#Spinel Character Break down

[saiscribbles]

I do, love the Switcharoo universe you've created, but I feel like something is getting a little glossed over here, what exactly is Spinel's feelings about Greg?

So the thing about Switcheroo AU is when the logic of the character swap starts to break down I just go with something funny or an outright shitpost.

The conflict between Greg and Spinel is far more low stakes.

Greg's afraid of clowns. That's it. I felt like it was in character for him lol.

Original posts:

[leadexorcist]

I have an request,

You ever seen that "Steven Universe:The Movie", I think Adam would fit Spinel perfectly because they both used to live in a garden, were abandoned and felt they were never good enough for anyone.

So after the fight, Adam would break down to Lucifer,Charlie & Crew:

Adam: I WAS JUST NOT GOOD ENOUGH FOR LILITH,NOT GOOD ENOUGH FOR EVE!

Adam:Now I'm not any good at all!

Adam: Haha, that's funny isn't it..?

Adam, towards Lucifer: At least you found me entertaining... *(Voice breaking)* You actually... liked me.. didn't you..?

Lucifer:Adam-...

Adam, tearing up: What am I doing..? Why do I want to hurt you so bad..? I just wanted to be the one... I just wanted you to love me too...

Hi, I haven't watch the Movie, but I have watch the show😅 so sorry that I don't know how to make sense of your request, but this is really creative and I can see this happening, it fits his character!

[chaifootsteps]

https://youtu.be/w5YIbJ_2hYg?si=Yt7jVba0o7G-AHd-

This video is phenomenal when it comes to talking about the music of that Spinel song. The way he breaks down the actual harmony shows this idea of the story and the character singing. He is really technical about the notes and harmony, but you can and should apply the concept to the characters and storytelling, that is how a musical works. Every aspect is the quality of the story/character. When he talks about the G chord scale and how instead of being major, like usual, the D gets flipped to minor.

Major chords are usually associated with "happiness" in musical language, so the sudden flip to minor shows how hopeful Spinel was and how much she loved and trusted Pink only to be let down. This sensation of falling and this downward progression is a theme of the song overall.

Fuck the haters, Rebecca Sugar knew what she was doing.

Thank you for sending this, this was amazing. Rebecca Sugar's an incredible human being who knows her craft, knows multiple crafts, and I hope we get more cartoons from her before all's said and done.

[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.

[nesiclor]

(This is a long ass post)

Recently I decided to rewatch Steven Universe and as much as it's good, I'm still dissapointed by how they had to rush the finale and especially the epilogue. There was a lot of potential for I Am My Monster and I am a connoisseur of protagonist turned apeshit. So, just like I made a reimagine of Lush Caves, I made a reimagine of I Am My Monster, with a bonus storyline at the end(shitpost warning because I had no idea what to do for the dialogue. (Close-ups are below the cut)

Unironic notes:

Steven grows in size every time he feels attacked/surrounded. This is utilising the concept in Growing Pains where he grows when he feels stressed and scared in the hospital.

Spikes growing out of Steven's body should serve a purpose, since it's shown that he isn't exactly corrupted, but instead shapeshifting.

The slow-burn could be assisted with Steven fighting against his family and friends in an actual battle for him to see himself as a monster as it goes on, rather than going from 0 to 100 from one episode to the next. As for why he would be attacked, could be that he is lost in the mindset that he can mess up without facing the concequences, which means he could feel like he can attack the gems to avoid the confrontation he had in Everything's Fine, making the gems fight back for the sake of everyone's safety. An obvious idea would also be that when Bismuth, Lapis and Peridot show up to help, they see Steven attacking without getting a good look at who he is, attacking automatically, provoking him even more.

___

Note that the comic isn't a scene-by-scene, but more of a plot point-by-plot point. In an actual episode, there should be more pauses to let the weight of the situation set in. ALSO C'MON! POOF SOME BITCHES! ADD MORE TENSION! BREAK STUFF INSTEAD OF GOING *stomp stomp* grawbuhrgrawargh ON THE BEACH!

And just in case you get any ideas you'd like to add on to all this, then go right ahead. I would love to see like one of the most crucial parts of the show's character developments actually have more to it.

Anyway, here is a bonus brainstorm I had continuing after the small comic:

Lapis trapping Steven could happen because Steven tries to run away after poofing Amethyst. Steven would start running past Little Homeschool, allowing Lapis to spot him from the tower. Lapis would use a lake to restrict Steven, while Connie warps over with Lion to try to calm him down. Then the last couple of panels in the comic could happen. Lapis gets poofed, and Steven becomes big enough for all of Little Homeschool to notice. Steven runs further into the forest after his signature GRWARBHURGABRAWH. It turns out Steven was running over to Jasper's camp, only to see she's not there. Steven looks around before a boulder gets lobbed at his face. Bismuth and Peridot caught up with him and try to fight him, since they don't know it's Steven. But they quickly start to make a run for it, Peridot flying away with Bismuth while Steven jumps towards them. They're just about to be caught before Sardonyx hops up and bonks Steven in the face with her hammer. Sardonyx unfuses and tells Bismuth and Peridot to hide beneath the trees and stay quiet. They ask how to take the thing down but Garnet says "Don't attack him." Of course they ask "Him?", leading to Garnet elaborating that it's Steven. And, this is IMPORTANT AND THEY DIDN'T DO IT, add a shot of STEVEN thinking. Just STEVEN looking around. He gets lost in thought before he looks back at Little Homeschool and makes his way back to it. The gems hear the thudding get quieter and sigh in relief, explaining what they know about the situation. Their conversation gets cut off when they hear where Steven is going. Steven goes back to Little Homeschool and starts grunting and gazing around, punching holes into buildings and looking inside of them. Then drama drama before the Diamonds show up in their ship, pausing the commotion by picking Steven up and Spinel coming out to say he forgot his foot-thong-thingy. The Diamonds pause to see that Steven is missing and ask where he is, also getting explained to by the gems. They look at their spaceship-hand as Steven is charging up a roar that powers the entire ship down and causes it to crash. Steven walks up to the ship and stares at the sculpture of White's face on the ship, his pupils dilating. Then he goes into full mania as he punches the ship over and over. Then idk lol.

If you're wondering why Steven would be looking for Jasper, my idea is that Jasper helped him have actual control over his power, just not how he felt mentally. Steven thinks his form is his powers swelling up again and feels like Jasper is his only hope.

[scumbag-the-hedgehog]

Here it is, the updated Scourge muse inspo sheet - felt like the older one wasn't reflecting the aspects of the character that have become more prominent so I wanted to make a new one, and I'm pretty happy with this updated version (also yes its technically seven characters but I break the rules as I see fit.)

Left to right, going down: - Vegeta (DBZ, with heavy Abirdged influences) - Sun Wukong and Macaque (Lego Monkie Kid) - Jeanne d'Arc Alter (Fate Series) - Spinel (Steven Universe: The Movie) - Denji (Chainsaw Man) - Daffy Duck (Looney Tunes, esp. the Chuck Jones era) Template under the cut:

[auntieheart]

Pink diamond doesn't deserve hate

I think the hate for pink diamond is wrong cuz she honestly didn't do anything anybody else wouldn't do in that situation.

Let's break it down in order:

Pink pearl was damaged by mistake, Pink was mad at the other diamonds had an outburst of power (like Steven has when extremely upset) and Pink pearl was caught in it and was harmed by mistake. Yes her trauma from it is real but we have to acknowledge that wasn't intentional and that she clearly cared for Pink pearl as a friend.

Spinel: Pink diamond had no real choice, from the way I see it. She never planned on leaving her forever cuz she never planned on leaving her life as a diamond forever. Yes it's crappy that she left her standing there alone for a long time in general but gems are capable of going against their diamonds orders and she was shown to not listen so its fully possible she assumed that spinel would get bored and do something else.

Bismuth: bismuth was planning on murdering other gems and was shown to be unwilling to listen. Don't focus on the recon of her character later in the show. She was far from reasonable and was a danger to everyone. Her not telling the other gems may have been because she didn't want to lose more friends, cuz if they did take bismuth's side she would have to bubble them too. Not to mention her choosing to bubble her was far better than what she could have done.

Faking her death: fuck the diamonds, they abused her and she wanted to escape and deserved to escape. They smothered Steven but were shown to be down right abusive to Pink. Her room was full of tiny pebbles born of her tears. Every one of her memories with them were negative. They might miss her but they never really act themselves if they deserved her as their family. In my opinion, they didn't. Not to mention they are the root of all of this, they abused and ignored her causing her to have a outburst like any powerless person would do in that situation and harm her only friend.

They refused to end the colony cuzing her to create the crystal gems. They made her essentially have to fight on two sides of a war. With her death being the only real option.

Cuz let's been clear, if they knew pink diamond was rose quartz there would be no war cuz they would just force her to come back. They were bigger and stronger than her and white diamond can easily brainwash her. Rose quartz being the figure head allowed for them to keep their distance and only get involved when they felt it was necessary in order to teach her to be a leader and fall back completely when they thought pink died.

Also it annoys me that the show seem to have a problem with her faking her death. Like the fact that she didn't kill herself for the Revolution is a bad thing on her part. Like her giving up her life and family for both the people on the planet and gems who wanted freedom meant nothing cuz "she faked her death" like she didn't try talk no Jujutsu for probably centuries with her only reward being a zoo full of people. Like she wasn't fighting on the Frontline and didn't make hard choices to minimize casualties. She may not have been perfect but she set the Foundation that steven walked on to end the diamond Authority.

I get that she lied and wasnt perfect but i feel like the show missed mutiple opportunities to state "idealizing someone is not good" I mean from the beginning they had steven freaking out cuz he wasn't "perfect like rose" they made it seem like she was the perfect most loving, capable and beautiful person ever. And the moment they saw her faults, they started to distance themselves and act as if everything she ever done was a lie. They made this person into a God and got mad the moment the universe made it care she was a person. And them doing that hurt steven, they pushed steven into feeling like he had to be like his mom. Than that he had to be a better version of her and the moment the cracks started to form, he started to think that he was a monster cuz thats what he's flawed mom is in his eyes.

Steven was never able to process his flaws cuz he spent 14 years believing he was following in the foot steps of someone without flaws and 2 years making up for the flaws of his mother and everyone else around him. And this is all cuz the gems refused to acknowledge the rose was capable of making mistakes.

My point isn't that she is without fault or some innocent pure character but that she wasn't some evil psycho. She didn't go out of her way to harm others things just happened and people got hurt. That is how life is, no matter how good you are you might leave 100s of people picking up the pieces of glass that was your shattered life. I am a strong believer that intent and action go hand and hand. You can hate someone's actions but respect their intent.

[technodelic7]

Ok I guess I want to write about Black Pearl my SU OC now... I have a pretty complicated lore that I kinda-sorta conceived out as an AU that I was doing with my master ages ago but now it mostly exists in my head... So I'm gonna share it now

Black Pearl was a 100% ordinary pearl aside from being a rare color, she was trained specifically in acrobatics and clownery, kind of a Pierrot type, so she was a highly desirable pickup for any aristocratic gem - probably shifted owners a lot and never settled down much, but she genuinely loved her job and was considered to be as good as a Spinel for a fraction of the cost AND THEN ERA THREE HAPPENS

Era Three frankly kinda breaks her brain! She cannot handle the idea that all gems are equal now! She WANTS to be subservient, right? And this mental stress breaks her and she trauma-reforms into a totally different appearance and demeanor and decides to go her own way. And she becomes super obsessed with the Crystal Gems.

What the fuck is Steven's deal, anyway? He comes out of nowhere and fucks up all of the Gem empire and then fucks off. He's the most terrifying thing in the universe and all the diamonds treat him like he's their little buddy. And that Pearl he hung out with. Pink Diamond's personal Pearl. Why can't I do some shit like that, she thinks? If I'm free, why can't I make the kind of place where I fit in the way I want to?

You know what a cubic zirconia is, right? It's a kind of zirconium that can be synthesize to make, you guessed it, imitation diamonds. So take one Zircon that nobody would particularly miss, perform some rather... radical experiments to it, and suddenly out of nowhere there's the emergence of Black Diamond, the fifth diamond that was lost to time! A new Diamond Authority for disaffected gems to unite under! And Black Pearl is right where she belongs, with a real master to work under, but she won't even acknowledge she's got her hand on the leash...

This is my attempt (beyond the obvious kink bait stuff) to make a character that Steven would not be able to talk down, because her fucked up brain would be able to twist everything he says into supporting her cause. She's a master swordsman and general warrior and could probably beat any of the Crystal Gems in a one-on-one fight. She also likes fashion and collecting cool swords from her enemies.

[aftout]

Sorry for SU posting on main I’m aware that it’s, like, a show and a half when it comes to thinking critically about media but with its recent resurgence on certain platforms I’ve been pondering like a bitch over one topic specifically and it’s just??

I love, love Rose Quartz’s character. It’s a hot take I know but I truly love what the series did with her, as rushed as it was at times. Rose is so important to me because she is what Steven Universe is all about: growth, forgiveness, and change.

There’s the obvious: she went from presenting herself as a diamond to presenting herself as a quartz. She changed her name. She moved from homeworld to Earth. She went from surrounding herself with the other diamonds and their colonies to surrounding herself with humans and the crystal gems. But even outside of all the things that are presented to you surface level, her entire existence and personality revolves around changing.

The earliest stage of her that we see in the show is, iirc, the dream sequence where Stevonnie is in her position (on that abandoned command center) with Connie’s mom replicating Yellow Diamond. Rose was, at that point, a literal child. Though not in consecutive order, we see how Rose goes from a spoiled, overly emotional, and even abused kid to this levelheaded, grown woman. And that is literally what the show is all about. I keep saying this over and over again but she is so integral to SU’s overarching theme. She’s imperfect, both as a gem and also as a person, but like? She persists and moves forward. She’s so human.

Even in context of design, her quartz form looks substantially more humane than most of the other gems do. She mingles with humanity constantly and even goes as far as to give birth to a (mostly) human son. She is messy. The rubble of it all means a lot to me because I feel like SU did a good job at portraying just how ugly trauma can be. We really see this in Future, where Steven has an onscreen meltdown and finally cracks under several seasons’ and a movie’s worth of trials and tribulations. It’s really interesting to me because I feel like, in that story arc, we really see that he is his mother’s son.

I don’t think it’s outlandish to say that SU does touch on themes about generational trauma. Rose has her baggage from her days as a diamond, and clearly though she tried her best to grow and break the cycle, there were a few bumps and bruises that got passed down onto Steven. He then goes on his own journey to heal and break the cycle himself. Hell, both of their stories even end with them leaving Greg and the Crystal Gems behind; and though Steven doesn’t sacrifice himself in the way that Rose did, there is still that feeling of moving on and accepting the next stage of life: whether it be finally allowing oneself to grow up or, well, die.

These themes of growing up are found in the Spinel debacle, as well. Rebecca Sugar themself said that a lot of Spinel’s character was based off of this situation they found themself in where they left a toy rabbit they had in the garden, forgot about it, and then found it again six months later. They described it as “wondering how they could be so careless over something they thought they loved so much.” It’s rough because, unlike Sugar’s stuffed rabbit, Spinel is sentient. But even then, throughout the movie she is described as Pink’s toy. Symbolically she captures what it’s like to grow out of toys you once loved as a child. And then, at the end, she is taken in by the other diamonds to reminisce over who Pink once was; much like how parents may keep old stuffed animals their kids owned as a memory.

Idk. At this point I’m fully rambling (I had better points when I was talking to myself about this and making myself cry), but I just. Yeah. Rose is such a wonderful character to me. Her humanity and imperfection means a lot. I think it’s cool to have such a nuanced character be shown in children’s media, and seeing her development is genuinely fascinating. I think she really shows that beauty isn’t necessarily found in one’s pain, but in the strength they withhold to power through it. Does that make any sense? Idk.

[amelikos]

Some character notes and episode notes for HZ024, writing them down for future reference.

I wrote about Amethio and Terapagos here, and Amethio and Hamber here.

Nyahoja sulking and being jealous of Liko's attention being on Mibrim and Terapagos was cute, I like how it's just really a cat and how Liko was speaking gently and trying to get Nyahoja to follow her to introduce it to her grandma. While Nyahoja was the one who encouraged Mibrim to join Liko because both of them were too shy to make the first move (so it wasn't opposed to a new Pokemon befriending them), it's understandably probably overwhelmed at seeing a new Pokemon joining Liko soon after Mibrim joined them. Nyahoja probably thinks it's being replaced. Also, I just like how Liko carries all her Pokemon around with her and doesn't make them go inside their Pokeballs. It makes the world feel much more alive and I just enjoy seeing Pokemon as part of the world in mundane ways!

Seeing more of the Explorers is always good. It seems like Spinel and Agate are working together in a lab, which is interesting to know. Perhaps they are investigating more of the pendant's properties? We haven't seen the Explorers working with others much, except for Amethio (who works with Zir and Conia) and when Spinel was introduced, he was operating alone and seems like the type who handles things better when he is alone. So I wonder how he acts when he has to work with someone else. I do hope we'll get to see more of Spinel and Agate eventually. Spinel was already analyzing the pendant in HZ015, and Agate was the one asking him more about it in HZ016 during the Explorers meeting so she was already showing interest in the research side of things before.

Sango and Onyx argue with each other. It seems like no one in the Explorers is giving each other a break ww They quickly stop protesting once Hamber calls them out, so it seems like they respect his authority. It's also cool seeing them both around with their partners Pokemon! Again, it makes the world feel much more alive and it shows their bond with them too.

Liko and the others took the train to go to Knuckle City. It's kind of fun that Friede was the one sleeping during the ride, while Liko and Roy didn't.

Liko talks about her grandmother while they're all taking a secret passage to go to the castle. She explains that the last time she saw her was a year before the current events when she was accepted into Sekiei Academy. Her grandmother gave her the pendant as a good-luck charm then. So Liko had the pendant for a year at this point. Liko looks up to her grandmother and thinks she is cool and explains that she is always traveling with Pokemon, looking for ancient ruins and sunken ships and other things like that.

I liked Diana's description of Liko, telling Nyahoja that Liko can be more stubborn than she looks and that she is kind. I hope we'll get to see more of Liko's stubborn aspects! Nyahoja was wary and tried to scratch Diana though. Also, it's kind of interesting that Diana's main partner seems to be Windie (a dog), while Liko's partner is Nyahoja (a cat).

Lots of Pokemon live in the castle with Diana. They are wild Pokemon for the most part and can choose to leave if they want to, or stay if they like it there. Friede points out that it's like the Brave Asagi. I like that we've seen several instances of Pokemon who live with humans who aren't necessarily their trainers. Roy's island was like that, the Brave Asagi is too, and now Diana's castle. Diana lives a carefree life by herself and her Pokemon.

Diana apologizes for getting Liko caught up in the Explorers business. We get more clarification about the timeline. Diana was approached by the Explorers a few months before the beginning of the series, so she didn't know Liko would be in trouble when she gave her the pendant. She immediately contacted Lucca who then hired the Rising Volt Tacklers to protect Liko.

Liko explains that the pendant turned into a Pokemon and Diana recognizes it as Terapagos. Diana never realized that it was sleeping all this time in the pendant. She mentions Lucius's records and how Terapagos looks different from what she saw there. She also explains that Terapagos traveled with Lucius.

Diana liking canned food because it's practical and there are no plates to wash afterwards... liking the way she lives!

Either way, Diana tells her story. She found the pendant and records written by Lucius in an old suitcase in her attic when she was a kid. She wondered if the records were true and who Lucius really was and she set off on a journey to find out more about it. She looked all over the world and investigated but didn't find anything. She gave up thirty years before the story started. However, despite admitting that she gave up, she doesn't regret anything. She became the adventurer she is today thanks to the pendant and Lucius's story, and found a true passion in it. After all, she is still traveling now and enjoys adventures as much as when she started.

Diana mentions that she was contacted by an old friend a few months before the current events. Her old friend being Hamber. This is really interesting to me. How long have they been friends? (perhaps they were exes ww) I hope we get to see more of their bond. Apparently, Hamber wanted to introduce her to someone who could aid her in her adventures (certainly Gibeon), so it seems to imply that Diana has quite a reputation as an adventurer? Since Gibeon would have probably known that she had the pendant and that she was looking to solve its mystery? The Explorers had to know on some level that Diana is an adventurer and investigated a lot of things related to the pendant.

Terapagos reacts to the mention of "Rakua" and Diana explains that it's the paradise Lucius sought.

I am not sure if Liko is a descendant to Lucius at the moment. Diana's family having the pendant and records in their attic could be a case similar to Mohn in Sun and Moon when he found Magearna in a shop and decided to take her back home. So maybe Diana's family randomly found the pendant somewhere (in a shop or something) and just took it. It's a possibility and I'm waiting for a confirmation. Diana had the pendant during decades and Terapagos remained dormant. Though Liko had it for a year and a lot of things happened since Terapagos awakened and the Six Heroes are showing up one after the other, and the pendant resonates in her presence.

Terapagos feeling a strong surge of emotions upon seeing Amethio is a Mood. Just like me fr.

Amethio ends up casually intruding in the castle. He intruded in the Brave Asagi in HZ002 so it's interesting that he is doing the same kind of thing for the climax, especially since the castle has been paralleled with the Brave Asagi (both being similar since a lot of wild Pokemon live there). I already wrote about Terapagos's reaction to Amethio but it was really curious and I hope we'll know a bit more about it next week. Mibrim conveyed how strong Terapagos's reactions were since she got excited, ran around and fell down because of the surge of emotions Terapagos was expressing. Amethio is definitely more involved than initially thought in this mystery.

Overall, this was great. I absolutely love Diana, especially as an older woman character. She is bold, curious, adventurous, fun and just cool! I like how carefree she is and the way she enjoys life and adventure. No wonder Liko looks up to her so much. I do hope she'll get to know more about Terapagos and Rakua because she spent so many years traveling in order to know more but didn't really find anything so I hope Liko will be able to tell her about these things, just like how her grandmother's stories inspired her. Her grandmother inspiring her and Liko giving back in her own way would be great to see.

[intooned]

Howdy! To any and all who see this, I've no clue if any of you are religious in the slightest, but if not then I strongly suggest giving it a shot. A lot of weird things have been happening lately. Weird enough for me to start taking a much more proactive role in my faith in Jesus Christ. Call it intuition, happenstance, coincidences, whatever but something really important is happening, and if me writing this here gets even one person to put Jesus on their mind when unbelievable things are happening then it's worth it. If I lose followers or support here then fine but for any who have had even the tiniest bit of favor toward me enough to listen then listen well:

JESUS CHRIST IS COMING! AND SOON! Not when we're all old and probably more serious about religion anyway. Not down the line after we've reached our dreams, or finished school, or have that career, or started a family. Not in a few years. Sooner than anyone putting their faith off is prepared for.

If I'm full of it then feel comfortable laughing at me but I'd rather help even one more person if it means their salvation from what's coming. I tend to not express this part of my life online but remember that forgiveness is free and that there is nothing you've ever done beyond mercy by the grace of Jesus Christ. Declare him Lord over your heart, confess your wrongs, and ask for forgiveness. Don't let yourself come to regret postponing this, it'll be too little too late for "I told you so". Please, if I have to beg then so be it, please be prepared, Jesus is coming and you don't want to be left behind when all hell breaks loose.

I love you, Jesus loves you, and you're worth all the stars in heaven. Blessed be.

@kingofpancakes-blog I strongly doubt daydreaming about fictional characters engaging in unprotected handholding has doomed me to eternal suffering. If I stand before St. Peter and he's like: "Welcome to Heaven! Let me just check your ships... Is that Spinel and Steven holding hands?! Such degeneracy! Oh naw, nope, sorry, you get the bad place!"

Then I'm speaking to HR "Heavenly Resources".

[lolotheparagon]

If you don’t mind me, asking what that previous asker talked about the collector and spinel I do I know how are they different? I will come as a rude I enjoy your analysis different characters

Spinel: Was someone’s literal slave and was ordered to stay put for eons, waiting for her master to come back until she breaks down from despair and hunts down her master’s descendant

The Collector: A chaotic being with otherworldly powers who is a stubborn, naive child who has a warped view of how friendships work and never realised that his actions have consequences, which he had to learn the hard way. Once he has someone he cares about in his life and realises how his action affect them, he immediately fixes the error of his ways

[matt-the-radar-techncian]

I kind of wonder if people feel that way about Rose because of how steven feels about her. And he is somebody that while he may never know her side of the story, at least he's supposed to have more context that while isn't a perfect angel she's not exactly this devil who somehow enjoys other people suffering due to how complicated circumstances are as well as the possibility that she didn't see herself.

Like it isn't just their opinion, they are obviously thinking that because of steven's opinions, which future and even himself feels like he's the ultimate victim in his mom's misdeeds, even that one line with Steven that he believe that she would abandon someone in the movie ("I can't believe mom did that to you. Actually, I can totally believe it") and doesn't want to think much of her even though there may be an argument somewhere that renders that pointless because at the end of Future and I think even the episodes post-Rose buds but pre-everything's fine he still has that picture with her and Greg. Like it wasn't replaced with a different picture or it was layed down like how I kind of expect people who doesn't want to think about a specific person due to personal and negative issues with them, unresolved or otherwise (if it wasn't some background error made by the background artist like it wasn't supposed to be there in the final episode or in the post-rose buds) but I guess that goes back to how Steven's feelings about her are very extremely complicated to the point you could say Future barely scratched the surface if him keeping that picture of her, like the only photographic picture of her, in his room is supposed to imply something that kinda went unsaid and I'm not sure if I'll ever find out, even if SU does end up getting a new series that isn't a reboot and set in the same continuity everyone is familiar with in the future.

I kind of wonder if people feel that way about Rose because of how steven feels about her.

Yeah this really sums it up. It's clear that a lot of people just don't look at the big picture when talking about Rose. They're incapable of seeing that Steven, and by extent the show, isn't getting a complete picture of her at any one moment. It's like they just see the scene of Spinel in the Garden and just instantly forget all the love that every character feels towards Rose and all the good she did for others. Like, if what you take away is "at the end of the show and in the Movie we find out that Steven's mom was actually a terrible person" you've just failed to grasp the basic message. There are no "terrible people" in SU, and if you can't at least consider that then you completely missed the point. I don't know what else to say at this point

As for the photo of Rose and Greg that Steven has in his room, it's still there in the very last episode, after he has his breakdown and turns into a monster. I think this is to show that even with all the anxiety and trouble her legacy has caused him, he still doesn't hate his mother, and that he understands that she's done a lot of good in spite of everything. Steven removing the painting of her in "Rose Buds" was more out of wanting to break out of being defined by his dead mother and choosing his own path in life (and not wanting to have her literally hanging over him at all times) and not out of just wanting to forget her entirely

[agentsunglassesatnight]

OKAY---"KIN" LIST (im defining kin as a fictional character i feel i embody in some major way and makes me feel seen by others. Also through which I can see myself as I have a difficult time with that as I have bpd among other things.

DEEP BREATH ...Okay. This might seem "cringe" or stupid but idc. It's a big deal for me to come out and release this list even to strangers.

IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER:

Fox Mulder✨--The X Files

(Purest and parts of me I most strive to lean into. Also transboy. my crazy puppy dreamer energy to someone's skeptic down to earth anchor. ready to kill god and anyone who'd dare to hurt the ones i love and cant live without)

Tony Stark✨--You know who I am

(Aware of sins and ready to constantly improve and be better. Heroes are self made!! (built) He loathes himself AND loves himself. The cluster b is strong with this one. as well as cptsd and ocd. Specifically Sun armor. Blazing sunshine energy BOTTOMING AND SUB SPACE IS A NEED TO HEAL. DADDY ISSUES)

Will Graham✨ --Hannibal

(Hyper sensitive "empath" who struggles with mental illness and harmful urges. morally grey. morally good. morally bad. confused/hurt/gentle.)

Quentin Compson (male) --The Sound and The Fury✨

(first book character through whom i felt SEEN. he has MASSIVE ocd issues and the writing style for his chapters resonates with my soul. i was watching tokyo ghoul at the same time and "White Silence" the song makes me think of Quentin in a coffin covered in white flowers with white hair and I break down)

Naruto Uzumaki✨--Naruto/Naruto Shippuden

(hero's hero. he grew up with me and we are most alike in sunshine blazing personalities. Feel VERY DEEPLY and have deep trauma. anyone can change for the better--BELIEVE IT! Childish and loud. hyper with FEELINGS that sometimes get out of control and make us go ninetails mode. (intermittent explosive disorder) Which always end up hurting those around us even though we get that way in emotional responses to freak situations. "THERE ARE NO SHORTCUTS TO BECOMING HOKAGE"

Lestat de Lioncourt✨--The Vampire Lestat (book)/ AMC's show Interview With The Vampire

(The villain in me. The wretched creature. The lover. Absolute chaos. cluster B diva. The trauma. Needing to feel SEEN and fucking everything up over and over. Obsession. Self harm. Suicidal and homicidal ideation.)

Nora (with Weiss' trauma) (team JNPR) --RWBY

(Bright eyed. Motormouth. Random and hyper AF but like actually. Living your entire life with/for someone and needing to figure out who you are without them. Hitting things with a massive hammer. A hero. Lightning blaze heart. Will do anything for those she loves. just add in the song "The Path To Isolation" )

Spinell--Steven Universe Movie

(oh god. the villain origin story. worst fears being imagined. the annoying love bombing and wanting NEEDING others approval and constant attention. bpd. the scythe. the HEALING.)

Asuka --Evangelion/Rebuild

((MOMMY ISSUES TO THE EXTREME) bpd again. need to be seen by others in order to exist. without praise or what you crave from others you are nothing. you only exist through the eyes of others. self harm/ suicide attempt (bathtub scene) mind rape scene. trauma driving your entire life and still...still wanting happiness for people and yourself. not knowing how to express love. coming off as annoying and loud and weird and narcissistic and then laying there alone in bed crying about how much you hate yourself. and yet STILL being able to grow at the end and save the world)

[pleasantspark]

"what a way to be abelist" girly,,,, honey,,, I'm literally autistic it's not ableist to point out childish behavior especially when you make a serious rant post regarding SEVERAL sensitive topics and then you pull out a Spinel quote not even a paragraph later. It's not ableist it's just pointing out immaturity. anyway hope you get better

Oh you're talking about a vent post, honestly, don't comment on a vent post I made. ESPECIALLY when I got past that, that was ages ago. I don't know why you decided to post about my venting but it was highly disrespectful and I could do without this, it wasnt a rant it was a vent, honestly you specifically didn't clarify which post it was, also don't call me "girly" or "honey" its disgusting and making me uncomfortable.

As for "getting better" I already have, its best to NOT talk about things that people vent about ESPECIALLY when someone like me does not get a response, its best to assume, that they DO NOT want a response, that quote holds more meaning to me, because I feel with Spinel.

She's one of my comfort characters.

The things with me is this, no matter what I do to improve someone in my REAL life breaks me down and makes me worse, it's not because I refuse to change, its the outside influence thats shaping me.

So when I say, "That's easy for you to say, when you change for the better, I change for the worse." it's suppose to mean I only change for the worse each chance I get.

Please don't roll up on my blog and poke at the Serious Vent Post especially if you're "new" here, it's extremely disrespectful to me, and is overstepping my boundaries.

Next time, just be specific. Apologies though to being a bit agressive I am on edge from people being extremely rude to me, for doing fuck all.

[spudinacup]

Spinels Character Analysis:

Now that the comic has caught up to this point I can go on a bit of a tangent here and rant about my logic behind Spinels progression through the first seven pages of the SU AU Gone Wrong comic. 

Let's dive right in then, shall we?

Spinel’s Character Break Down and Emotional Complexity: 

This is gonna be one hell of a long rant so putting Readmore here. 

[This isn’t proofread so if there are grammar or spelling mistakes we’ll all have to live with them]

Spinel as a character is rather complex and predictably unpredictable in how she reacts to situations. In Pixar, they have a concept they like to refer to as the spine of the character. This is the basis of who they are and will drive all their decisions throughout the story. A prime example of this is Woody; his spine is to protect his kid and ultimately get back to him. This drives every one of Woody’s decisions. By being separated from Andy he feels that he will be hurt by his absence and as such seeks out a solution to this dilemma. As a whole, Spinel’s spine, so to speak, is rooted in her insecurity; more specifically her insecurity around rejection. It’s part of what made her so appealing to the fanbase and also to the viewers of the film. It almost seemingly justifies her murderous intent and ability to cause such havoc and devastation. 

When looking at the concept of insecurity and abandonment you’ll find articles referring to child abandonment syndromes. TMI moment; but I was abandoned by my genetic parents and have an unfortunately extensive understanding of the sensations revolving around this kind of trauma. Spinel in many ways was a child for Pink, she was a playmate. This doesn’t imply that she had any maternal connection to Spinel but if you compare her situation to that of a child dealing with this kind of neglect it aligns very similarly. Spinel did not choose to be made, she was born into Pink’s service and felt that was her world. She revolved around Pink and was there to please her whims. She was immature yes, but so is a child. 

In an article by Lynne Namka titled, “The Many Causes of Feelings of Insecurity and Abandonment,” she analyzes the impacts and results of this kind of abandonment.

“Some abandonment issues can be related to physical security and fears of survival of the physical body. Rejected children can fear annihilation if their emotional and physical needs are not met. The external rejection and lack of love are internalized by the child along with beliefs of being unworthy, undeserving and unlovable. These children can grow up to become jealous and insecure in their relationships.” 

Everyone at some point in their lives has felt tossed aside or dejected by society or others and this drives home further that feeling of connection to this character. It as a rather smart choice for the Crewneverse to go ahead with such a character archetype considering the themes of forgiveness and friendship in Steven Universe.

The problem with a character that is based so heavily around the concept of rejection is their reactions upon being confronted by it. We see this demonstrated in the film through each of Spinel’s actions. This sensation of being left behind is strong enough that even while dealing with amnesia and being rejuvenated to an earlier state the emotional trauma still rears its ugly head in the form of aggression.

Upon arriving at Earth in the film Spinel proclaims that she is there to kill Steven Universe and even continues to state in the concluding scene that:

 ���You know I came here to take my anger out on a bunch of strangers, but now that I know you... I want to kill you even more.” 

This again coincides with the concept of Abandonment Rage. To quote another article of the same name from Lynne Namka:

“Blind rage often comes out of the anxiety and terror of being left behind. Domestic violence expert Donald Dutton defines abandonment rage by saying, “Rage often comes after fears of feeling abandoned and helplessness. A child is made furiously angry by a parent’s threats to desert him but on the other hand, he does not express that anger in case it makes the parent actually do so….the anger of a parent becomes repressed and directed at someone else later on.” Repressed anger then becomes displaced or put on someone else after frustration builds up to a boiling-over point.”

This is the progression of Spinel’s character arch prior to reaching Steven. She has had this melting pot of anger boiling inside of her festering and mixing into a whirlwind of hate and repressed frustrations. Spinel is experiencing a catathymic crisis, a term coined by the Forensic Psychologist J. Ried Meloy. To put it simply, its where the individual's anger becomes a catharsis for feelings of vulnerability. Its a moment of disconnect from one’s logic and instead allows their actions to be driven by this anger lacking any logical perceptions or thought behind it. Webster's definition is as such: an unexpected explosive outburst of impulsive often destructive behavior understandable only in terms of unconscious motivation 

So now that we know where her head was at before confronting Steven, what happened after she killed him?

The Impact of Steven’s Death:

Spinel’s actions with the rejuvenator are rash, fast, and not well thought out. There’s been a few great analysis on Tumblr that follow this line of thought. 

 As a whole, Spinel is playing with the Crystal Gems but her aim is true with her weapon. When she strikes down Amethyst, Garnet, and Pearl its with a single slash straight through the middle, it's effective. What better place could you aim to cause immediate results? On the slim, and probably impossible but work with me here, chance that it didn’t work immediately or at the very least didn’t poof them, there’s no walking away from that impact. It effectively disrupts their physical form and forces them to retreat into their gems.

The intention of the injuries inflicted on Steven follows this same kind of logic. Spinel was attempting to cause as much damage as possible as quickly as possible. 

Steven Universe is Pink Diamond, she knows this, or at least he has what’s left of her. Diamonds are difficult to kill as we learned during Steven’s trial. 

So why was she trying?

 In my opinion, it was because she was attempting to remove the obstacles that were in her way to being Pink’s friend. She was envious. Under all the hurt and misdirected anger, she still feels abandonment. While it may enrage her she still longs to be accepted and craves that solace of belonging again. Pink Diamond was her world, she was all she had, that absence has left a void that little can fill.  We ultimately see this envy and desire manifest in the climax of the film as she fights Steven and ultimately crumbles under her own emotional state before the injector combusts.

After removing the obstacles that are the other gems she turns her focus upon Steven. The rejuvenator would revert him back to a prior state. If it brought Pink back, great she’d have the source of her anger. If it reverted his powers and Pink was really gone? Fine, she’d be done with him soon enough. It wasn’t a logical decision, it was an emotionally driven and rash conclusion of her abandonment. 

When she attack’s Steven her first blow takes off Steven’s arm. I wanted this to stand out to the viewer upon their viewing of the comic. It's drastic, impactful and leaves one unsettled by the sensation of having some ripped violently from their person. The arm is in many ways if you look between the lines, an analogy of P!Steven’s situation. He has been lopped off what made him whole and is only half of a person in his current manifestation. There is no way to efficiently reattach that limb with the flesh expiring in his arms.

The second of her attacks follow suit almost immediately following the amputation of Steven’s arm. She attempts to recreate the action she did with the Crystal Gems and cut him in half. Again, this being an efficient and fast way to destabilize him and poof the gem. However, Steven is half-human. So worked up by her own feelings of entitlement to the violence and grief Spinel is blind to the blood that flies from his injuries and only realizes what has happened once she can no longer swing wildly. The second blow ultimately was the fatal one while also what forces his gem out of his body. Amputates his gem, if you will.

Unshown in the comic is Spinel realizing something isn’t right however it was actually the first image I did for this AU shown here: 

The rejuvenator becomes stuck within Steven’s torso, it doesn’t go all the way through him.  This isn’t normal and gives Spinel’s mind enough time for her actions is starting to sink into her. With this comprehension comes with it the confusion of what she is seeing. 

[-credit @thelostmoongazer​ for this illustration.] Spinel has never met a human. Spinel has never been to Earth. Spinel has no concept of what an organic is asides from the small critters from the garden she presumably spent her entire life within. She has been isolated, abandoned, and now she’s thrust into the world blinded with rage that has left her unable to perceive the vulnerabilities of the individual she is facing.

In this instance Spinel panics and throws her weapon aside alarmed by the strange liquid she now finds her body splattered with. She attempts to distance herself from the collapsing Steven, the atrocity she has just committed, and the expanding substance that gushed from his body's fractures.

Gem’s poof, that is our understanding of their forms being disrupted. The Crystal Gem’s had poofed, Steven, however, Steven hadn’t. 

This is when Pink appears:

As a direct result of her attack upon Steven, P!Steven is given space and room to reform himself. This immediately puts Spinel in the position of not only feeling confusion and shock of the situation she’d put herself into as her temper begins to subside and she watches the pink glow overtake the field they stood within. There is a sensation, we’ve all felt it before, its the same one you feel when you get caught with your hand in the cookie jar by your parents. It isn't that she regretted her actions, its that she regretted being caught. 

Not only right after it dawns on her that something is wrong but, as she assumes, the very person she’d been driven to this near insanity by.

She reverts a bit here, tries to resolve some of the issues with the newly reformed Pink. She tries to connect with them and apologize for what they were seeing, for what she had done. Underneath her resentment, she doesn't want to be hated by Pink, asides from that she is almost uncertain what she desires. All she knows in this situation is that things have not happened as they should have and now she has been caught. 

It’s when P!Steven speaks to her however that a switch gets flicked. As I explained earlier in the post, Spinel fits rather well within the box of abandonment rage. She is a character-based within insecurity that reacts with aggression when she feels threatened as a way of protecting herself. 

In these few short panels, P!Steven not only displays disapproval of her, but his change instance implies aggression immediately making her revert to a more defensive state. 

This is what causes her change in tone and ultimately the change in her behavior. She is no longer remorseful because she was caught, she’s being rejected again, by the same gem again. 

Adding a cherry on top, upon realizing that it wasn’t even who she perceived to be she feels tricked and made a fool of. Somehow, he wasn’t Pink. He hadn’t reverted into his beginning state, no, that pest that kept her from obtaining what she selfishly desired was still present. Her resentment for that craving boils back into her insecurities and feeds the explosive desires beneath it. Rather than apologizing further she takes hold of these emotional shelters and dives into what she feels the most comfortable with, her anger. 

Which brings us to today’s page, where we see that beginning to be acted upon. Surely she can fix this, at the very least resolve that judgmental stare that lingers on her. She can make things better for herself.

She won’t let herself be rejected again. 

Thanks for coming to my TEDtalk.

Sources:

[Insecurity and Abandonment] [Abandonment Rage] [catathymic definition]

[SU AU Gone Wrong Comic Master Post]