#steven universe: future spoilers

[octoling-wearing-gauges]

How could you pick just one

[oatmealaddiction]

Rant time, but like, people who complain about the diamonds in Steven Universe getting "redeemed" and "facing no consequences" like, why did you ever think the diamonds getting destroyed was on the table as an option? Why did everyone think the show was going to end with Steven fighting and killing the diamonds, or the universe dolling out some Hayes Code Karma Violence like a giant rock falling on them at the last second? Like I guess I understand the criticism in theory that Steven Universe's metaphor for the diamonds as toxic family members falls apart when you consider they're crimes as space monarchs doing a colonialism, but Steven isn't The Avatar. At no point in the show does he even have the power to doll out the punishment you guys want.

Steven *does* try to fight the diamonds, and he gets his ass kicked. He gets smashed under his own shield and knocked out. His mom forms an entire army to fight them and LOSES and has almost all of her friends corrupted by them. The Diamonds are bigger, badder and stronger than The Crystal Gems (kind of like how adults are bigger and stronger than children.) So instead, he reveals his identity as Pink and the Diamonds immediately stop trying to kill him and the show instead pivots to be about political diplomacy. He doesn't like the diamonds, by the time Future rolls around we find out that he hates them and has private thoughts about killing them even now that that they don't pose any threat. But during the show he's powerless and so instead, talking to them and trying to change their mind is just a practical option because fighting hasn't worked. Because in the real world, there are times you will be outmatched and violence won't be the answer—even if the people hurting you probably do deserve violence.

And the diamonds aren't "redeemed," they just change their mind. They just decide that they want to keep Pink in their lives, so they begin to take accountability and undo the damage that they caused with their war, and presumably will spend the next thousands of years of their lives dismantling their own empire. And again, Steven Universe Future discusses the discomfort and the downside of this approach, that even if it's better and harm is actively being undone, the diamonds can't resolve all the harm they've done and Steven largely doesn't feel like he's gotten justice for what they did to him and his mother—much less the universe. So I don't get where anyone gets off saying this story is irresponsible or saying you should just forgive bad people. I don't see that anywhere in the story. The theme of Universe has always been the necessity of change, and so it makes sense that the villains aren't forgiven or revealed to be good people—but that they just change.

[wolf-tail]

Steven Universe said "some villains are more useful to the healing of their victims alive than dead because they are open to restorative justice" and The Owl House said "some villains refuse to even acknowledge their own wrongdoing and will only cause more harm if allowed to" and I think that's beautiful of them both❤️

[jliciousart]

🔶🤎 aren’t I a fool to have (happily) drifted away

[stanleynopines]

My wife 😭

[inbarfink]

Life in the Post-Finale Season is always pretty rough....

[cali-kabi]

~ Random Favorite Character Canvas Doodles💫🌟🎨

[guthrie-odonto]

If I had a nickel for every time a main, titular character became a kaiju because mental Chernobyl event (the “rampage” didn’t even have any casualties), I’d have two nickels. Which isn’t a lot, but it’s weird that it happened twice

Not complaining. Kaiju are cool and also with kaiju symbolizing everything from atomic hubris to cultural turmoil to climate change, it’s about time the genre started tackling psychological issues in its allegory

[pink-onyx-au]

In your comic, how long has been since SU Future?

This comic event occurs between I Am My Monster, with episode 1 "Antipathy" being about a week after Steven's corruption event, and The Future, the final episode. So when the comic concludes, the "next" event after the conclusion will be Steven leaving Beach City to travel with Connie.

[candyskiez]

no no listen to me listen listen pearl for so long made excuses for rose. she's a good leader because she kept secrets. I kept her secrets because that's good that's a good thing secrets are GOOD. she's obsessive over it. it's good it's good. she was having a denial crisis over rose having a LION. a lion. because the idea of rose not being exactly what she thought she was and her not knowing everything either, the idea of it at all, it scared her. her going to volleyball I should've believed you, not her. I shouldn't have gone "no, the rose I knew wouldn't have done that", because I didn't know everything about her. that is GROWTH.

and her saying "but you were hurt, badly." even when volleyball said what pink did to her was an accident. yes it was an accident but you were still hurt. you still get to be hurt. it's still awful what was done to you. how many times had pearl invalidated her own pain via it was an accident. rose didn't think it would hurt me. rose was doing what was best for us, of course she didn't realize it'd hurt me. it wasn't her fault. she wanted to help. it's fine. pearl learning rose did good and rose did bad aren't mutually exclusive and THATS how she moves on. that's how she moves on. accepting the reality of rose. the good and the bad and the in between. rose didn't mean to but she still did and I can be hurt. I am not betraying her by being hurt by what she did. I am whole without her, I am allowed to be happy without her. by reaching out to volleyball she helps both of them. them fusing is so so huge to me. they understand each other they go "I see you, you were in so much pain for so long, I'm so sorry, I've got you now. I know what it's like to love someone who hurt you." the solidarity fuck me gently with a chainsaw it's so good.

AND HER SAYING TO STEVEN. I KNOW HOW AWFUL IT FEELS TO KEEP A PART OF YOURSELF A SECRET. FUCK!!!

she says he never should've had to keep this a secret. that it's awful to feel like your past is some dirty thing to be hidden and washed away so people can only see the pretty parts they want. it's awful to be expected to move on when you're still festering over what's happened because your pain was never addressed. she gets it she understands him do you hear me do you HEAR ME. FUCKKKKK. THIS SHOW IS SO GOOD. why didn't I watch this sooner ohhhhh my god.

(for the record this isn't an anti rose/pink post. this is a rose is flawed as fuck and I think it's interesting post. got it? good.)

[notsoterrifyingrenegade]

Busy thinking about the similarities between Steven and Finn (obviously there are going to be some similarities since both shows aired around the same time and there’s overlap between the crews)

Both grew up going on adventures and received boatloads of trauma from it

Grew into adults not really sure how to handle their trauma so they use other techniques:

Getting super buff and becoming more violent (more so for Steven)

Insisting that everything is fine when it most definitely isn’t

Fixing everyone around them because they don’t know how to “fix” themselves (also "No prob, Bob" parallel!)

It's interesting though that Steven spends most of Future trying to move away from his past self (where most of the bad stuff happened) and not “be that little kid anymore”, while Finn’s bad stuff is currently happening in the present and will continue to follow him into the future so he’s actively regressing into his past self where it was still just a boy and his dog.

[shockleart]

Cinematic parallels: Magical teenagers that became monsters due to trauma.

[soyalexnajera]

Boscha reminded me a lot of Jasper in this scene...

[theatricsunflower]

Man, I love that show with that one 14 year old boy, who has special powers that include but are not limited to astral projection and going into other people’s heads, and creating shields. He changes the minds of multiple of his villains, and they get redeemed. He grows from being considered unreliable to being depended on. Eventually, because of the trauma he has experienced in his life, and suppressing the sides of himself he thinks others won’t like, he has a massive mental breakdown, going on a rampage with is powers, and has to be calmed down by his loved ones, who accept him for who he is, flaws and all. Which one am I talking about:

[ceephorsshitshow]

Spicy take I just realized while drawing my comic:

He covered it in breaking points

[weedle-testaburger]

the era of Big Gay Cartoons may have ended but i’ll always be so, so grateful