Rose, they are still processing--they are still learning to deal with it. Steven having to remind them and ground them is not surprising.

The group has some further discussion about how facing an issue doesn't mean you've just solved it because you addressed it once. Michaela loves that the characters are so multidimensional because giving voice to a character becomes easier when they're "accessible." Hilary elaborates on how it mirrors real life--it's not like in real life you face an issue with your mom and then "it's solved now." It's probably going to be ongoing, as well the residual feelings from when it was unsolved even if the issue itself is improving.

The final words of the podcast have McKenzie describing the premiere of the podcast's volume 3 and saying "see you guys next Thursday," but I'm not sure what this refers to since Volume 3 premiered the previous week and the episodes don't seem to be getting released on Thursdays. *shrug*

[Archive of Steven Universe Podcast Summaries]

[tylerspicknell]

Things I Would Like To See In Steven Universe #38

Now that Spider-Man: Into The Spider-verse is a super popular Golden Globe winner it'll give Rebecca and the rest of the Crewniverse a reason to introduce the concept of a Multiverse in the series. Like maybe Steven would get to meet other versions of himself from other realities where instead of being the son of Pink Diamond they were the sons of the rest of the Authority (Yellow Diamond, Blue Diamond, and of course White Diamond).

Of course, they are vastly different then our Steven and eventually become his enemy where in a multi-episode arc (which of course would be promoted as an event by Cartoon Network) Steven must travel to other universes where the Steven Authority (as I like to call them) try to take over the entire multiverse with some kind of machine and Steven must travel to the universes that have pieces of that machine to stop them and in the process team-up with the Steven's of those universes (we may even get to meet NORA Universe or maybe even revisiting the universe of the pilot or best of all an animated version of Hilary Florido's High-School AU). Eventually, there would be a tremendous battle where the good Steven's of the multiverse go to war against the Steven Authority and the evil Steven's (and maybe the Crystal Gems of the multiverse would join them). I would call this event: Into The Steven-Verse.