#my su analysis

[love-takes-work]

The first thing Steven wants when he discovers his mom's room grants wishes is a bed.

Interestingly, when he encounters Pink's room for the first time. . . .

He immediately wants a bed, and also gets one.

But it comes about in a very different way, doesn't it!

The version of Rose's Room in the Temple creates things on Steven's spoken command (mostly), but it does so out of clouds. He can see and interact with the items in the room, but they "aren't real." They can't provide sustenance.

Very interesting that both rooms belonging to Pink/Rose at different times in her life had the "immediate generation of what she says she wants" motif but in different ways. Pink's room was powered by Pebbles who listened for her commands and tried to create them as quickly as they could (in an albeit clunky way sometimes), but everything they built was real and solid and functional. Rose's Room was elegant and beautiful and fueled entirely by imagination . . . but ultimately wasn't real and could not be sustained in the real world.

An awful lot like some of the uncomfortable truths about Rose's real life.

[love-takes-work]

Yeah, I thought it was pretty clear in the show that Pearl was NOT in love with Pink Diamond at first. There was none of that tenderness or "inappropriate" fantasizing or affectionate blushing until Pink reinvented herself with support from Pearl. From that point on, Rose became a whole new person, not Pearl's boss whom she serves. Pearl even sometimes forgets that Pink is a Diamond when she's Rose.

Canon has been enough to support this, but the Crew has even discussed it one of their podcasts. In the Steven Universe Podcast Volume 3: Episode 1: Heart of the Crystal Gems, the Crew discusses how Pink Diamond/Rose Quartz has a kind of Bruce Wayne/Batman vibe, and Pearl is Alfred if Alfred was in love with Batman. They say it's very important to note that we’re talking about Batman here, NOT Bruce Wayne.

When discussing rose and pearl’s relationship, rarely anyone seems to compare them with blue and yellows relationship with their pearls. Blue and yellow pearls don’t love their diamonds. They don’t even like them. Therefor, its fair to assume that pearls obsessive infatuation with rose is unique to her, and not the result of programming.

Not to mention, rose’s persona was in part created by pearl. Rose is her fantasy, her wish fulfillment. In fact, Pearl only started to love pink after she became rose. And of course, rose is ultimately a plot device for Pearls arc first, and her own character second.

Which is why it’s so frustrating to see people reduce pearl to being roses victim. Not only is it infantilizing, but it’s not nearly as interesting as this pygmalion effect that pearl has.

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Gaslighter? I hardly know her!

[First] Prev <–-> Next

[rosenotactuallyquartz]

so many people emphasize the importance of mental health representation in fiction, & i completely agree. likewise, many feel sympathy for characters showing typical symptoms of mental illness—the ones that are often talked about openly, such as feeling nervous & sad.

but what about the characters showing more stigmatized symptoms? the behaviours that are complicated, the trauma responses that aren’t talked about often?

countless steven universe fans refer to pearl as “insane” for being self-sacrificing. but they say this without acknowledging the fact that she was carrying many distressing secrets at the time & she grew up in a society where all pearls were seen as replaceable, inferior objects.

rose is impulsive & she lies often, which many fans quickly label as “malicious,” ignoring the anxiety, self-hatred, guilt, & trauma that may have influenced her habits & behaviours.

pearl & rose had a mutually codependent relationship with a handful of other ongoing issues, & therefore some people claim that “they never loved each other.” some say rose’s unstable relationships are because she’s “incapable of love,” completely missing the fact that she was a very loving person who didn’t love herself.

pearl is called “petty” for flaunting her relationship with rose in we need to talk. but what if showing off her boldness was easier than admitting her fear of being replaced—just like being extra intimidating on the battlefield forced homeworld gems to take her seriously instead of laughing at her for being “just a pearl”? talking about her insecurities likely made pearl feel as small as she did on homeworld.

unhealed wounds don’t just hurt the person—they can hurt others & strain relationships too.

this doesn’t mean we should excuse everything pearl & rose have done or claim they’ve done nothing wrong

that’s harmful in its own way; we shouldn’t say that those actions are positive & don’t need to be worked on in any way.

at the same time, these issues don’t make them bad people, they’re just… people

that’s why i love them.

they displayed all kinds of trauma responses & symptoms of mental illnesses, not just the ones that are discussed often or stereotypical or considered “acceptable.”

lots of us look back at the times when we were struggling & we regret a lot of the things we did. it’s important to recognize when we were wrong so we can grow & take accountability, but it’s also important to have self-compassion & understand that many of those regrettable actions were reflections of our pain, not our character. this is why we regret them & why growth is possible. this is why we can say that we are filled with love that we’ve always had—it’s just difficult to properly show that love when we’re not only filled with pain, but overwhelmed by it.

i have so much compassion for pearl + rose. they’re both extremely caring & strong and they have so much love for each other—that’s who they are. their pain is also very complex & they have mental health struggles. nothing is glorified, nothing is brushed aside, and their healing is nonlinear & just as complicated as everything they’ve been through. i think that’s amazing. having empathy for characters like pearl and rose can make you learn a lot about yourself.

they’re not meant to be angels or villains—they’re meant to be something much better: complicated & relatable

[anthurak]

I’ve been thinking recently about how a key aspect of Steven Universe is that Steven is placed in the narrative position of what might normally be filled by a standard fantasy-hero-shounen-protagonist-guy, while EVERYTHING about Steven as a character is all about going in basically the exact OPPOSITE direction of that archetype. To the point where the one time he actually TRIES acting like some typical shounen-protag to solve his problems in Future, it’s presented as this gross, twisted perversion of his character that goes horribly, HORRIBLY wrong. Basically, the show makes it clear that Steven trying to act like your standard ‘cool, badass anime hero guy’ is very much a BAD and WRONG thing. Like in anime terms, Steven is essentially a Magical Girl placed in a position that was meant for a Shounen Hero. Or in a more specific reference building off of the show’s numerous references to Dragon Ball Z, Steven essentially represents a take on Gohan who’s kindness and pacifism are ultimately allowed to be presented and emphasized as a strength rather than a weakness.

Yet the flipside of all this is that even in their few appearances, has anyone else noticed that Stevonnie shows quite a few of these ‘cool, badass anime hero guy’ traits? They have a cool sword, they race cars, they fight space battles in a starfighter, they get badass fight scenes like getting to 1v1 Jasper and get to say cool one-liners. And the funny thing is, NONE of these are ever presented as somehow ‘wrong’ for the character. Heck, going off of the same references to Dragon Ball Z, Stevonnie has a bunch of design similarities to Future Trunks of all characters, one of THE iconic ‘cool, badass anime hero guys’.

And I think that’s really interesting.

Like in-universe, it says some interesting things about how Fusion works. That Steven himself trying to act like a cool, badass anime hero guy is a BAD thing because it leads him to start rejecting many of the core aspects of who he is as a person, namely his kindness and empathy.

Whereas Stevonnie is their OWN person, distinct from Steven and can exhibit these traits just fine because they clearly got them from Connie. They clearly haven’t abandoned or rejected any of the core aspects of Steven such as his kindness and empathy, they just ALSO have all this other stuff from Connie as well and can exhibit these traits without actually losing anything. They are after all, everything from Steven and Connie and more.

And narratively, I think it makes for a fun inversion. Steven represents this big subversive take on the typical fantasy hero archetype by being this young BOY with a big, heroic destiny who is defined by his kindness, empathy, emotions, a general disdain for solving problems through fighting and generally rejecting the typical ‘cool, badass, anime hero guy’ traits.

So it’s actually rather fitting that it is the non-binary, intersex, very-much-NOT-cisgender-male, fusion Stevonnie who ends up getting to do more traditional ‘cool, badass, anime hero guy’ stuff. Who in turn got much of those traits NOT from Steven, but from his best-friend/partner/girlfriend Connie.

And I just think that’s pretty cool, you know? Particularly when imagining a permafused Stevonnie. Like I think its fun to imagine an alternate take on the later seasons of the show, or just post-series, with a permafused Stevonnie doing more traditional anime-protagonist stuff that would otherwise feel out of place with Steven, but doesn’t feel out of place with them.

For example, Steven never went through any kind of big ‘training arc’ like so many anime heroes because that just doesn’t fit who he is. Steven is not a ‘fighter’, he always tries to talk things out before things turn to combat. So it makes sense that he wouldn’t directly pursue training to become a better fighter on his own.

But Connie DID. And of course that wasn’t presented in and of itself a bad thing. Which as an aside, is interesting for Steven as his joining was more to support Connie rather being presented as something he needed to do himself.

And speaking of fighting, this is another place where the differences between Steven and Connie make Stevonnie in turn all the more INTERESTING. Because whereas Steven isn’t a fighter, Connie very much IS. The symbolic sword to Steven’s shield.

Now where this gets interesting is that in practice, Connie generally follows Steven’s lead. We see a number of instances wherein Connie likely wants to or even is full-on about to launch into a fight, but backs down because Steven wants to talk things out. Connie may be a fighter, but she also generally defers to Steven.

But what happens when these two aspects are coexisting in the same person? What happens when Connie’s preference towards fighting isn’t deferring to Steven’s preference towards non-violence, but is rather exhibited right alongside it? And because of that is seen by Stevonnie as a much more valid option?

What does Stevonnie’s response to conflict look like when they’re much more of a fighter like Connie, while still retaining Steven’s intrinsic kindness and empathy?

Personally, I imagine Stevonnie actually being a fair bit like Ruby Rose, ie; someone who often tries to talk things out, while also not hesitating to jump into a fight if people aren’t willing to negotiate. Perhaps even reading the situation/people enough to get a preemptive strike off.

And all that is just one aspect of what I think makes Stevonnie so compelling as a character.

[kingsandbastardz]

MLC's prop department has been having fun

Tinfoil hat time. I've been tracking the movement of Li Lianhua's pillows at the Lotus Tower (yes I know, crazy)

Anyway, here are my findings that I think will be interesting to know:

(Episode 1) We are given 1 shot of a pillow. It's rust colored with a white center - he uses it in his own bed.

(Episode 8) We now see 2 pillows. One white one on the bed (llh's) and a grey-bluish colored one on the side dresser. Being that Fang Duobing has been staying there, I have assigned this color to him.

(Episode 13) We still see the grey-blue pillow that I assume is FDB's. He was using the white one here because LLH's put him in his own bed after he was injected with gangchi

(Episode 19) This looks similar to the grey-blue pillow, but I've dubbed it blue-grey because it's more blue and it's darker. Which means this is not FDB's bedding, but who is it for?

(Episode 20, images A and B) Ah here we go. It's Di Feisheng's. In the second image, you can see that he is a messy blanket folder.

(Episode 27) Post A-Fei getting taken away, and post-fdb breakup, LLH passes out and wakes up several days later. Su Xiaoyong has found him and has apparently been nursing him. I assume she helped herself to his prettiest pillowcase while she made herself at home. At first I thoguht she gave him his own white pillowcase, but on closer inspection, it looks grey. So I can't tell if it's a lighting/color-filter situation or if Su Xiaoyong actually grabbed fdb's pillow when dragging LLH to bed.

(Episode 28) The upstairs room - This is while they're traveling to the city and Su Xiaoyong is still with him. As she's a young unmarried woman, I assume for propriety's sake, he moved himself temporarily to the upstairs bedroom while he's still feeling ok, so you see his white pillow, fdb's grey-blue, and dfs' blue-grey. Yes, they look like the same shade under different lighting - but they're actually under the same strength shadow. So one is a full shade darker than the other.

(thanks @difeisheng I completely missed this one)

(Episode 40) No spare bedding on the side counter. FDB was sleeping in the chair against the table. LLH has been alone.

Conclusion:

LLH color codes his pillows for people who stay over

So in the previous episode 19 DFS had told LLH that he would come find him later. Apparently, that was enough for LLH to get out some extra bedding. Just in case. And then DFS shows up with amnesia immediately in the next episode.

Clearing out his loose bits and bobs wasn't just about people or situations, but included packing away all the extra bedding

FDB and DFS (With and without amnesia) totally shared the upstairs bed without murdering each other at night. Somehow. despite the bed being tight enough they would probably end up cuddling at some point. And then never spoke about it during the day. LMAO.

[frecklenog]

there’s something about how most new worlds were born of wishes (“i wish the lich never existed” resulting in farmworld and things like “i wish simon never put on the crown” or “i wish finn and jake would never get old and die” being possible wishes for babyworld and vampworld respectively) and simon and betty playing out a little what-if of what it might’ve been like to go to australia together and the futility of it. will happen. could happen. did happen. didn’t.

there’s something about fionna and cake’s world in turn being born of a wish just to be. to live and to see life through. something about the vast and insignificant miracle that is the human experience. (“you’re going to be something extraordinary — you’re going to be a human being.” “you are an experience. make sure it’s a good experience.” “you were a wonderful experience.” “i think i was born to hang out. and love a lot.”)

there’s something about shermy and beth technically still coming down the pike from miles away. (will happen.) about all these stories that started so long ago still being told, still being happy in the end, still being worth telling even if you already know how all the songs go. (happening.) about how at the end of the day the past is immutable. you can never cross the same river twice and you never go home. you’ll never grow past this pain if you don’t let go. (happened. “it seems unforgiving when a good thing ends,”) about how simon thought golbetty was going to swallow him and free him of his anguish over her but instead she sent him tumbling back into his own world, into a life rich with love and laughter that makes his agonies worth it. (will happen. “you and i will always be best friends.”)

[itswhatyougive]

I saw some people be like "gweeehhhhhhh Steddie shippers built that whole ship in their minds, it's fanon only, they had no chemistry in the show, they barely had any connection at all "

And it's actually really funny, because I humor them and think, "hmm, was it all in my mind all along?" and rewatch S4.

Then I feel soooooo validated upon rewatching. It actually gets even better and more obvious every time I see it.

[jin-zixun]

ok ok ok ok ok ok ok so... the whole thing where JGY has different smiles for different people... And one of them is just for lan xichen, and then he's got one for 'useful people'. And that sounds a whole hell of a lot like su she, su she is the most useful of people and he'd be happy enough with that. I mean, that's definitely the smile he gives him in their first on screen meeting in jinlintai so... makes sense right? I mean... JGY would want to encourage SMS to continue being useful, right?

So uh... How does JGY smile... What smiles does he give Su She... Literally any other time than that first meeting...? I mean lock in ur answers now I guess because I brought pics under the cut.

Oh. He doesn't. He doesn't smile. At Minshan.

Because smiles are performative and he doesn't need to perform? He doesn't need to worry? He doesn't need to wear a mask? Because this is an aspect of his life that has caused him pain at having to hide away and deceive and he can afford to drop with one person who won't in turn drop him? Because he... Doesn't really like Minshan? ...It's probably not that one.

IDK I just think it's neat! Crunchy little analysis tidbits in there. Because yeah it's kinda easy to assume one thing based on what's said, I mean who else does that refer to so well, but... Actual story here seems to be a lot more interesting.

(there are a couple where he's kind of smiling? Maybe? So I can include them here too! The first one is JGY hearing NHS passed out from shock and is telling SMS not to toss him around and stuff, which he follows with a smile to an unconscious NHS...

...The second is an expression JGY has on his face already before shifting his eyes to SMS, which like, instantly changes to one of concern once he takes in the sight of SMS's injuries...

...So. Thought I'd include them for posterity. But well...)

[picturejasper20]

Steven Universe Future: The Diamonds being part of the hug symbolism

In the episode ¨I Am My Monster¨ we see the Crystal gems reaching out for Steven when he becomes corrupted, as when he transforms into giant monster like creature as tall as the Diamonds. The Crystal Gems hug Steven to call him down and make him return to his human form.

One thing that gets some fans attention is why the Diamonds form part of the group hug since they themselves don't share the same closeness the Crystal Gems share with Steven. It does makes sense for them to show up and help because Steven went to ask for their help in ¨Homeworld Bound¨.

Well, yesterday i was talking to my friend Prpis (aka Purple Rose) on Discord about the last episodes from Future. She suggested that the Diamonds being part of this scene could be seen as Steven accepting that he is part diamond too, something he didn't want to associated himself with for most of Future series.

Steven spends a great deal of Future series fearing the idea that he doesn't live up to other expectations of him or what they think he is, as a ¨good person¨ who helps and heals others. He is obsessed with this idea that he has to be a ¨good person¨, as some idealistic form of perfection.

This is why he avoids telling the gems that he is going throught some important issues that are taking a mental toll on him. He doesn't want them to find out that he has been getting worse. He fears that he is going to be unworthy of love if he isn't ¨good¨.

Another fear that Steven has is becoming like his mother, Rose Quartz. He is scared of hurting people like she did and that feeds into his necessity of having to avoid being bad, of trying to not hurt others. Her mother legacy and the consequences of it are a huge burden on his shoulders that he feels that he has to carry even after he sees himself as his own person rather than having to be like Rose Quartz or Pink Diamond.

His fear of being Rose Quartz-Pink is also associated itself with the idea that he is part Diamond as well, and for Steven, the Diamonds represent the opposite of what he is supposed to be- a healer. He has only known the Diamonds for how they have brought pain and hurt others. He thinks of being a Diamond as ¨someone who hurts others¨ a person he is very afraid of being.

The irony of this is that Diamond powers can be both destructive and healing, as shown with Rose Quartz herself or the Diamonds when they changed their powers to their new purpose of fixing the damage they have caused and helping other gems. But Steven can only related these powers with bringing pain and hurt.

The Diamonds being part of the group hug could be seen as symbolism of Steven struggling to accept that he has hurt others and how he can do bad things just like the Diamonds did. He is confronted with the idea that he can't be ¨morally perfect¨ and that he may do bad things like Rose Quartz did.

Another thing that Prpis pointed out that the Diamonds are the ones that started this ¨chain reaction¨. White at some point during the episode brings up that she hurting Pink Diamond is what led to Spinel to being left behind by Pink. Blue and Yellow blame themselves as the source of Steven's suffering. And while they weren't the only reason, the way they treated Pink had an overall impact on Steven's psyche, such as it was Spinel's case.

So, The Diamonds being part of this scene, while not being very close to Steven, has a certain symbolic and narrative importance for Steven's arc and their connection to Pink Diamond. As Steven finally comes to terms with the idea that he will sometimes make mistakes and he isn't perfect, and yet, his family and friends still love him after all of it.

[tea-cat-arts]

I’ve seen people on this site talking about Su again, so I’m just gonna drop these and then head back into University 3rd year homework hell

[love-takes-work]

[Image ID: GIFs of Ruby and Sapphire from Steven Universe sitting in a fire-lit cave. Ruby says "I've never had a third eye before." Sapphire replies "I've never had more than one! It was nice." /.End ID]

A change of vision

This scene is more complicated than it looks at first glance.

Ruby and Sapphire have just fused for the first time and are awkwardly talking about their experience. Ruby says "I've never had a third eye before." On the surface, that's just a statement of fact, as is Sapphire's "I've never had more than one!" Ruby's only ever fused with other Rubies, and we saw that the Giant Ruby still had only two eyes. Sapphire's never fused at all, so of course she's only had one eye her whole life.

But we know from both the show's subtext and from Crewniverse statements that Sapphire's future vision is quite different from Garnet's. Sapphire sees one future, inevitable, unrelenting, separate from her involvement. She does not interfere; she describes what is. Ruby is the opposite; she is a Gem of action and emotion, impulsive, without much consideration. When they are combined as Garnet, Sapphire's future vision transmutes into something more dynamic. Garnet can see multiple futures, and she can get involved to choose the one she wants.

When Ruby states that she's "never had a third eye before," she's subtly making reference to the experience of seeing in a way that's new to her--not just a simplistic statement of physically having a different number of eyes than she's used to. Through being part of Garnet, she had a new experience of perception. She saw outside of the right now. She saw beyond a life of taking orders and carrying them out without any thought of what's next, any shred of judgment, any expectation of consideration. Even though it was just for a moment, her world opened up in a tantalizing way.

And when Sapphire said she's "never had more than one," she was describing a transformative experience as well. There was always one way before. One future. Vision, but no complexity. No consideration for emotion, for desire, for passion. With Ruby's impulsivity, her chaos, her ability to make destiny change, Sapphire's future vision became multifaceted when she was part of Garnet. She, too, saw beyond in a way she never had before. Suddenly, futures could involve choices SHE could make, and though that was scary enough to freeze her temporarily, she knew she wanted to have an opportunity to take leave of her tunnel vision and see in three dimensions (and beyond). "It was nice."

[Image ID: GIF of Garnet from Steven Universe in her early pink and blue form, looking at the camera with three wide eyes. /.End ID]

[lunabug2004]

I think it's funny that I've seen some defense regarding Mike's queer coding literally being that "he's not interested in any girls except El" bc that's just simply not how that works (in most cases).

Like I know people joke about their sexuality changing for one person, usually a celebrity, or someone else who's unattainable, but it's rarely ever the actual case. And I also know that it's a TV show so it doesn't necessarily have to be realistic but it's still interesting to think about.

I say this because we have literally no evidence to support Mike being into girls, at all. When talking to Dustin abt Suzie, comparing her to Phoebe Cates, he's has a disgusted-esc look on his face. He has no posters of girls (at least none where they are the focus) on his wall, but he does have posters of buff (fantasy) men. I also wanna mention the 'one way' sign pointing into the closet bc it's honestly iconic. They make a point of Robin commenting on Nancy's Tom Cruise poster, so we know that it's not crazy to be paying attention to these things.

All this to say that most characters in the show have moments of being attracted to people even while in a relationship (given sometimes it's just them talking about celebs or characters but still, I'm pretty sure the only time Mike's done that was w/ Cates and I already discussed that). The defense of Mike "only being attracted to El" is so unrealistic and would be really weird writing.

[goingbuggy]

When you have time I would LOVE to hear your thoughts about post time skip buggy!!

Hi, anon! Sorry for the late-ish reply. I thought carefully about how I wanted to reply, but alas, here I am again, starting my metas in the strangest places. Anyways, here’s a seemingly unimportant question: Why is it funny that Buggy keeps failing upwards?

My answer also happens to be one of Pixar's 22 Rules of Storytelling:

"Coincidences to get characters into trouble are great; coincidences to get them out of it are cheating."

You might be wondering why I chose this quote -- after all, Buggy manages to escape most conflicts by sheer coincidence. Take the canon-filler episode(s) “Little Buggy's Big Adventure,” for example; coincidence is the sole reason why he ends up on Gaimon’s island and eventually finds Alvida, one of his future allies. But for as much as Oda is guilty of using coincidences to benefit Buggy, he also creates coincidences to get Buggy into trouble. Sure, Buggy left on good terms with Gaimon/found Alvida, but only after:

Suffering a humiliating defeat at the hands of Luffy

Losing most of his body

Being chased by killer fish/eaten by a ginormous bird

Nearly getting shot in the head by Gaimon over a misunderstanding

Being chased AGAIN by a deadly crab???? LMAO???

Buggy’s “luck” functions like a pendulum -- for every good thing that happens to him, horrible things are guaranteed to follow. This core aspect of his character is what keeps the gag afloat. Buggy is never rewarded by the narrative without experiencing consequences. In order to earn moments of respite, he has to suffer.

I find it hilarious when people argue that Buggy doesn’t deserve to have good things happen to him. Because, yeah? Duh. Oda loves having his cake and eating it too. It’s not necessarily good to play both sides with the audience when it can cheapen emotional impact, but Oda will absolutely continue to make Buggy both a complete joke and a genuine character. He has fun that way. However, he’s not going to help Buggy without hurting him first.

But that's a very meta perspective. How does Buggy view his own beneficial coincidences? He’s now an emperor, and extremely close to the One Piece/Pirate King title that he so desperately wants. But why does he think he’s being rewarded, in-universe?

His facade.

His devoted followers, his influence, that billion-berry bounty, his emperor status -- all of it stems from his fake persona and its snowball effect. He’s well aware of this. In fact, I think it’s likely that he hates himself for being such a coward and hiding behind lies. But when he sees his true self as worthless, what else can he do except dig himself into a deeper hole?

Look at 1082. Buggy finally stands up for himself, claiming that wealth and power come from chasing after your dreams -- not grand schemes. Here, he’s talking to himself as much as he’s talking to Crocodile and Mihawk.

“This is wrong… This isn’t how I wanted my life to go…”

It’s a very depressing peek at the man behind the curtain. Buggy only ever wanted to follow his dreams, but he uses schemes to get ahead instead, because they're all he thinks he has. His lies are a crutch to depend on, so he doesn't have to face the truth: he doesn't believe in himself. 

To me, 1082 reads as a "Hail Mary" moment from a character at an emotional low. Buggy still doesn't believe in himself, but he is saying: Fuck it. If Shanks and I finally have an equal chance at becoming Pirate King, I at least have to try... Right? We can confirm his lack of self-confidence, because Buggy even admits he got here by “luck or chance or whatever."

He cannot entertain the possibility that he'd get this far any other way. Of course he doesn't see himself as Shanks' equal. It’s one of many reasons he didn’t want to go with Shanks at Loguetown; he assumed he’d be working “under” Shanks (even though Shanks only said “Come with me!"), because he truly believes he is lesser in terms of potential/greatness. ("You coward!" can also be interpreted as Buggy projecting his own insecurities onto Shanks.) Buggy's decision in 1082 is a desperate leap of faith. "Go for broke," "shoot for the moon," etc.

Post-Timeskip Buggy may appear more dangerous than ever before, but in reality, he’s just a small fish in a big pond. The farther he crawls his way up the ladder of success, the worse he feels, because the life he has built is not how he wanted to live at all. Based on everything we've known about Pre-Timeskip Buggy, we should expect him to be happier than ever. He has influence. Power. His monetary value in the eyes of the World Government has shot up exponentially. But look at the poor guy. He's miserable.

If you've ever seen Better Call Saul, I think this scene from S4E9 is very similar to how I feel about Buggy:

JIMMY: There you go! Kick a man when he’s down! KIM: Jimmy, you are always down.

Buggy is a character who is always down, even when you think he might be up. Until he stops maintaining that false image, he will always be punished by the narrative pendulum he's trapped himself in.

Unfortunately, change is hard, especially with the stakes he’s currently facing. If Buggy actually has to fight Blackbeard, Luffy, or Shanks... he can’t. Not alone. He needs people to believe the facade, because that's what got him here in the first place. He may look invincible, but he is quite possibly the most vulnerable character right now.

Crocodile and Mihawk would sell him to Satan for one corn chip (especially after that stunt he pulled in 1082). We haven't seen him improve his physical abilities (unless Oda pulls some off-screen bullshit). As an emperor, he has more people gunning for his head than ever before. Buggy’s last line of defense is his long-running gag -- if Oda decides to subvert our expectations, he’s a dead man walking.

And who would he have to blame but himself? He built his image on smoke and mirrors. Eventually, he's going to have to pay the price.

If Pre-Timeskip Buggy is a man defined by coincidence, then Post-Timeskip Buggy is defined by consequence.

[rosenotactuallyquartz]

here’s why the situation with bismuth says a lot about rose’s dynamic with pearl

surprisingly, the bismuth episode says a lot about rose’s feelings for pearl.

rose kept many secrets, but pearl carried some of the heaviest ones. at first, rose felt guilty about the fact that pearl was keeping such big secrets for her.

but by the end of the war, rose was keeping a huge secret from pearl

“we thought you’d been captured. or worse, shattered.” — pearl, bismuth

rose knew how close pearl was to bismuth, but she lied to everyone about what happened, claiming bismuth had been lost in battle. she even acted “worried sick,” as pearl describes when bismuth comes back. for thousands of years, pearl believed bismuth was probably dead.

as we know, rose was deeply ashamed of herself and her past. she believed that everyone around her was better than her & she also really admired pearl. the guilt of lying to pearl was overwhelming, but rose was very afraid to tell pearl the truth. she also couldn’t bear the thought of losing her… but at the same time, the guilt made her feel unworthy of being close to her.

this guilt caused rose to become avoidant and distant—not because she didn’t care, and not because she didn’t trust pearl.

she didn’t trust herself. she couldn’t imagine a life without pearl, but she also felt like all she did was cause pain and she was terrified of hurting pearl again.

rose’s dishonesty (and being too afraid to tell pearl the truth) is also very related to rose’s trauma on homeworld. when it was known that she messed up, rose would be met with pain (punishment) or abandonment (being locked in a tower). rose trusted pearl, but taking accountability scared her because on homeworld, these situations never ended in anything positive, such as forgiveness and fixing things for the better. rose also believed she deserved to be abandoned if she messed up. self-compassion was something rose struggled with deeply.

pearl, on the other hand, didn’t understand rose’s avoidance and hesitancy until much later, after learning the truth about bismuth

before this, pearl was insecure & she struggled with self blame. this is tied to her homeworld trauma—the belief that her worth is defined by what she can do for others. she wondered if she had done something wrong and she questioned whether she “wasn’t good enough” for rose to love her as much as she loved rose.

but rose was very, very in love with her; it’s been confirmed that their love was never unrequited, so it’s funny that some people in the fandom assume this before thinking about bismuth

rose never distanced herself because she didn’t love pearl; she did it because of guilt and shame. she did it because she didn’t believe she deserved someone who made her so happy.

& here’s something interesting: pearl continued to love rose after she found out the truth. she showed no signs of wishing she left her. in reunited, she thought everything i do, i do it for her while she was fighting. she would never see this action as being okay or defensible, and she likely felt some bitterness for awhile which is understandable. but she never stopped loving her, nor did she want to abandon her.

by the way, i think that lying about bismuth was one of rose’s worst actions. i don’t think this makes her a bad person, especially because she felt guilty about this lie. i just hope you guys know that this analysis isn’t me trying to justify what she did. it wasn’t okay! the whole purpose of writing this is just to show that rose really was in love with pearl. her behaviours are never from a place of not being in love with her—they’re from a place of having her own issues and feeling undeserving of love from someone like pearl.

[peri]

Peridot and Unlearning (Internalized & Externalized) Homophobia

i.e., here's why peridot's redemption arc is partially (a metaphor?) about unlearning homophobia

the title sounds crazy but bear with me here.

let's start off with saying NO, fusion does not = romantic love. that's an age old discourse and it can be so easily solved by stating there are many different forms of love, and sometimes fusion is just for power (which is a form of love in-of itself, albeit fucked; the love for power or toxic love) HOWEVER, in many cases, such as Garnet's, it most certainly is about romantic love. so to keep it as brief as possible, thats what we have in mind in this post. it's gay love okay.

now, let's talk about the scene i just captioned. this is from the episode "too far," which is an episode about developing a crush and accidentally hurting them in the process of trying to impress them. (however you want to look at it, but thats how i interpret it) the fact it starts off with casual homophobia is important, coz it shows peridot still has a lot of prejudices despite recently becoming part of the team, which is full of gay people, undeniably.

peridot's redemption arc is partially about coming to terms with your sexuality, retraining your mind from internalized homophobia after being raised in such a homophobic society/household, and becoming proud of your sexuality / identity.

OBSERVE:

"you dont understand! im protecting a planet i was once trying to destroy! i used to follow every order - every rule!"

"now im a traitor! a rebel!"

"A CRYSTAL QUEEEEEER"

sorry i had that joke stored for this analysis since 2019. anyways

i'm going to try to keep this short, but more under the cut.

IM SO BAD at organizing my words so this post is rly hard to make so im gonna do it like this.

MORE EVIDENCE THAT PERIDOT'S REDEMPTION ARC IS COMING TO TERMS WITH BEING GAY / UNLEARNING HOMOPHOBIA:

being frustrated about joining a lesbian/gay gang

coming from a society where homosexuality is forbidden

telling off your mom by saying youre joining some rebel lesbians/gays to fight her oppressive society

wearing pride flags (stars) everywhere after coming out

looking up to experienced lesbians (Garnet)

the scissoring joke (from "too far." if you know you know)

furthermore, i thought it'd be fair to include peridot learning how to respect how people identify in other ways, such as names / how they prefer to be addressed. this, most of the time, goes hand-in-hand with homophobia.

peridot, narrating: "he also said he wanted me to stop calling him "the" steven." steven: "its just, steven!" peridot: "i told him i'd call him whatever i want!" [hiss] peridot: "he told me that was rude."

(from the episode "log date 7 15 2")

peridot learns how to respect how people identify. lgbt win

i should add she also eventually learns how to respect Garnet's whole deal in the same episode (log date 7 15 2) which was also a huge moment in her unlearning homophobia. which, btw if you dont know or dont remember, Garnet does by comparing herself to peridot's (assuming) gay ship between Percy and Pierre from Camp Pining Hearts, saying she was the optimized version of herself (the reason peridot "ships" them; theyre the best team logically according to her analysis ship chart)

anyways, now the biggest most obvious point is the fact that peridot actually is gay. i've referred to this episode a few times now, but thats becoz it really is a huge point in proving my 'thesis';

in the episode "too far," peridot is shown to get obsessed with impressing amethyst. peridot experiences something they havent yet up until this point: a crush. i mean, you can interpret it as you wish, but thats how i saw it. the butterflies, the obsession with making someone laugh, the fact peridot states amethyst is objectively the best gem of the crystal gems and emphasizes "damaging her standing with the best gem here" with their apology to amethyst after hurting her feelings.

and um, this.

🌈yeag

sorry im losing any professionalism i started this post with. also this is focusing on early-season / redemption arc peridot which is why its kind of short and is missing stuff from later seasons. i hope this was at least somewhat concise and easy to understand, and i hope yall see my point of view here! feel free to add on (theres SO MUCH its easy for it to skip my mind) if you have any other points youd like to make to support my cause and uprising. love you