#pink steven mode

[pink-onyx-au]

Episode 2: Finding a Rhythm

Page 15 of 18

[Return to the Hub]

[previous page] [next page]

[joowee-feftynn]

Pink as New Agent 3... Agent P if you will

[ceephorsshitshow]

Onyx found my script and they are very upset.

Have some doodles tho

[toyota12]

Steven Universe Future: Pink State Analysis (I Am My Monster)

This episode is simulataneously the first and last time we see Steven in his monster form.

This episode begins where Everything's Fine left off, with Steven having transformed into a monster, Peridot, Lapis, and Bismuth, upon noticing this and mistaking the monster for a threat immediately warp over to Steven's house to fight it. However, they are told to stand down by Garnet, who has been trying along with the others to settle Steven down.

Garnet, eventually goes onto to say that as long as Steven believes he's a monster (i.e. a bad person), he'll stay a monster (as in literally remain in the form of a monster). In this form, Steven behaves almost exactly as the corrupted gems seen throughout the series, acting more or less like wild animals, and is incapable of even speaking at all.

After Peridot and Bismuth are able to get Steven's attention and lure him into the ocean, Lapis restrains him with water chains, which is what he spends a good majority of this episode trying to break out of.

After the Diamonds and Spinel arrive on Earth (likely using giving Steven's flip flop back to him as an excuse for another surprise visit), and fail to return him back to his human form, Steven, generating the strength to finally breaks out of Lapis's chains, roars with enough power to blast everyone back.

While re-approaching Beach City, The Cluster appears to restrain Steven even further, giving Steven something else to break out of while buying everyone else some time.

After Peridot remarks that Steven is even stronger than The Cluster, nearly everyone else begins to cry and blame themselves over how they failed him in the past and how it led to his transformation. That is, until Connie returns to tell them to not only stop focusing on themselves and think about Steven, but also remember all the good things he did for them in order to help him in his time of need.

Garnet (who had unfused after being blown to the beach) re-fuses and comes up with an idea to help him.

It's also around this time that Steven manages to break free of the Cluster's grasp and begins re-approaching Beach City, as well as the group.

Garnet comes up with plan in which everyone could contribute in helping Steven, by having Yellow increase Garnet's size with her powers, Blue lifting everyone with her cloud powers and having Lapis distract Steven while everyone makes their way to him.

Garnet tackles Steven, trying to settle him down by talking to him in a calming voice, relating her own experiences to falling apart to what Steven's doing now, which settles him enough to be receptive to what she's saying.

After this, the others, expect for Connie, reach Steven and hug him as well.

Greg tells Steven that he'll be willing to give him anything he needs, Peridot says how Steven never gave up on her, and how she'll do the same for him. Amethyst and Pearl, like Garnet, relate their own experiences and struggles to what Steven is going through now. This shows how their idea of getting through to Steven was to use own individual experiences with Steven and themselves to make him realize how reality goes beyond his own perceptions since each character talks about their experiences, and not anyone else's (for example Amethyst doesn't talk Greg's experiences, but her own), and how it's done without them assuming they would know exactly how to fix things, much like Steven had been wanting.

The Cluster also decides to get in on the hug by holding Steven's hand.

Finally, Connie comes on Steven's nose and tells him how he must've have afraid to show everyone the side of himself that is imperfect and vunerable, thinking everyone would hate and abandon him if he couldn't be the one who has things together for them. However, they'll accept no matter how they see him, kissing him on the nose as a sign of affection.

Steven both moved by this and finally realizing everyone won't abandon him since they didn't even after seeing him as a monster, begins to cry, which appears to return him to his human form. This could also be due to his healing tears combined with the essence of the other Diamonds as his tears glow as he cries.

As soon as he returns to human form, Steven appears to be trying to apologize (presumably for either pushing everyone away all this time or for any damage he might have caused as a monster).

However, Lion, obscures his face from having to face everyone else, and he begins to cry intensly, even as the episode ends. This is due to not only Steven finally prioritizing his own feelings, without worrying about making a scene in front of everyone, but also him realizing he was wrong about everything he'd percieved, not only of everyone else around him, but also himself.

This also means he's finally willing to accept the help of others since he doesn't care about whether or not they're flawed or don't have all the answers as well since he doesn't have to worry about that for himself.

In the epilogue (to the epilogue), he and the gems still have trouble talking to each other about their concerns, however he's still willing to find a purpose outside of Beach City and thinking of himself as a helper since he's free to do so.

[novantinuum]

Pink Onyx AU- An Analysis and Theory Post, Part 1

[Part 1- You are here!] | [Part 2] | [Part 3] | [Part 4] | [Part 5]

~

Howdy! Those of you who have followed me for a while have probably been seeing my reblogs of the @pink-onyx-au comic made by @ceephorsshitshow. Well, today I wanna share with you something a little different than my usual SU meta… because today I’m gonna analyze this really cool fan work with the same level of seriousness as I do canon. (Like. Seriously. This first post alone is really, really long. I put most of it under a cut.)

This particular comic is a very special one for me to watch unfold, because it’s evident that a lot of deep care and attention to detail has been poured into its creation. There’s fascinating bits of expanded character development to chew into here, as well as plenty of mysteries and lingering questions for us readers to muse and theorize over. If you follow me for Steven Universe and haven’t read this AU yet I highly recommend you check it out. The most basic pitch is that it explores what a fusion between Steven and Jasper might look like, and does a LOT of deep-diving into the similarities and differences of both of those characters’ psyches.

Here’s the episode masterpost on tumblr.

And you can find it on Tapas, too! 

(Note: For the purposes of these posts, I was given permission by the comic artist to post screenshots of various pages where relevant in this discussion. For each frame used I will list the episode and page number for easy reference. Additionally, this post and all future ones on the topic will contain full spoilers for the comic thus far.)

Now with all that introductory stuff out of the way, here we go!

__

So, on the final page of the most recent update, we get one hell of a visual plot bomb for Steven as ol’ Onyx unfuses:

(Episode 9: Page 22)

He’s now visually expressing remnants of his corruption, where before he was not.

And it’s this mysterious plot point in particular that got me wanting to analyze this comic more deeply in the first place. This is completely new for him in this story. Thus far, he’s never expressed any of these remnants when he’s just himself- not in the way Jasper does. So it made me wonder… how might this shift in his appearance play into the ultimate trajectory of the plot? How does Steven suddenly showcasing corruption scars integrate into the larger story that is being spun here about him and Jasper and how they relate to each other?

Well, there’s a lot of comic details and story lore we need to unpack first before I can take my best theorizer’s stab at this. Let’s dig right in.

__

Prelude: The analyst’s treasure is in the speech bubbles

Anyone who’s been a fan of this comic for a while has probably noticed these fun visual details already, but I’m going to take a moment to break down what I believe each speech bubble style signifies for folks who may not have context. It’ll make some of my analysis later a bit easier, too, ahah.

So. Speech bubbles. What kinds do we have here? 

(Episode 1: Page 6)

Style number one: Solid with black text

This style is standard for non-fused characters, and is also utilized when a fused character is speaking whilst in a state of internal harmony.

Steven is pink and Jasper is orange, of course. Onyx’s speech bubbles are a distinct darker pink, and the main three Crystal Gems get their own colors as well. More minor characters get white bubbles.

(Episode 1: Page 10)

Style number two: Scribbly pink lettering overlaying black text

Whenever you see this type of speech bubble, it’s a sign that there is some level of internal discord going on within Steven or Onyx that is related to their diamond side. It usually shows up when one of the two is in pink mode, but from what I can tell this is not a solid rule.

(Episode 2: Page 12)

Style number three: Pink/orange mixed bubbles

This is how we see Onyx talking for a good portion of the early comic. Their speech bubbles are a clean mix of Steven’s pink and Jasper’s orange. And most vitally, the color on the top and the tail signifies which of them is “fronting” at that moment.

(Episode 3: Page 11)

Style number four: White bubble with solid pink text

So far, this style has only been used to represent dialogue that is being spoken by Steven’s gem half exclusively. Which makes things very interesting, as in Steven’s own remembrances of shattering Jasper on the very first page of the comic, the line “I have been holding back!” is shown in this specific style, instead of the scribbly pink lettering that signifies internal discord.

There is one additional sub-style here- and this is the one moment where we get Onyx’s mixed bubble but WITH the solid pink text. 

(Episode 3: Page 11)

I believe these two styles pretty much mean the same thing… only, the white/pink text is either viewed within memory or a metaphoric fusion mindscape where we the viewer are actually “seeing” Steven’s instability, and thus can “see” his gem half as a separate entity there. While, in reality, this is an argument Onyx is having with the disparate pieces of themself.

(Episode 4: Page 9)

Style number five: Pink/orange tye-dye mixed bubbles

When you see that darker shade of pink start dappling into the standard mixed bubbles, this indicates that there are small whispers of Onyx’s true personality beginning to surface, instead of them constantly being wrested back and forth between Steven and Jasper’s conscious control.

(Episode 4: Page 16)

Style number six: Pink/orange mixed bubbles, but with a darker pink tail

From this page onwards, Onyx’s speech bubbles always have their darker pink shading the tail no matter who is fronting. Sometimes there are little lines of another color etched out of it, and sometimes the tail is solid dark pink. I like to believe that when it’s solid, it means that Onyx is just a little closer to reaching a fully harmonious state than when it’s not.

(Episode 9: Page 6)

Style number seven: Onyx speech/thought bubbles with a hint of pink/orange underlying

This style seems to signify moments where it’s still Onyx fully in control of themself and their actions/words/thoughts, but they’re taking subtle influence from their components or accessing their memory a bit.

These are all of the distinct styles I have caught so far, but quite honestly, it would not surprise me if I am missing something. All of this to say… pay close attention to the speech bubbles. They can tell you a lot about Onyx’s state of mind throughout the story.

Now with all this established, I’d like to finish off this first post with my first big discussion point.

__

Question One: What does Jasper actually know about Steven’s “meltdown,” if anything?

The AU author recently solidified this comic’s placement in the SUF timeline in an ask response, saying that the first episode takes place just a week after Steven’s corruption event.

I’m glad this point was clarified, because it was super vital information which deeply influenced the way I analyzed Steven’s actions and responses in my recent re-read… it means this experience is still super raw for him. This is VERY important and we’ll get back to this in more depth later in future posts. But first, let’s explore what Jasper knows of this event.

The full extent of her knowledge is unclear-

(Episode 1: Page 6)

In Episode 1, Steven briefly alludes to his corruption as seen above… referring to it as “[his] meltdown.” Notably, Jasper does not seem to ask any questions about this stray comment. This COULD suggest that she knows what happened to him a week prior via hearsay, but given the context of the rest of the scene and the fact that she’s as isolated as she is out here I genuinely wonder if she thinks Steven’s so-described “meltdown” is his shattering of her.

This idea would make a good deal of sense, as she doesn’t start to make any commentary on the topic of corruption at all until they’re actually fused- with Steven bringing it up first.

(Episode 2: Page 14)

On this page, Steven takes note of Onyx’s very visible spikes (which are Overtly in the same placement as his own when he was corrupted), and initiates the musing upon his own corruption himself.

With the way Jasper phrases her response, the vibe I get is that she somehow gleans a bit of ambient shared knowledge about what happened to him through their fusion.

(Episode 2: Page 15) 

“That human form you wear must have been hiding your markings.” This quote is SUPER vital. We’ll come back to this later on in this post series, too.

(Episode 2: Page 15)

It’s clear that Jasper doesn’t REALLY understand what he went through or what caused it, since she then outright mistakes the casual woes and body pains of organic life as corruption. (As seen above.) 

(Episode 8: Page 4)

But later on, she outright relates to him over their shared experience of past corruption, so she must at least know enough from mere ambient thought-sharing by this point to recognize it happened.  

It’s obvious that she’s barely scratched the surface on fully understanding her fusion partner, though. Neither of them have. It’s gonna take a lot of fusion, comedic mishaps, and genuine conversation to get there. All in good time, I’m sure.

__

Please do join me tomorrow at 7am PST for the next post in this series! This has been a blast to write up and muse upon.

[kiasims]

60+ overrides you NEED in your game 🫧

watch here ♡

kia in her tumblr era? lol

but I just wanted to share some of my favorite override mods with you guys 💗 hope you guys enjoy

start-up overrides ♡

1. pink aura opening screen override by Irene Noir

2. ghost loading screen by Wotunciba

3. loading screen tips replacement by Kiasims

4. refreshed dynamic main menu by Simmatically

5. 'rainy hearts' font override by Kiasims

cas overrides ♡

6. vyxated mirror cas background (soft-pink) by Dumbabie

7. controlled cas position by Northernsiberiawinds

8. more cas columns by Weerbesu

9. yearbook gallery pose overrides by Yun-Sims

build mode overrides ♡

10. build-buy pencil override by Vyxated 

11. build-buy gizmo override (soft-pink) by Vyxated

ui overrides ♡

12. pastel ui override by Vyxated

13. ice cream plumbob override by Xiaoboluo **

14. ui poses override by Blaccdot

15. childrens ui mood replacements by NV-Games

in-game overrides ♡

16. better basketball override by Coco Games

17. shoe removal animation override by ThePancake1

18. black tv replacements by AlexisAriel

19. reality dating show override by Coco Games

20. movie overrides by Midnitehearts

21. watching tv override by Simkatu **

22. nap replacement poses by Beverlyallitsims

23. ps2 game and controller override by Bknysimz

24. nintendo switch game controller replacement by AroundTheSims4

25. iphone 12 override by nuribatsal

26. phone app replacements by Coco Games (search for ‘overrides’ on her patreon to find the rest)

27. realistic bank override by [Taylor] (requires SNB Bank mod)

28. phone wallpaper overrides by Coco Games

29. single selfie overrides by Dearkim

30. paired selfie overrides by Dearkim

31. bouquet override by Complexsims **

32. samsung jet vaccum override by Kikovanity

33. food texture replacements by Utopiasims

34. modern glass replacement by Coco Games

35. green sponge override by Ellcrze

36. method all purpose surface spray override by Kikovanity

37. functional hair care overrides by [Taylor] (requres bathroom clutter kit becomes functional mod)

38. computer desktop override by Simkatu

39. computer game overrides by Ebonix

40. reading animation override Simkatu

41. black art painting overrides by Slimmazsims

42. lush facial masks override by PlayWithSyd

43. singing animation override by Simkatu

44. dance override 2.0 by Steven Studios **

45. energy failure animation override by NV_Games

46. faint animation replacement by NV-Games

47. squishmallow overrides by Bellassims

baby overrides ♡ 

48. invisible bassinet override by Sixam

49. baby bottle override by Coco Games

50. byebyebaby rug hider override by BuildBuyMode

51. sippy cup override by Cecesimsxo **

52. realistic birth overrides by [Taylor] (requires realistic birth mod)

environment overrides ♡

53. terrain overrides by K-Hippie

54. cloud overrides by Moriel

55. red bridge override by Simmatically

56. newcrest building replacements by BoyBatterfly

57. san myshuno city buildings override by Bloomverse

58. san myshuno billboards override by Ebonix

59. del sol valley billboards replacement by JrenaeGaming

university overrides ♡

60. hbcu text edits by AlexisAriel

61. university food cart replacements by AlexisAriel

(18+) 62. real drink names override by Basemental (requires basemental drugs)

63. red cup juice keg override by Ebonix

64. uno card override by Skillfulsimmer

(18+) 65. elfbar override by [Taylor] (requires basemental drugs)

[spaciebabie]

OKAY THE ONE THING I DONT LIKE ABOUT STEVEN UNIVERSE IS HOW THEY VILIFY PINK DIAMOND/ROSE QUARTZ BRO SHE'S LITERALLY AN ABUSE SURVIVOR MAKING CHOICES AN ABUSE SURVIVOR WOULD MAKE AND THE PLOT AND EVEN STEVEN IS LIKE, "yeah she sucks," BRO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I SWEAR TA FUCKING GOD BE SO REAL RN.

"she made mistakes/hard decisions" TURNS INTA, "she was a bad person," IN THE MOVIE AND FINAL SEASON LIKE??? SHE WAS A LEADER OF A REBELLION AND HADTA PRIORITIZE CERTAIN THINGS SHE DIDNT WANT TA MAKE THOSE DECISIONS!! SHE CARED ABOUT THE GEMS AROUND HER!! SHE LIED CUZ SHE FELT SHE HADTA. SHE WASNT SOME SPOILED BRAT SHE MADE SOUND DECISIONS FOR HER CIRCUMSTANCES!!!!!! she literally tried ta tell the gems around her she was like them and told them not ta put her on a pedestal but they did anyway??? and got upset when she turned out ta be a flawed person???

like thats not ta say characters arent justified in being upset with her actions but making her out ta be a bad person cuz she inadvertently hurt people??? painting her as a villain b/c her abusive guardians decided ta go apeship on earth and any crystal gems they came in contact with???? when she was likely in survival mode???? i hate the way the show paints her i hate hate hate it.

grrrrr GRRRRR

[stxr-bxy]

Getting into the goth subculture

ok just to clarify, nobody asked for this but i’m making it anyway

here are some great influences for the goth music subcultures

i’ve been hyperfixated on pretty much every one except metal and grunge at one point or another so i think i’m pretty qualified to make this statement.

also some of these artists are problematic so please do your research before you promote them! also i don’t support any of their actions, they just have good music that’s very influential to the scene.

anyways…let’s get started

- siouxsie and the banshees are a really great band to start out and they’re one of the most popular goth bands. they have about 12 albums and 2 compilations. they had many members at different times but notable members are siouxsie sioux (lead vocals), jon klein (guitar), steven severin (bass + keyboards), budgie (drums), and martin mccarrick (keyboard + strings)

- another great goth band is bauhaus, they are one of the pioneers of gothic rock and are often credited with making the first goth song. they have five studio albums. members include daniel ash (guitars + saxophone + lead vocals + backing vocals), peter murphy (lead vocals + backing vocals + guitar + keyboards + melodica + congas), kevin haskins (drums + keyboards + piano + backing vocals), and david j (bass + keyboards + percussion + lead vocals + backing vocals).

- another great band to start off with is the cramps (i recommend their album psychedelic jungle). many people think of the cramps as more psychobilly or punk-ish but they are also considered gothabilly and have gothic elements. they have at least 8 (i’m not sure) studio albums, 2 EPs, 2 live albums, and 4 compilations. members include, Lux interior (lead vocals + harmonica + percussion), Poison Ivy (lead guitar + rhythm guitar + bass), Slim Chance (bass), and Nick Knox (drums + percussion)

in order for a band to be goth they must play either gothic rock, post-punk, ethereal wave, cold wave, dark wave, death rock, visual kei, gothic pop, gothic metal, gothic symphonic metal or another gothic subgenre.

some more goth bands include…

- the cure (post-punk)

- sisters of mercy

- christian death (death rock)

- she wants revenge (gothic rock)

- alien sex fiend

- sex gang children

- lebanon hanover

- type o negative (gothic metal)

- o.children

- joy division

- london after midnight

- bat nouveau

- horror vacui

- the danse society

- strawberry switchblade (gothic pop/synth pop)

- depeche mode

- cocteau twins

- switchblade symphony

- fields of the nephilium

- twin tribes

- the march violets

- xmal deutschland

- clan of xymox

- pink turns blue

- rosetta stone

- plastique noir

- mephisto walz

- corpus delicti

- 13th chime

- specimen

- skeletal family

- molchat doma

- drab majesty

- altar de fey

- inkubus sukkubus

- strawberry switchblade

- the birthday massacre

- killing joke

- this cold night

- japan

- the birthday party

- paralysed age

- the scary bitches

- scarlet’s remains

- mareux

- she past away

- bloody dead and sexy

- rose garden funeral party

- mephisto walz

- this cold night

- cold cave

and more!

edit: just a note. you do not need to dress goth to be goth. goth fashion is optional. if you choose to dress goth but don’t listen to goth music you are just alt. the only way to be goth is to agree with the beliefs behind it and listen to the music (you can also listen to other genres in addition to goth).

some beliefs of the gothic/alt community are:

- there is beauty in darkness, pain/sadness, and the macabre

- rejection of conservatism

- rejection of conformity

- anti-war

- anti-racist

- anti-fascist

- anti-authoritarian

- pro-LGBTQ

- pro-choice

- anti-capitalism

- and other leftist or anarchistic beliefs

also…

if you agree with the beliefs but nothing else you are just a leftist/anarchist

if you listen to the music or dress goth but don’t agree with the beliefs you’re not alt and/or you are considered a “poser”. right-wingers cannot be alt because they contradict eachother.

if you listen to goth music you are goth

if you agree with everything you are goth

[lone-gem-half]

Two wishes for the Pink Steven tag.

1. It should have more posts in it. Perhaps I will solve that issue myself.

2. It should not include Steven in his Pink Mode. While the description is accurate—it is Steven and he is pink—we all know Steven's Gem half had the name first.

[erinptah]

👋 hello

I've been following the CoK series for forever now, and my reread had me wondering something.

In the fics, Marc and Steven are primarily associated with the colors white and blue, respectively. This makes a lot of sense considering the clothes they wear in the duat. What made you choose the purple/pink situation for Jake? (As opposed to say, red, the color of his sarcophagus in the show? Or black, the main color he wears?)

I do feel like it fits him pretty well, but I'd like to know your thought process surrounding the colors.

(loving the current Deadpool series btw!)

Hello, and excellent question!

It's inspired by the MacKay run of the comics (starting in 2021, and he's still writing Moon Knight today, though it's cycled through 3 separate titles by now).

Comics Marc is keeping up An Image where he always wears "all white" or "white-and-black." Steven tends toward blues and greens (and his headspace domain is a neutral-toned office).

Jake...it's hard to tell what the actual colors are, because his headspace domain is a bar where everything is saturated with red/pink/purple neon lighting:

One more sample (not the original dialogue, it's my edit):

And this is my favorite take on comics Jake! Irreverent, sleazy but in a fun way, deeply protective and caring, dirtbag-with-a-heart-of-gold.

We've basically only seen MCU Jake in "dealing with an active deadly threat" mode. If/when we get a Season 2, and the writers have a chance to fill in what he's like the rest of the time, I hope they take some cues from MacKay Jake.

(It also ties in nicely with the Duat sarcophagus. Dark/dull red is for when Jake is trapped and threatened. Give the guy a chance to relax and have fun, and it brightens up to a nice hot pink.)

[pink-onyx-au]

Hey Steven, did you and Connie ever...make up over that time you snapped at her at the hospital? Or like...did you ever work out that whole "proposal" thing at all?

[roseetube]

I wrote a fanfic!!!!

summary: at the moment in the beginning of everything's fine, when steven sees his diamond eyes, instead of going into denial mode, he unfuses. This is basically me exploring pink steven and human steven (Cosmo, and Star, respectively)'s relationship with each other and their fusion.

It would be great for you to read it!!! I opened my asks incase readers have questions or anything!!

@pogostikk your goobers inspired meee

[iced-cofi]

Hey! Do you like fun upbeat Garage Rock coated in suburban nostalgia? Do you like music a lot of people will find annoying, but you were born in the late 90s and early 2000s and can't help but love scrappy artists with heavy vocal filters and scrappy artists cause it reminds you of when you were a kid? Do you like genuinely well written but simple-in-the-best-way, homemade but still well mixed and produced rock?

If you do, hi, we should be friends, and also you should be listening to Mike Krol! You very well might have heard his music in a host of things, but you most likely have heard it in specifically Steven Universe and Monster Prom. Recognize this song, perhaps?

And how about this one?

Fifteen Minutes and Like a Star were both featured in one of my personal favorite Steven Universe episodes, in which Amethyst, Pearl, and Steven go to a performance of Mike Krol. It includes some of the most on the face Pearl lesbian moments, in which Amethyst serves as a proclaimed 'wingman' and it rules. It also has Pearl running and escaping cops to find this pink woman and to get to the show on time. It rules, and the most intense or impactful scenes are scored with these two songs enterchanging. Its fun, sounds good, and is framed off as this fun little road trip movie, with parody credits at the end. It's great.

Fifteen Minutes is also featured in Monster Prom as the credits theme, and is the entire reason I fell in love with this dudes music. I first heard it back in 2015 when I first saw the SU episode, but I never pursued his music. Then I played monster prom in early 2020 and couldn't stop listening. It's great.

That's kinda all I have to talk about. If you like either of the other two songs, I highly recommend you give his other stuff a listen (especially Power Chords. It's a great album). I'm gonna leave a few more tracks below, some of my favorites.

And here is my absolute favorite Mike Krol song. Something about it is so melancholy, yet without losing the generally positive and energetic song. His voice during the initial verses sounds a bit less filtered, till the chorus hits, and it goes right back to how it was.

It sounds great, has wonderfully melodramatic lyrics that sound dumb, but feel more poignant then the lyrics intent to verbalize. It's like the writer couldn't fully get his feelings across, but did what they could, it sounds honest and real. I love it.

Without further ado, I present I Wonder, by Mike Krol.

[toyota12]

Steven Universe Future: Pink State Analysis (Everything's Fine)

This episode is technically the last time we see Steven in his pink state, at least in his humanoid form.

After warping back from Homeworld, Steven, who has visibly grown again, to the point of needing to carry his jacket, gets another call from Connie.

While talking to Connie, Steven both lies and downplays his pink glowing, and tries to deflect the subject onto her. When that doesn't work, he tries to make the excuse of not waking the gems, and when she doesn't believe that, Steven simply hangs up.

Steven flashes back to events of the previous three episodes, before they appear on his T.V. due to his ability to broadcast memories onto it. Steven tries to lie to himself, insisting that he's fine, however cracking a nearby window in the process.

However, this gets the attention of all the Crystal Gems, who immediately come up the stairs and sees Steven's altered form. When Steven continues to deny that he has a problem, the gems decide to just take his word for it that he’s okay. Steven then decides to head to Little Homeschool, without speaking another word to the gems and races past them using his slowed perception of time.

On the way there, he almost damages the donut display on the Big Donut, before quickly stopping to re-adjust it.

When he decides to stop by Peridot's botany class and gets the okay to add some of his healing saliva on it, he accidently brings a whole herd of Plant Stevens to life, which scares everyone off. This is due to his healing powers being enhanced three times their normal strength.

When Steven decides help in Bismuth's wedding armor crafting class, and bangs a piece of metal with the slightest bit of strengh, he ends up splitting the anvil they were using in half, which is caused Steven's superstrength being enhanced no matter how much force he applies to the anvil.

Finally, when Steven decides to help with Amethyst's baseball game, he initially doesn't cause any damage to his surroundings. That is, until he expresses how ecstatic he is to have done so, and ends releasing a soundwave that destroys everything around him. This is due to Steven's destructive screams, however he causes more damage here than in any other episode.

When Steven finally warps back to his house, he is confronted by everyone, including Connie, who came because Steven unconciously broadcasted his thoughts onto her phone (much like Pearl did in A Single Pale Rose). The message is also able to warn her of Steven's distress.

Steven continues to downplay his issues as nothing of actual concern. Greg tries to tell Steven that they'll support if he wants to be pink and tries to usher him into talking to them if something's wrong. When Connie and Greg continue to try to talk to Steven, Steven eventually gets fed up with trying to reassure them and attempts to leave. However, this time, everyone blocks the exits in order to stop him from running off again.

When Steven appears to fluncuate in size once again, Connie suggests taking him back to the hospital. However, the gems (having never been informed of this) are shocked upon hearing this.

It's at this moment, when Steven finally reveals to everyone what he's gotten up to recently. Starting by downplaying the argument between himself and Greg, in which he crashed the van, as a "little disagreement", thinking about shattering White Diamond, and finally how he shattered Jasper, which shocks everyone.

Steven goes onto explain how he fixed that and how he can keep going onto fix everything he ruined without anyone noticing or worrying about it. He then begins to beat himself up for getting away with everything he did, saying how everyone doesn't know how bad he really is.

Steven says everyone views him as some one who always has everything together, when he really hasn't learning anything from his problems. He finally says how views him as some kind angel, but what he really is is a fraud and a monster. Unfortunately upon saying this, he begins to involuntarily transform into a monster, which ends the episode.

A final note is that when Steven says how everyone views him as a perfect figure when he really isn't, instead of him simply being fed up with how everyone expects him to be perfect, he also believes he's fooled everyone into thinking that he's perfect when he's actually a horrible person, which isn't true in the slightest.

Steven's actual problem is that he believes the mistakes he makes (and by extension everyone else makes) defines who he is as person, therefore, if he makes a mistake, he's a bad person. However, it simply means that people are neither perfect or terrible.

[novantinuum]

Fandom: Steven Universe Rating: Teen Audiences Words: 1.3K~ Summary: “So, wait— what you’re saying is that you want me… to glow for you—?” In which a drowsy, throwaway comment inspires Steven to— fueled by Connie’s implicit trust and encouragement— test the very limits of his self-restraint.

@glowweek

Suuuuper late, but this one was inspired by this event's "Glow or Dark" prompts. I utilized both of the themes in this work.

Essentially, this story is me going "but what if Steven could enter pink mode but on his own terms and with Healthy emotions?" Steven and Connie are 22 and 21 respectively, here. This is the furthest in their future I've posted a work covering so far, ahah.

Enjoy!

__

“Y’know, it’s kinda a shame you only glow when you’re really, really stressed out,” Connie murmurs out of nowhere that night, nuzzling herself even further into his side. “I bet you’d make for a nice nightlight.”

“Wait, what?” Steven responds, his words punctuated by a sudden peel of bemused laughter. He props himself up in their bed, scooting apart from her wanting embrace (she gives a pitiful but very cute little whine at this, still half-asleep) so he can actually turn to meet her eyes. “Where’s this coming from?”

If he fully understands the underlying question in his fiancé’s drowsy doozy of a comment— a comment he doubts she’d ever make while awake and alert— then she’s probably inquiring about why he never consciously utilizes even half the full potential of his power, not even recreationally.

And if he’s honest, it’s a fair question. He’s been somewhat neglecting this part of himself ever since he moved in with her late last year.

After all, it’s not like there’s much practical use for many of his abilities anymore. There’s no battles left to fight. No empires left to dismantle. No need to host those monthly healing sessions he used to organize ever since he and the Gems bottled a large stock of his saliva for long term use. It’s nice, in a way. It’s like an extended vacation from all the stressors of this facet of his existence. Instead, he’s been able to focus all his time and energy on other stuff— like finally finishing his GED, pursuing enrollment in some community college courses for the fun of learning itself, and doing some experimentation with some new instruments he’s never played. 

Little things.

Human things.

That glowing she speaks of, though…

The remnants of laughter fade from his lips as he refocuses on this topic.

He hasn’t snapped pink in weeks. It’s the longest period that’s passed without a flare up since that month his gem fell into an energy conserving stasis immediately following his meltdown in his teen years. So why is she bringing this up now? 

What’s really on her mind?

He asks as such.

This appeal for emotional honesty seems to jostle Connie out of the brunt of her drowsiness. She rubs the sleep out of her eyes with the furthest edge of her knuckles and then parts her lips again.

“It’s just… you never use your powers anymore,” she says, her brow creasing inwards. “Any of them. And of course I understand why, but…”

“But—?”

“But sometimes… I wish things weren’t so muddled for you. That you felt free to express yourself as both a human and a Gem in this space.”

His brows thread together as he considers all this, his confusion-addled brain looping right back to the throwaway, sleepy statement that hurtled this whole conversation into being in the first place. “So, wait— what you’re saying is that you want me… to glow for you—?”

Connie snorts. “Well, my actual want is a little more nuanced, but sure. We’ll go with that as a shorthand.” 

“And you do know my powers are, uh… extra volatile when I’m in that state, right?” 

Her lithe fingers glide their way across the subtle peaks and valleys of his inner wrist. Caught amidst the thorny brambles of his anxiety, such feather light skin contact is grounding. 

Mesmerizing.

“Nothing you do could ever truly scare me,” she reminds him, the calloused contours of her hand dancing along every last edge and sweeping curve of the lines etched into his broad palm.

Steven hums, the latent tension in his form unraveling under the spell of his fiancé’s gentle affection.

And with the loving encouragement of her words echoing like a fleeting melody within the drowsy, wandering neurotransmissions of his consciousness comes a sudden thought:

Can he glow pink on demand?

Is it even possible for him to wrest conscious control of this ability? To find a healthy means of tapping into that vast sum of energy lying dormant in his gem without trudging through the burdens of anger, misery, or fear?

Are these diamond powers something he could one day reclaim for good?

His eyelids flutter shut. Inhaling with a deep-rooted purpose and focusing inwards on the familiar, dual sensations of his partner’s knowing touch and his gem’s constant, faint vibrations, he reflects upon the broad menagerie of feelings and emotional states that govern his other abilities: 

Responsibility.

Joy.

Compassion.

Grief.

Love.

If he’s intending to tap into this well by choice… to summon this strength and glow for his Connie… what kind of emotion does he wish to anchor himself with?

Nothing you do could ever truly scare me, her promise rings in his ears once again. 

The sentiment flows through his veins like sweet nectar, a healing magic all its own.

Trust.

That’s it. Connie trusts him implicitly— without question, without resolve.

So maybe it’s time he finally grapples with all the facets of his identity he’s long neglected and starts to trust himself, too.

Confident in his decision to at least try, he entwines their fingers together, expressing his endearment through a quick triple squeeze.

Okay. 

Okay…

Deep breath, Steven. Deep breath. You’re home. You’re safe. You can pull back whenever you want. YOU are in control.

With one final shaky inhale, he opens his mind to the potent sum of energy swirling within the fathomless layers of his gem.

That familiar glow blooms from his cheeks on command, spreading across the entire span of his body in but a split second and casting their bedroom in a soft, tranquil, shadow-casting pink. It’s almost like flipping a light switch— which makes Connie’s earlier comparison all the more amusing. He can’t help but let out a quavering laugh of relief at his victory, meeting his partner’s eyes as he revels in the sweet euphoria of everything this accomplishment means for him as both a gem and a human being. 

Her gaze surges with a wealth of pride and warmth while she drinks in the sight. Flashing him a teasing smile, she dances her hand up the length of his arm and towards his center, splaying her fingers wide across his bare chest, right over his heart. Steven’s breath hitches. Such tactile sensations seem far more sensitive in this state than they are for him normally. The sheer memory of her touch buzzes at his core like a giddy swarm of butterflies in his stomach, each and every minuscule shift in her contact commanding his full attention.

It’s a beautiful moment— and there’s a small segment of him that wishes it could linger just a while longer— but that damned logic within his mind recognizes it’s smarter to pull back now rather than cling to such a fickle surge of power a second too long and risk potential disaster. No matter how much fulfillment swells within his soul for what he’s achieved here, this ability is still untrained… unrefined. Tonight’s accomplishment is only the beginning of his journey to reclaim it.

He exhales slow and steady, willing that glimmering pink pallor to sink back into his hard-light veins. Their room grows dark once more. His gem’s once fervent hum fades into a hushed murmur. A relieved, watery smile stretches across his cheeks as he feels all the lingering remnants of that energy dissipate right alongside his fading adrenaline. 

Her head tilting with ample curiosity as she regards him, Connie shifts her hold to his shoulder. “And how did that feel?”

“Not as scary as I thought it’d be,” he admits with a shrug, carding his hand through his curls.  

She smiles. “Good.“

Pulling their bodies flush, she plants a swift, tender kiss upon his lips. (Always a treasure to savor, no matter how fleeting the circumstances.) Then, leading by example, she tucks herself back under the covers, patting the adjacent pillow in invitation. 

Entirely smitten, Steven follows in turn.

“Anyways, as usual I was completely right,” she says, nestling herself against his side once more.

His brows raises, an amused chuckle rumbling in his chest. “About—?”

Grinning, she reaches up boop the tip of his nose.

“You do make for a beautiful nightlight, silly.”

[lip-gallaghers-cigarette]

I am about to infodump about why steven universe has BPD (and cptsd but thats canon)

later in the series and in SU future is when all the trauma has already happened and hes finally safe is when it manifests itself heavier. hes very people pleasing, putting other peoples needs ahead of himself, even if the other person is in the wrong, his emotions spiral so out of control that he becomes corrupted or goes "pink mode", he has identity issues (bc of constantly being told hes his mother) to the point where he cant tell if he is her, if he is himself, if hes a he, if hes a she, if hes a gem or if hes a human, good or evil, etc.

has bursts of intense anger and feelings of guilt, would go to any length to keep people in his life (connie for example) and when she rejected his proposal his symptoms spiraled out of control, which is typically what happens w bpd, its triggered, his symptoms started presenting when he hit 16 / SU future. as for the ptsd though thats actually canon, there is an episode where he visits the doctor and she doesnt directly call it ptsd but shes asking him about his trauma and how far back it stems from (and he begins recalling traumatic events starting all the way from the beginning of the series to the middle of the series before connies mom interrupts him and tells him that he p much has c-ptsd) and steven starts having intense flashbacks and then falls into an episode when he is reminded of connie rejecting his proposal, his body starts physically reacting to it as if its happening again. (which by the way the proposal was very impulsive and spontaneous and mainly based in fear of abandonment, and solidified when garnet agreed. very bpd like.)

he views small issues as life threatening, which is seen in ptsd and bpd. hes been in a constant state of trauma since childhood, never knew his mom and constantly i n peril fighting monsters he doesnt even know the origin of protecting himself from a battle his mother forced him into, bpd and ptsd are inherently traumagenic. he changes himself and overextends himself to fit other people's perception of what he should be or to fit his own idea of perfection, hes terrified of being alone and will go to any lengths to keep his loved ones around him.

when people offer him support he pushes it away because he doesnt want to burden his loved ones with his problems or intense emotions or trauma. in fact, he bottles it up SO much that he falls into an episode where he starts fixing other peoples problems to distract himself from his own, as if fixing other people will in turn fix himself, which only makes it worse and worse until he explodes. he talks about how hes worthless, how hes a bad person, how he doesnt deserve his loved ones, and then becomes corrupted when the trauma become too much for him gem to handle anymore. (Him splitting on himself after bottling his feelings up for so long)

this was only soothed when his loved ones reminded him how much he was loved and cared for. he lacked a voice his whole life and once jasper taught him to fight and defend himself and he became all big and strong his personality changed completely and he ended up becoming aggressive in the same way jasper was and literally purposely and v violently shattered her because of it (which is obviously very out of character for steven who has healing powers)

he also takes control of and attempts to shatter white diamond when he has trauma flashbacks to her almost killing him despite working through those issues previous

he has a "the grass is greener on the other side" mindset

He has bouts of uncontrollable rage because he has no form of grasp of his emotions due to alienating them.

He creates narratives sticks to them then he is unable to change these thought processes.

after shattering jasper he has an intense panic attack, thinking he is a violent killer or bad person, his guilt spirals and he makes a very desperate and emotional attempt at bringing her back.

he also takes control of and attempts to shatter white diamond when he has trauma flashbacks to her almost killing him despite working through those issues previous.

he has a "the grass is greener on the other side" mindset

He has bouts of uncontrollable rage because he has no form of grasp of his emotions due to alienating them.

He creates narratives sticks to them then he is unable to change these thought processes.

He creates a happily ever after in his mind and then when the outcome isn't perfect or what he imagined he freaks out.

he has frequent flashbacks to issues from his past and tends to block the thoughts out when they show up or dissociate himself from them, or, alternatively, he hyper-fixates on them so much that it takes over every aspect of his waking life. he also thinks in black and white a lot, with things being either all good or all bad, and becomes paranoid about other peoples intentions or the way they perceive him. he also is CONSTANTLY on edge expecting bad things to happen and prepares himself for danger that might not even come.

Also throwback to the time where he crashed the car and split on his dad when he realized his dad got the childhood he always wanted and that he was neglected, he quickly went from idealizing his dad to feeling spiteful toward him and putting their own lives in danger.

also the time when he realized all of his friends were moving on without him and subconsciously trapped them in a giant bubble that he had no control over

oh and the NIGHTMARES!!!

- sincerely, a Steven kinnie with BPD and C-PTSD. (Cross-Posted)