#i have less patience for lars than I do for ronaldo

[ask-whitepearl-and-steven]

Instead of saying something that will happen in the AU could you say something that won't happen?

Hmmm........... WD!Steven and Lars will never be friends.

[kristinarambles]

Theme Song

Analysis One:

When I first started watching this show it was to find something my oldest daughter [who was three at the time] and I could watch together. We had been watching Gravity Falls but I knew it was coming to an end and I was pretty tired of Shimmer and Shine and Daniel Tiger and whatnot [not that there’s anything wrong with them and in fact I like them, just was over it lol]. Disney movies over and over I can do but I wanted something new that I could really get into. My sister loved it and I saw screenshots and stuff all over Tumblr so I was curious. I sought my sisters referral and she told me it was beautiful but might contain content that Andrea was too young to understand/comprehend, but even so it was made so it would still entertain her and contained a lot of themes that would reinforce the type of things I was trying to teach her as a mother. Now my youngest who was a babe-in-arms when we started has reached about the same age as Andrea was when we started watching and it's all of our big thing that we watch together and love so much. It met and exceeded all of my expectations in every way. The artwork and music is beautiful, I've added several of the songs to my "playlist" of lullaby's that the children request for me to sing to them. The girls adore the characters, Andrea even named "her” dog after Pearl [she’s even got the sharp nose true to form, but as a counterpoint likes to eat trash and roll in the mud]. They play games set to the story, talk about it all the time, cheer them on as we watch and even cry. It keeps us engaged and guessing and even my husband doesn't mind it and will occasionally watch the new episodes with us. We love how excited the kids get about them lol.

I was going to just jump into the first episode, but I thought I should do a little breakdown of the theme songs first,the old one from the first season and the one we've been using since the beginning of season two until presumably we'll get a new one at the start of season six. Also forgive me for not having pictures, but I don’t want to be stealing pictures even with references or tags and I have two children so I don’t have the time or patience to be going and getting my own screengrabs.

First I think it's interesting that in the old theme Pearl and Amethyst [Amethyst pulling out/down her shirt] both show off their glowing gems but you can only see one of Garnet’s as she adjusts her shades. Steven's can be seen glowing until he finishes his little somersault and his shirt settles. I like how the next few flashes show his youth [and immaturity] in comparison to the Gems as well. After seeing the theme we've had the last couple of years so many times I really love the parallels and changes. How when the warp pad goes off Steven just passively floats upside down, he makes a face when Garnet ruffles his hair [which is one of my favorite of their earlier interactions], running to catch up to them and then leaping to get in the lead. It gives us a real feel for their relationship but in an abstract way. Steven is the kid brother, to be protected and sheltered, maybe even a little annoying. They love him, but he isn't really a member of the team, he's just a tag-along. Then it evolves, they start in the temple but it appears that they're at the galaxy warp in the second theme. They focus on the Gems faces now and not their gems. He is now the one who activates the warp, with a hint of the Diamond Salute, everyone ruffles his hair while he smiles [with star eyes no less] because he knows how much they love him. Then the running with Steven trying to catch up turning to all of them just posing one by one with their weapons, but still as a team. We get a nice shot of Connie as the van drives through Beach City, she is front and foremost from our point of view. Lars and Sadie, Mr. Smiley, the Cool kids, Kiki and Nanefua are all there but Connie is the most important. Lots of people have pointed out the change in her appearance in the theme, and it's certainly the most obvious but I like how subtly everyone else changed too. Lars goes from throwing himself against the window to leaning comfortably, Sadie even looks more comfortable. The Cool Kids are now hanging out in front of The Big Donut instead of on the curb across the street. Onion is on top of it when originally it seemed that Mr. Smiley was about to toss him out. Looking back he was probably just handing him off to Sour Cream, but we didn't know he was his big brother back then. Jamie has been added, although off to the side sulking [of course]. Also added are Mayor Dewey, Kofi, and the Frymans. As funny as it is to see Ronaldo being flustered at the van driving by instead of Lars, my heart is warmed by PeeDee hanging out smiling on his father's shoulders and waving at Steven. It might be more symbolism that Ronaldo is trying to gather up his papers but pauses to watch the van go by. He has a tendency to let his theories run away with him, but Steven has consistently set him straight.

All that being said, Connie's transformation is arguably the most important other than Steven himself, although in light of Pink Lars and Rock Star Sadie not necessarily the most drastic in appearance. She is still on the outskirts, but it's no longer because she's an outsider as evidenced by her running after the van instead of just holding her hat in place due to the wind made by it passing her. I love the contrast in her traditionally feminine skirt to her more utilitarian shorts and clutching her book and holding onto her hat turning into still holding the book but loosely by her side instead of tightly to her chest and resting her sword comfortably on her shoulder. I really identified with early Connie and her escape into books. As a Navy brat I moved a lot, and being the oldest I had a lot of responsibility I didn't really want. When we first meet her in Bubble Buddies and she doesn't even notice Steven because she was so into her reading, I felt that on a very visceral level. I wish I could have found real magic like she did lol. Her books are still a part of her, but she’s grown so much, trained to be strong and skillful, earning her place on the team. I don’t think we ever actually see her wear a hat in show, and she loses her literal rose tinted lenses and adds in her glow bracelet showing off her and Steven’s friendship.

Greg is finally shown at the end, representing Steven's human needs with a grill haha, then in a final bit of symbolism in the first theme we see each of the Gems get their own frame with their name superimposed above them. They each get a slightly different time of day and a signature little move to show us who they are without saying a word. Garnet reclining in her lawn chair and only moving her foot at sunset. Amethyst flipping her hair at twilight with the moon behind her. Pearl adjusting her skirt as she sits in front of the fully night sky filled with diamond shaped stars. Steven eating a hot dog with the temple at sunrise behind him. In the new theme however they gather around Steven after a casual shot of the temple. Connie runs to join them, Greg relaxes up against a napping Lion. He strums his guitar as Connie turns smiling. Garnet lowers herself to sit behind Steven, Amethyst in her enthusiasm slides to be beside him, Pearl kneels down neatly They all belong there, as a team. They are all still individuals with their own personalities, strengths and weaknesses, but they communicate and fit together so much better now. The title is over all four of them instead of just Steven.

Steven says his powers allow him to connect to people, and sure that's a big part of his gem powers but I think his human half has a really great power too. He has the ability to make people connect to each other. His empathy brings all the people he cares about together and over the course of the series he's been able to dissect and help them solve the issues keeping them apart as well as deal with their own self images and trauma.

There's been a lot of speculation about a new theme, and although initially I was unhappy with the idea and content with the current theme I am coming around. I was firmly against the idea of Rose being Pink and that turned out better than I ever could have hoped so I'm fully trusting in Rebecca Sugar now. Especially with those scenes at the very end of Change Your Mind. The pan over the Crystal Gems, Off Colors and the humans mingling on the beach with the Diamonds looking over them. The change in lyrics about peace instead of fighting while all of the newly uncorrupted gems reunite in the fountain, and the fact that Steven leaves out his own name to make sure he mentions that there's more of them. And then the Crystal Gems in front of the temple, all of them. Lapis and Peridot have officially joined all in, Bismuth is back for good, Connie, Lion and Greg still in their rightful places, even Pumpkin and Cat Steven. It's all just so wonderful, if we do get an updated theme I'm sure it will be just as lovely, I'm trying not to have expectations although the parallels seem to indicate that at least that last bit in front of the temple will be integrated.

[glowyjellyfish]

Okay, in the last three weeks, I have 1. caught up on Steven Universe, 2. rewatched a random scattering of Important Episodes, 3. obsessed more than is perhaps necessary, and 4. rewatched all the episodes in the proper order (including Political Power, that scamp. But not including Say Uncle, because non-canon.) I made a half-hearted attempt at examining the written Gem language (I require a genuine rosetta stone), I have read many theories, and I have some vague notions of possible theories and observations of my own floating around in my head. I’m not sure whether to try to keep this going because it’s so much fun, or if I should let it go and find another fandom to obsess over during the hiatus. In the meantime:

First things first, Lars. I love him to pieces. I mean, I already enjoyed him in all his teenagery glory, but then they went and gave him character development, let him be awesome, and killed him and brought him back from the dead! That’s a surefire way to get me to love a character. I am super on board for seeing episodes of Lars and the Off-Colors on Homeworld, episodes with Steven on Earth telling people Lars was awesome and collecting things to bring him, and eventually presumably an arc involving rescuing Lars. (and, while we’re at it, bringing the Off-Colors back to live on the Crystal Gem Farm Commune, because yesss) I also want to see him develop every single one of Lion’s powers, and when he gets back to Earth I want everything.

Secondly, Steven. Oh my god Steven. Talk about character development. Talk about Break The Cutie. When I started watching this show, I concluded he was the literal definition of a cinnamon roll, but there is a lot of heartbreaking nuance if you pay close attention and watch too many times. Basically he is just the best kid and I hate it whenever people make him feel bad or when he goes through terrible things he wants to bury or when he has feelings about his mom or when certain millenia-old space rock moms who should really know better rely on him to be their emotional center. I mean, I love it, because character development and feelings, but it also breaks my heart.

I also really enjoy when some of Steven’s powers are low-key and not really spelled out for the audience. Like his strength--that really snuck up on the show, and he doesn’t even seem to notice that anything is unusual with it. And, having just watched it a little bit ago, I noticed that even the Off-Colors were impressed with his strength, so he’s probably stronger than the average gem. I’m guessing it’s just the normal strength of a Quartz--or at least the strength Rose Quartz possessed--just compressed into a small boy. And--this one I gathered from a theory I read somewhere--his empathy. Magical, psychic empathy. Once you label that as a power, you can suddenly connect the dots between several random apparently different powers he’s shown. Connecting with people who are having particularly strong emotions in dreams? Knowing how the lighthouse gem felt without understanding why? Getting sucked into the collective consciousness of a billion shards who are all freaking out? It can probably even explain how he took over Lars’ body. And he’s clearly using it in conjunction with his normal, natural sympathy and compassion and capacity for understanding and patience, so it’s not easy to tell where the magic begins, but it’s very noticable once you start looking for it, and I love that.

Some observations regarding theories:

-I don’t think it makes any sense for Pearl to have belonged to Pink Diamond, at least not by the time of the shattering--at the trial, it’s mentioned that Pink’s court all said they saw Rose, in between the statements about her Pearl. If our Pearl ever belonged to Pink Diamond, it was hundreds of years before the shattering, and Pink Diamond would have to have gotten a new one since then. Therefore, it seems incredibly unlikely that our Pearl would have been able to get close, or that the statements about “where was her Pearl?” are actually referring to our Pearl. Possible, yes; likely no. I like the ideas about our Pearl formerly belonging to White Diamond, but so far we have little to no evidence that White Diamond was particularly involved with Earth, so why would Pearl even be there? I’m also not sure that Pearl’s appearance is any good as evidence, since we don’t really know how Pearls are created or how they are customized. Is there a standard Pearl model that can be altered by her owner later, or are they all custom-designed to match? Or both? We desperately need a Pearl flashback.

-I am 100% sure that Pearl was involved with the shattering, and was probably present. She doesn’t like to talk about it to the point of denial, Garnet said it was upsetting her, and when she was expressing her skepticism that the zoo still existed, she said “since we”. It’s not unreasonable to conclude that she meant something along the lines of “the zoo was probably destroyed, since we shattered Pink Diamond and it was hers.” Building off this notion, I suspect that Rose shattered Pink Diamond in order to save Pearl, or something along those lines, but without even knowing who Pearl was enslaved to when she rebelled, it’s hard to tell whether this is just crazy speculation.

-All we can say for certain about Rose’s involvement in the shattering is that she was there, and her sword could not have been the murder weapon, but whether she did it or not she accepted the blame for it. I think that even if she was not physically responsible, she at least considered herself responsible for it in some way.

(By the way, I like to think that Steven is more or less a reincarnation of his mom, and that therefore you can extrapolate her behavior from his. Accounting for differences in brain chemistry and life experience, of course. I’m not entirely sure the show agrees with me, but I think what we’ve seen of Rose so far supports it pretty well. So I think there is literally no way that Rose would have ambushed Pink Diamond and murdered her, even if the circumstances allowed it, even if it was the best way to end the war. I think Rose would have done it to protect someone else, or as a last resort and then only after attempting diplomacy and never as a surprise assassination attack, or someone else did it but she accepted the responsibility.)

(I also find it deeply amusing to imagine Rose doing all the Steven things, but that’s beside the point)

-I also don’t think Yellow Diamond is responsible for the shattering, although that’s mostly just a gut feeling that I can’t really back up. And I don’t know why anybody would leap to the conclusion that Pink killed herself or faked her death in order to somehow protect Earth; that just seems silly to me. Just because Pink wanted to preserve some humans in a zoo doesn’t mean she wasn’t on board with turning Earth into a hollowed-out colony. Those plans Peridot found were on her base, if I recall correctly. I could see her being sentimental in comparison with the other Diamonds, but she was still in charge of a colony that would wipe out the native population. Does Homeworld have a term with the same implications as Manifest Destiny?

WILD SPECULATION: Pink Diamond was killed by her Pearl. Our Pearl, who did not ever belong to Pink Diamond (but may have belonged to White, I haven’t decided), was once gung-ho about freeing her sister Pearls and was able to win Pink Pearl to the cause, but did not expect a Bismuth-like vehemence. It was covered up because it could not be well-known that a Pearl turned on her owner, and Rose and Pearl both felt responsible. ...I don’t think that fits entirely, but I like it, and it’s a different avenue of theory to explore.

-Finally, the timeline. I though before this rewatch that it was confusing and possibly contradictory, but it’s not that bad. You can’t exactly pinpoint when each thing happened, but you can get the gist of it and it makes sense. I mean, I thought Jasper had emerged before the shattering of Pink Diamond, but her dialogue in Earthlings implies that she emerged immediately after, which would make sense, the shattering would be a good reason to rush the Beta Kindergarten. I am actually more curious about the ages of all the townies, to be honest. How old exactly are Lars and Sadie and Ronaldo and the Cool Kids? Is Peedee older or younger than Steven? (...I like to think that he’s a little younger. Because it amuses me to think that he looks and acts like he’s a little older than Steven, but is actually a year or two younger than him.)

Whew. I am positive I’ve had more Steven Universe thoughts than this, but maybe I will recall them in the future.