#also we might watch steven universe soon and i want to show her some episodes of rise so she has context

[dianagj-art]

She's fiiine she was also playing video games

[dex-xe]

I’ve made Spotify playlists inspired by each of the ghosts and I’ve made these little written pieces to talk about them. if you wanna read them, please go ahead - if not then enjoy the music!!

This is the Captain's playlist:

Moonlight Serenade - Glenn Miller

This is one of my favourite like old WWII style songs, I just think it’s beautiful and really great to dance slow to (at some point in my life I will dance with my husband or wife to this song in our little kitchen, and then my life will finally be complete). It’s in Doctor Who (in The Empty Child) and Jack and Rose dance to it in front of Big Ben, like it’s a really great scene in one of the best episodes of Dr Who ever. So good and a great WWII song.

Soldier - Trixie Mattel

Yes, I know this is about Katya’s issues and everything that happened with that but like it is also like very accurate to the Captain’s arc. Like “soldier, take your time” is like yeah?? I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I don’t believe the Captain is even remotely aware of the fact he’s gay cause like I don’t reckon he understands love or the fact that he’s got feelings like that, I don’t think he knows so yeah take your time to figure it out yeah, Captain.

We’ll Meet Again - Vera Lynn

This song seems to have taken a new meaning in pandemic times but Havers leaving Button House and (I assume) never returning but like the Captain staying at Button House completely in the dark as to what happened to Havers and therefore living with the possibility of Havers returning.

HEAVEN - Troye Sivan & Betty Who

Obviousssss, but this song was such an integral part in me figuring shit out about my life. Like, I was 14 and a massive Troye fan when it came out and (growing up in a working class, strict religious, small town family) the music video was literally my first understanding of the fight for queer rights. I knew about LGBTQ+ identities and identified as a variety of queer labels at the time I was completely unaware of the entire struggle that had come before me and seeing photos and footage of this fight for the first time was O.o Anyway, I'll stop talking about myself and say that I’m incredibly happy with the hc of the Captain trying to learn a bit more about queer history in his journey to accept himself.

In Our Bedroom After the War - Stars

The poor Captain, let the man love I beg. I have so much love for stories and hcs of the Captain being sweet and being in love like pls ily.

Achilles Come Down - Gang of Youths

This might actually kill his gay little soul but by good it would be worth it!! I’m gonna go off on a bit of a philosophy tangent but what were ya expecting from me honestly: the sample used in Achilles Come Down is an extract from a 1942 essay by Albert Camus who, alongside Kierkegaard and Nietzsche and the like, wrote about the concept of ‘the absurd’ which is a tricky concept but a reallyyyyyy simplified version of it is basically the idea that humans constantly search for a meaning and purpose for life and the universe but the universe does not provide answers to that which causes human distress. Basically, what I mean to say like isn’t that concept just so Captain?? Like he searches for meaning in war and can’t see life beyond the war because that provides him purpose, you know?? But yeah, it’s a banging song and I’m sorry about the tangent.

Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy - Queen

Ya saw this one coming :P Well he just is a good old fashioned lover boy so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

William, It Was Really Nothing - The Sm*ths

Even just the name being right is like *chefs kiss*. Yes there are lines in this song that are just shit and reallyyyyyyy show the views of M*rrisey and his general shitty behaviours.

It’s a Long Way to Tipperary - John McCormack

It’s just a fun song.

You’re Somebody Else - flora cash

LGBTQ+ staple really, ik it’s about being trans but I wanted to include it because of the recent Ben Willbond interview when he talks about how he’s interested in the contrast of a confused authoritative figure. Like the Captain is such a contrast and I love that in characters.

It’s Been a Long, Long Time - Harry James

Like I’ve said repeatedly, I wanted at least a little bit of time specific music for each of them I could. So yeah there’s a few for the Captain, WWII music is such a vibe tbh.

The Boxer - Simon & Garfunkel

I’ve always interpreted the song as being about loneliness and well, Captain my boy that you. Like he’s literally surrounded by people 24/7 but is so very alone. When the others are all watching tv in Redding Weddy and the Captain is just sat in the window watching for Havers is just so pretty and I think it’s really telling of the relationship he has with the others.

The Arrow and the Aim - Nadia Reid

Pretty pretty song, the voice is *mwah* but that’s irrelevant.

Ramblings of a Lunatic - Bears In Trees

Okay but like yes. The Captain is so alone like despite being around people literally all the time - not being able to escape you might say. Is he aware he’s different? Like what goes on in his head, will we ever know?? Cap, you gotta start talking to people, man. You gotta open up cause you will go crazy, Ik it’s been 70 years fella but seriously you’re gonna go crazy soon.

Death with Dignity - Sufjan Stevens

Just a beautiful song, and yeah with the Captian being the way he is and so focused on the war and military and the idea of "death with dignity" is pretty prolific. Given that we're fairly sure the Captain never saw any action, would he be considered to have died with dignity?? Maybe, maybe not idk.

I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major General - Arthur Sullivan & John Reed

That one scene where Alison is trying to sleep and the Captain is just sat beside her bed singing this. Like that’s so funny XD It’s his little head bob as he sings like that’s so good.

Kiss Me Goodnight, Sergeant Major - Arthur Askey

I remember my nan had an Askey record and she used to play it all the time and this always made me laugh cause 5 year old me couldn’t get the image of a really strong and tough soldier being all motherly and yeah I just wanted to include it :D

Teddy Boy - Paul McCartney

The Captain’s name is Teddy, I take no debate on this. Just the idea of the Captain’s backstory, like a childhood backstory for the Captain genuinely makes me cry. I know a lot of people have shared their stories of their interpretation of the Captain’s childhood and they’re all sad and I love them all :’) (Specifically a big fan of Operation Keep Calm on AO3 and what they’ve done with the Captain’s character and story, 10/10 would recommend but it’s not finished and I really hope it is at some point ily).

O Captain! My Captain! - The Static Shift

Just an interesting song, yeah? “I believe I’m in my prime”/“In my bally prime”, you get it XD

John My Beloved - Sufjan Stevens

I love this song (no I’ve never seen the film and no don’t really intend to) It’s just sweet, you know, and the religious elements etc yeah that’s good.

[mythicaldemigoddess-of-deltarune]

I Decided To Watch The Walkthrough Of Deltarune Chapter 2

I was really happy that Chapter 2 was finally ready, but because of reasons... I wasn't able to play it, I mean I wanted to.

but whenever I clicked on it, it ended up showing that small blue message. saying that it might put the PC at risk.

I don't know if I should try to play it or not, maybe nothing will happen and it will just play the game with no problems.

but that message did pop up before,

when I wanted to play that Undertale Kissy Cutie fan game.

the Undertale Don't Forget Fan Game, it works just fine.

those two games didn't have that blue message pop up,

when I clicked on them.

so something must be causing it to happen,

I want to know if it will be okay to play those games.

if others have been having the same problems, but were also worried about playing it because of the blue message.

maybe someday they will have a update for those games where that blue message wont pop up and everything will be fine.

also I wonder if my seeing Toriel as a off-white purple colors, might of been a trick of the eyes...?

what I mean is, that maybe it was....I don't know.

also ya know like the Pie Was Canon, cause  someone's fan animation ended up predicting what was gonna happen in Deltarune.

turns out that Kris really did eat the whole pie.  and by the looks of it, from what I have seen in the walkthrough of Deltarune's Chapter 2.

I think that one of the Comics of Deltarune, might of predicted the future......

well Semi-Future.

so what happens at the school in Deltarune, is canon in the game.

of course there are still some differences from what happens in Chapter 2

and the AU-Comic.

maybe it is me that thinks that a comic predicated what was going to happen in the very start of the Chapter 2....

it took some hours, but I was able to finish watching it.....still wish I could of played it.

but like I said, that blue message that pop up made me decide not to at the moment because it says it might put The PC at risk.

so I'm not sure if it really would, but I don't want to risk it.

so I still have chapter 2 of the game, but I just can't play it right now sadly.

I got to say that the romances in the game was sure interest...

can't wait to see the ships.

well with any hope, all the chapters of Deltarune will be on a Nintendo Switch Game Card someday, maybe in a few years.

hopefully the Cuphead Game will be on a game card too, I still haven’t beaten that game sadly....I really need to try to get one of my family to be my player-2

so that I can maybe beat the hard bosses.

yeah know, Cuphead and Mugman should have common sense not to go into a casino that is run by the Devil.

well them and the debtors, the debtors should of had some sense not to make a deal with the Devil.

I wonder if it’s weird to have thoughts of flipping off the Grandpa Watchers and Nephilim.....? 

or the whole having thoughts of flipping off the Devil himself too...?

and in case there is any confusion, the “Watchers” were Angels....

well I think I would have it in my right to do a double flip the birdy off of them...

for some odd reason a little bit of the song “it’s my life” pop into my head just now....

guess you could say history repeats itself lol.

I mean, if what those mortal men wrote about it is true....

but it is likely one of their fibs.....maybe?

the song it’s my life, it’s by Bon Jovi.

as soon as that song pop into my head, I just had to listen to it.

  even though I might not be able to play Chapter 2 for a while because of the issues that prevent me from playing it.

I did enjoy watching the walkthrough of the chapter 2.

it was worth watching it for hours, plus I was surprised by what happen in the start of the chapter 2....well it happen when Kris went to school and there was something that happen there, which reminded me of well Paper Trial.

I do plan to read more of it on here, of course there is still differences.

but a certain thing that happens at the start of the Chapter 2,

reminds me of it but I wont say what....but what happens in that game that reminds me of Paper Trial, also reminds me of the The Pie Is Canon.

cause of that fan animation that had Kris saying that they were going to eat the whole pie, and it turns out the Chapter 2 Trailer shows that they did in fact eat the whole pie.

so The Pie being ate by Kris at the very end of Chapter 1, is 100% Canon.

 if there was fight between Susie from Deltarune and Cuphead from the Cuphead series.

I think Susie would win, at least I think she would.

plus Cuphead would have to be out of his mind to pick a fight with Susie.

I’m also starting to wonder if Asriel (the one from Deltarune)

might be a bit of a perv...? ^_^;;

if that book he borrowed from the library is a clue and him NEVER returning it.

well, I say it is possible.

Flowey: Has He Have No Shame!?

after finishing listening to it’s my life, I started to listen to some other music.....I’m listening to Equestria Girls songs now.

the magic of friendship is a wonderful thing, but like Sunset said before....

it can be turned into something else, and with how most of the problems in Equestria was solved by turning the “Bad Guys” to stone,

instead of just talking with them and trying to understand their point of view...

I think Sunset and her friends are a bit more better in reforming the bad guys.

I know that not all bad guys from a movie or cartoon or video game series

can be redeemed, that is because they are too far gone or have been really dark from the start.  

  but sometimes a villain, is just a tragic villain who has been hurt by someone either physically, psychology and or emotionally......or all of the above.

it might not be very easy to heal from the wounds.

it might even make you, not as happy as you use to be.     

and when you see a picture of how happy you seem before,

you can just tell that the you that is now, isn’t as happy as the you that is in the picture.

does that make sense...?

but you might still have happy moments and still be okay, and at some days

I don’t believe it is good or right for a Hero or Main Character,

to cross a line when it does not need to be crossed.

like making Magic the scapegoat, and having it be destroyed.

I mean Star Butterfly’s family had been the ones to misuse the magic,

so the magic itself was NEVER the problem....it was her family that was the problem because of their misuse of it.

and Cozy, Tirek and Chrysalis could of been reformed if they were spoken to and asked why they were doing it....I still think the “Magic of Friendship”

did cause Chrysalis some trauma, and that is why she broke out of the feeling good bond she was forming with Tirek and Cozy.

I get it, she was hurting, what she’s been through made her distrustful towards friendship and the ponies that took her family away from her.

even if she does have trauma, she might still care about Cozy and Tirek deep down.....well that is what I believe anyway.

 cause in a way, those three are a adoptive family and they need each other.

 what Discord, Celestia and Luna did to them,

I will not agree was the best course of action.

at least in Steven Universe Future, they solved the problem with Steven the right way....and like it was pointed out in that video I mention from Youtube.

the problem started at the VERY beginning in the Steven Universe Series.

even if Pearl, Amethyst and Garnet love Steven,

they still Semi-Neglected him, but not as much as Greg had.

and the video did point out some very important facts.

all the stuff that happen in Steven Universe, was going to erupt in time....

and when it did, it started to in the Steven Universe Future.

we can’t pretend that there was nothing wrong with Steven,

or like after he got back from space and after the whole Lars dying and coming back to life....

Connie didn’t try to see that Steven was trying to act like everything was fine,

and she shouldn’t just make it about herself, yes she had a right to her feelings and to wanting to be there for Steven, but Steven had been through a lot and he was hurting too. it is still good that they made up at some point.

and it is good that Connie finally figured out that there was something wrong with him, and they ended up as boyfriend and girlfriend at the end of Steven Universe Future.

maybe there is a lesson in both Steven Universe and Steven Universe Future.        

if we re-watch Steven Universe, we might can see why he ends up the way he does in Steven Universe Future and how it ended up causing him extreme emotional pain that would at some point make him view himself as Monster to the point of transforming into a type of Gem-Kaiju. 

it took everyone of his friends and family, to get through to him and give him what he needed, for them to hug him, and to be there for him when he was at his lowest.

Steven was at his lowest, it is possible the breaking point might of started at the first episode of Steven Universe Future or maybe in the Movie...who knows.

but at least he is seeing a therapist, he did say that he is seeing one now.

we can’t pretend the problem that Steven was having, didn’t first start at the early series....we just need to try to understand that it was going to break him past the breaking point and that it was gonna become too much for him.

even if Pearl, Garnet and Amethyst did technically  live with him

(and Amethyst became mature enough at some point to comfort him a bit more, and not just act like the teasing older sister.)

they still were half the cause of what happen to him, even if they made sure to help him with his gem powers and with other stuff.

they still ended up not taking care of him when he needed it.

and he might of thought it was normal, at least until he learned later on in Steven Universe Future, that it wasn’t.

even what his Dad did wasn’t okay, I get that Greg’s relationship with his own parents wasn’t perfect, but he is just as bad as them.

yes there could be reasons why Greg never got his way,

like one of the theories being that one of his parents had very sensitive hearing and couldn’t take really loud music.

another theory I have is that Steven might of went to go live his Grandparents when he left Beach City.

even if his Grandparents could be disappointed with Pearl, Garnet and Amethyst, they might still see them as a bit more responsible than their son Greg.....who could end up having their full disappointment.

  Greg ended up with so much money, and yeah he could of still treat himself.

but he could of send Steven to the hospital, and even hire a tutor for Steven.

but no, he doesn’t do that at all.

and we know what happen in Steven Universe Future

when Doctor Maheswaran points out some very important facts to Steven.

and Steven ends up getting really mad at his Dad, which I don't’ blame him for getting mad, plus the wreck wouldn’t of happen if Greg had stop being so insensitive to Steven’s feelings of wanting to have what he had and took for granted.

Greg only made things worse, with his talk of “freedom”

and even the whole “Gem” thing....

being a Gem, is only half of who Steven is.

and all his life, he was made to think he was only made to be like a replacement for his Mother....and even question what he is for, like with the whole Nora episode.

I still love Steven Universe, as well as the Movie and the Steven Universe Future. 

even if it takes myself and other fans to finally realize that Steven’s problems didn’t first start in Steven Universe Future, BUT in the first series.

and over time during Steven’s childhood it was only getting worse.

we want to believe that Steven’s life was perfect in the first series,

and the bad times he had in most of them, he got through with a smile on his face with no problems at all.         

who knows what the next show will be that Rebecca Sugar will make next,

but I know I wouldn’t mind seeing what comes next, just got to keep a eye out.

also you know how I believe the Darkners from Deltarune

are Tulpa, and from what we see in Chapter 2,

the new Darkners we see in it, are also Tulpa

and there are many different type of Tulpa.

well, I can’t help but wonder if Chara might be a Tulpa.

it is possible that the Red Soul in Undertale and the one in Deltarune,

are one in the same and are Chara.

and when the Player meets Chara after a Geno-Run....

they are really meeting them inside of Frisk’s Head.

I think it is possible that in Undertale, memories have been rewritten by the Man Who Speaks In Hands.

and the human that Prince Asriel befriended and became family to,

wasn’t Chara......but Kris.

with no soul, the Chara-Soul was placed inside the empty body that was buried under the bed of flowers.

 that is possible, but it might just be a theory that might not end up being true.

unless it is....well I do have a theory that Undertale will be one of the chapters.

if that happens that means Crossover, or not....it is just a theory after all.

it be really awesome if that turn out to be true.

a future Chapter having a Crossover between those two games would be really interesting.

I think it might be possible that the two games could be cleaved worlds, once being one in the same before splitting and breaking apart.

we can think about what was originally going to be in the original version,

as the original world before splitting into Undertale and Deltarune.

Chapter 2 was Awesome, well even if I could only watch a walkthrough of it and I couldn’t play it because of what I spoke about before in this....

but I hope that I will be able to play it sometime.

but for now, I am happy with just watching it until I am able to play it myself.

[tuiyla]

She-Ra’s like, really good, people

It’s been over a week since She-Ra season 5 came out and I binged it and this is not going to be coherent but I just want to rant about it a bit before writing some more structured metas. I deffo wanna write about Catradora and how I think SPoP is the true spiritual successor to the Avatar.

But first, let me just scream about how good this show is. I already started rewatching it, pretty much straight after finishing it, and I don’t rewatch tv shows often. The exception is Avatar (seen it like 15 times) and sitcoms. But She-Ra is so layered that I felt like I needed to watch it again just to appreciate the dynamics even more.

I already enjoyed the first season but it kept getting better and better. I’m not in love with the art style and it’s definitely for a younger demographic overall than my other favourite animated shows, but like any good kids’ show it balances tone well. It doesn’t talk down to its target demographic but also includes more traditionally mature themes in a digestible and entertaining way. Not all the jokes landed for me but as the series went on I learned to appreciate the tone and the type of humour She-Ra goes for.

It’s funny to me because this is definitely the type of show I would have rejected as a kid, with all the princesses I would have deemed it “too girly” and therefore not for me because screw gender roles. There’s a degree of internalized sexism to that, for sure, a rejection of the feminine because it’s always been seen as less somehow. But there’s also a truth that, at least in my childhood of the late 90s and early 00s, children’s media targeted at girls often had a poor quality to it, at least when compared to “boys’ stuff”.

She-Ra is not only a clever, heartfelt, complex story, it also transcends that binary of having to be either for girls or boys. I know most of modern animation rejects that as well, but She-Ra embraces so many traditionally feminine qualities while also going beyond gender roles and even the gender binary. This show is so queer, man, and I love it. It’s especially impressive when you consider the source material that was literally just the girly version of He-Man. I have no beef with 80s She-Ra, haven’t seen much of it, but this is such an upgrade.

That being said, I would have loved to watch She-Ra as a kid. I’m so incredibly envious of kids, aged around 10, who get to watch this show as they’re growing up. But I am so, so, so happy for them and for the future of animation that shows like She-Ra can be made now, that they’re being made. I’m going to go into spoilers soon, but just before that: She-Ra’s a perfectly enjoyable show in many aspects. I think the worldbuilding’s pretty cool, the story feels coherent and planned out, it’s lighthearted and so genuine. That’s the word that I ultimately choose to describe the series: genuine.

I feel like so much of TV aims to be dark and gritty nowadays, animation included, and though that’s slowly turning to dark comedy or a balance between fun and serious, it’s still the norm. At some point in the last decade, creators became terrified of being judged as cheesy. Even something like the MCU bathes in bathos to avoid being cheesy. But She-Ra proves that creators shouldn’t be afraid of being genuine, of basing characters and storylines on the simple power of love. Like, it’s such a cliché trope but I think that’s mostly because it has become stale.

Noelle Stevenson has talked about the importance of love in her story and I’m so grateful for that. Through, She-Ra, she’s truly proven how powerful love can be in a story and how it doesn’t have to be cheesy. It’s just so unabashedly genuine. The power of love and friendship literally saves the day several times but it’s always so genuine and more importantly it always makes sense that it doesn’t get boring. If the foundation wasn’t there, then I’d say “well this is just super cheesy”. But the show makes a point of building relationships and making them the focal point of the story.

Alright, so, spoilers because I need to talk about character arcs and THAT KISS and just everything. I really need to write more in depth about Adora and Catra and their relationship but for now I feel like it’s so important to appreciate how they’re developed. Everything from their shared childhood to their trauma with Shadow Weaver and the finding their way back to each other, it’s just *chef’s kiss*. It’s so well-written and believable. Ngl, I do have some minor issues with Catra’s redemption arc. Let’s just say that on a scale from Kylo Ren to Zuko, she’s definitely closer to Zuko. I also appreciate Shadow Weaver’s death scene and how it allows them to move on. I didn’t see that one as Death as Redemption and it shouldn’t be. Again and again the show made it clear that she was abuse towards both girls and nothing will negate that.

From what I can tell, the fandom really latched onto Catra, even when it wasn’t clear whether she’d get a redemption arc. I think that’s important, because unlike some characters in animation, Catra’s actions were almost always framed appropriately. There was always an understanding as to where she’s coming from, how she’s acting from a place of hurt, and yet her actions weren’t justified. They weren’t suddenly all okay just because she’s hurt, too. I especially loved in the season 3 finale when Adora was allowed to finally say no, to say that Catra’s actions were not her fault. That season as a whole was beautiful, like, episode three when Adora’s struggling so much and Catra has the opportunity for a better life but she still fails to choose her own happiness because she’s too bitter over SW and Adora? It’s poetic cinema. I love that angst, so well done.

It would be so easy to misfire in Catra’s storyline and either a) write off all the awful things she does because she’s just “misunderstood” or b) irredeemably stuck in her abusive environment with no hope of escape. They balanced quite well there and managed to handle such a complex character with delicacy. I’m quite happy with how Catra was portrayed because on the one hand, she’s painfully relatable to me and I assume to many others. The audience can see their own mistakes reflected in her character because we’ve all been too stubborn, done things out of spite, refused to acknowledge that we were wrong because we were hurting so much. At the same time, I always felt like the show gave me enough space to judge Catra’s actions and acknowledge that she was in the wrong. I honestly think I would have been a better adjusted teenager is if saw this show just before my angsty years, lol.

I’m going to write more about Adora at some other point but I love how vulnerable she’s allowed to be. Protagonists never used to be my favourite characters because they all seemed the same, with two major categories: the stereotypical male hero who can do no wrong or the angsty boi who can be shitty and the text still frames him as awesome. It’s only recently with series like The Legend of Korra and She-Ra that I go “damn, protagonists can be like that, huh.” Adora is a dumb jock who tries so hard and she deserves all the hugs in the world.

Also, Catradora? Breathtaking, amazing, groundbreaking. No doubt She-Ra needed shows like Adventure Time, LoK, Steven Universe and the likes to pave the way but still, it went there. I saw people be anxious about whether they were gonna be queerbaited, but I always, idk, knew? Trusted? That She-Ra would follow through. I didn’t wait six years for Bubbline to happen for Catradora to not get their big damn kiss. The series has been so effortlessly queer from the get-go that it just made sense that they were always heading there. I did see a gif of the kiss before watching s5 and ngl, that spoiler kind of bummed me out in a way that I wanted to be surprised. But even before I saw that I wasn’t worried. And the context of their journey in season 5? That cannot be spoiled by a simple gif. You have to experience that to fully appreciate it and that is the marker of good storytelling.

I understand that, though this should be the norm by now, Noelle Stevenson still had to be smart about how she approached the execs and she wasn’t sure this could happen. I cannot tell you how happy I am about what she said regarding how Catradora was so integral to the story that the execs couldn’t not allow it. That’s so brilliant, and it feels so natural in the story. Queer love saves the day and it’s not ambiguous, it cannot be censored because you lose a part of the story without it. You did it, Noelle, you funky little lesbian, what an icon. I can’t wait to see more stuff from her.

In other news, I appreciated other characters as well, like how all the princesses got to be different and awesome in their own unique way. Season 5 was great for so many characters, Mermista got so much to work with and Spinnerella and Netossa got so much more characterization than in previous seasons. Glimmer continued to be the third most important character in the story and I’m happy about all the relationships that also got to be canon. Good characters and dynamics all around, no wonder since the show is built on that.

Such a satisfying conclusion and one that makes you feel like this is just part one of a much bigger story. Such genuine, heartfelt moments, well-developed characters, complex themes explored in a respectful and digestible way, and such an unapologetically fun show. Melissa Fumero as a side character? Yes please. Catra’s new haircut? Heck yeah! She-Ra’s new design? Oh my.

I’m not even like, super into She-Ra, and I usually don’t write so much about things I only watch casually. But this show is so good and important that I had to rant. And I will write more about it eventually, but for now I needed to get all of this out. I’d give it a better structure but if I really get into I might never end up posting it so for now here, have this ramble of love. She-Ra, of all shows, deserves that.

[anncanta]

‘Dracula’ and ‘Doctor Who’. Blood is testimony

Stephen Moffat is often accused of using similar plots, repeating the same plot lines, and returning to a number of his favorite ideas.

Moffat really develops a certain set of specific, quite recognizable topics, and in his different scripts, he one way or another tells similar stories.

But with his recurring motives and ideas, as, indeed, with another stuff, not everything is so simple.

First, the outstanding authors are most often accompanied by craving for certain narratives and archetypal forms, as well as cross-cutting themes. Some of this authors create ‘frames’ for these ideas in the form of multivolume novels or novel cycles, others devote wreaths of sonnets and collections of stories to their favorite topic, and others choose whole genres for reflection on issues that are important to them. I think that none of those reading this article will have any difficulties with examples.

Secondly, there are not so many really interesting stories.

And thirdly, repetitions can be different. Like any feature, it can exist on its own, or it can – if the author has a large-scale talent – become another way to tell a story like no one else do.

In Stephen Moffat's case, we are dealing with a very unique situation where the author's stories are literally read through one another.

I will make a separate reservation: I am not talking about postmodern ‘intertextuality’ – a vile definition for references and quotations that have existed in literature since the emergence of storytelling and are news only for postmodernists themselves – but about a peculiar use of certain plots and motives.

If you want, you can find a huge number of such things in Moffat's scripts. The viewers who have been closely following his work since the period when he became the showrunner of Doctor Who will immediately name a dozen of them. But I would like to dwell on one example – the newest one for today.

When the TV series Dracula by Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss was released on BBC and Netflix in 2020, some viewers noted the similarity of its style, and in some places, the plot outline, with Doctor Who, and directly called the main character of the film, Agatha Van Helsing, the female version of the Doctor.

The first is obvious, and the second is quite understandable in light of the two years earlier release (absolutely disastrous, in my opinion) of the eleventh and twelfth seasons of Doctor Who.

But the beauty of both Moffat's game and the whole story is that there`s not Agatha who is the Doctor here.

Yes, by all appearances, it is this brave, interested in science, well acquainted with evil, fighting against it and even – partly – traveling through time, the heroine who seems most suitable for the role of the Doctor in the new setting. There was a calculation for this: Moffat, during his time as the showrunner of the series, who, it seems, tried all the plot possibilities except this one, and who left on the eve of the epochal transformation of the character, it would seem, had to offer the audience his version of the female Doctor. Well, he did: on the surface. As if he said: ‘Here is a heroine with such qualities. This is how you imagine her, isn`t it? Well, get it.’

And inside this shell, as inside the unfortunate Jonathan Harker (Moffat, as a true Briton, uses materialized metaphors and often literally shows what he means), there is another story.

In order to understand it, you need to take a close look at Dracula and – at Doctor Who written by Moffat.

With Dracula everything is simple. As soon as you start looking for the main character of this film who: a) lives for several centuries; b) collects human stories; c) travels in time; d) always has one or more people next to him – you instantly find him. And if you've watched an entire episode and a half and still don't understand anything, in the middle of the second one you will hear a direct quote.

'The sophistication of a gentleman, Agatha, is always a veneer.'

'Even a gentleman like Mr. Balaur?'

'Mr. Who?'

But that's just one detail.

A deeper level opens if you try to read Dracula through Doctor Who itself.

In the Christmas special Twice upon a time, which ends the last season, written by Stephen Moffat, the plot is centered on the Doctor's encounter with strange creatures, as if made of glass, which are living vaults of memory. The episode itself is full of layered ideas and references. But for us now only one dimension is important.

At the very end of the special, the Doctor addresses the glass creatures with an ardent speech – one of those that he loves so much.

‘You're just memories, held in glass. Do you know how many of you I could fill? I would shatter you. My testimony would shatter all of you. A life this long, do you understand what it is? It's a battlefield. And it's empty. Because everyone else has fallen.’

Does this remind you of anything?

It seems to me that this is a literal description of what is happening with Dracula.

What he says throughout the film, and what Agatha did not understand even at the end, because in order to understand this, you had to live his life.

And in order to understand this whole context, you need to understand that the Doctor was never a good guy. He always said this to everyone but no one believed him.

No one believed the stories of the horror before which entire civilizations tremble, about a creature that destroyed its entire species in order to stop the most destructive war in history, about the person who does not need weapons so that the captains of warships flocked from the most distant corners of the Universe, after listening to him for a couple of minutes, ran away without looking back.

The Doctor was never a good guy, but just as important, he always knew it. For the Doctor of Russell T. Davis, this position looks like a fact with which neither the character himself nor the people around him and aliens are very inclined to interact. I guess it’s a matter of Davis’ very outlook on the story and perhaps his own worldview.

But the Doctor of Moffat is a hero who lives with this knowledge and with the impossibility of passing this knowledge on to others.

Because the Doctor is always the one they are waiting for, the one they go to for advice, the one with whom they travel around the Universe, the one who opens the door to the magical world, the one they hope for.

He is never the one who sits on the roof of the TARDIS, surrounded by the loneliness of the starry sky. Not someone who lives longer than any human being, not someone who knows what it means to make monstrous decisions in circumstances that most of us cannot imagine.

And the one in whom there is so much testimony that it is able to break the vessel that they will try to fill with.

In Dracula, all these details, motives, and meanings are repeated sequentially.

The most obvious is ‘blood is testimony’. This is not self-quotation, as it might seem, but a literal proposal of the author to look in a certain direction.

The blood in Dracula is not only memory. It's also a way to watch. And to see a bright and diverse world, which otherwise would have become boring long ago.

In the fifth season of Doctor Who, there is a moment when Eleventh says to Amy Pond, ‘You don't understand. I have the whole Universe in my backyard. I'm used to it. I don’t notice it. But when you appear, I look with your eyes. And it becomes a miracle again.’*

In this sense, the ‘brides’ and everyone that Dracula ate are in some way his companions. If you remember what a great sense of guilt towards most of his companions the Doctor felt and how some of them ended up, the comparison turns out to be not so poor.

Dracula, like the Doctor, has companions with whom he has a very special relationship that he cannot explain to himself. He travels through time and space, discovering one day that all human experience is stored and cataloged somewhere in his head, and there is nothing new.

And – as is often the case in Moffat's stories – here one character completes and harmoniously implements a theme started by another.

If the Doctor, being who he is, and fully aware of this, tormented by endless insatiable loneliness and memories of life as an empty battlefield, invariably continues the path that seems to him more and more meaningless, then Dracula decided to end the life like that.

And all this, the whole story, is organized as a transition, as a movement forward and backward in time, which unites and brings to life what is dissolved, inherent, basically exists, and ‘spilled’ in blood. The blood here is also the same as the space in the Doctor Who, it is the Universe, which belongs to everyone and flows inside everyone, and inside which everyone exists, and which determines everyone. In order for blood to become an individuality, it takes time, a specific moment at which each specific individuality comes to the surface. So, for example, the return of Agatha takes place. There must be something she wants to come back for. Like the TARDIS, blood is always within us and speaks through us. In the case of Dracula and Agatha, this is their bond, their love for each other. Even if this love is unaware, – sometimes the TARDIS acts on her own and travels wherever she wants, forcing the Doctor and his companions to act in the circumstances she suggests.

And all this, this whole context, the whole story, with all its dimensions and additional meanings, became possible only due to the fact that Stephen Moffat, the author of both series, is not afraid to describe ambiguous heroes, to reflect out loud on their adventures, and – sometimes – to repeat.

* The words of Eleventh quoted from memory.

[ordinaryschmuck]

Top 20 BEST Animated Series of the 2010s-8th Place

It’s funny. Four years ago, there was no doubt in my mind that this show would easily make the top five best-animated series in the last decade. But the more it went on, the more...controversial it got. However, despite all the hate this next series has been getting recently, I still believe that there’s something to be desired within it.

#8-Steven Universe/Steven Universe: Future (2013-2020)

The Plot: For years, immortal warriors known as the Crystal Gems have been defending the Earth from anything that seeks to do it harm. Until one day when Rose Quartz, the Gems leader, had fallen in love with a human named Greg Universe. From that love, Rose gave up her physical form to bring her son, Steven, into the world she was sworn to protect. Taking guidance from the other Crystal Gems-Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl-Steven will try his best to grow up into the same warrior that his mom was. But as he learns more about the Gems and his mother, Steven will soon realize that he’ll have to grow up far faster than he thought.

Right out the gate, I should mention there's a 60%-40% chance that you’re either going to love this show or think that it’s pure garbage. And honestly, I believe it all depends on perspective. Like the quality of most shows, the enjoyment depends on the viewpoints you chose to take with it. Some people will look at specific decisions as well done, where others will see it all as a mess of storytelling. For instance, one person can make a two-hour-long video about how Steven Universe is garbage, and another person can make a video arguing about how it isn’t. Everyone has different reasons why they like or hate something. If you genuinely hate Steven Universe or think you might not like it, that's perfectly fine. I just hope you’ll give me the chance to explain why I personally enjoy it, and why I think it deserves all the adulation it has. 

For instance, the main thing I really enjoy about Steven Universe is its style. From the designs, to the animation, to even the music. Everything about how Steven Universe both looks and sounds leave me awestruck. First is the show’s designs of both the backgrounds and characters. Nearly every part of the world in the series looks absolutely amazing, fitting seeing how the Crystal Gems fought for Earth due to its beauty. There are also times when lore and backstory can be seen through the backgrounds, giving some fantastic utilization of visual storytelling. Such as when the Crystal Gems visit war zones and temples that they’ve spent years fighting in, showing hidden secrets that can make much more sense by later episodes. As for the character designs, they all look pretty good. Each character has a dynamic and unique style, making them all fun to look at. It’s even better when the character’s personalities are shown throughout their entire designs. I especially love how the artists managed to get creative with how real life crystals (lapices, bismuths, and jaspers) will look like people when designing the Crystal Gems and their enemies. However, I should first mention that Steven Universe is another show where the art style depends on who’s storyboarding the scene. While not as bad as OK KO: Let’s Be Heroes, it can be pretty distracting given how character sizes and proportions are inconsistent. Regardless, I still like how good the designs look for a majority of the characters. And at a practical standpoint, I think it’s great that the artists kept the figures as simple as possible as it makes animating the characters a lot easier.

Speaking of which, I really like how Steven Universe is animated. It’s not entirely groundbreaking like The Amazing World of Gumball’s or as fluid as Wander Over Yonder’s, but the animation in Steven Universe is still pretty dang good. The characters' movements look believable, and the expressions each one makes is downright amazing to see. It gets more aspiring for the show’s fight scenes. You can almost feel each punch, jab, and slash that the characters trade with each other, and the fights themselves are pretty fun to watch. As for the action itself, Steven Universe might just have the most creative action set pieces I’ve seen from any animated series. Case in point, there is an entire fight scene that’s also a fantastic song at the same time.

On the topic of songs, let the record show that showrunner Rebecca Sugar really understands music. I say this because Steven Universe has some really great music in it. From background music to full-on musical numbers, this show proves how important melodies are in a series. Look at the background music, as it not only does a suitable job at making audiences feel the right emotions but also sounds really good when isolated. As for the character motifs, each note perfectly encapsulates the character's personality that it’s meant for. Like Pearl, who has a piano melody to show off her classy and orderly personality, and Peridot, who has a more 8-bit tune to her leitmotif as a way to show off her tech side. And since we branched into talking about 8-bit, there are times when this show’s soundtrack sounds like it belongs in a really cool video game (Google Lion’s and Obsidian's themes if you don’t believe me). As for the actual songs in the show, Steven Universe has a pretty good selection. As they can be beautiful and downright awesome to listen to. And even though the show uses songs to develop the characters and story, these musical numbers can still be pretty fun to listen to on their own, with no context (most of the time).

But while a show's style is essential, it’s the substance that truly matters. And here is where we go back to the discussion of perspective. To some viewers, you might think that the substance in Steven Universe is handled well, where others...Well, I think it’s pretty obvious how they might feel.

Let’s look at the story because Steven Universe actually has an intriguing and compelling story...Or at least it does when it tries to eventually tell that story. Whether you’re a person who either loves or hates the series, everyone can agree that the slice of life episodes are easily the show’s weakest. Personally, I don’t mind them, and that’s because I view these episodes as giving me a choice between eating a chocolate cake or a carrot. The story-driven episodes are a chocolate cake. Their sweet, delicious, and I’m always craving more after just having one piece. As for the slice of life episodes, they’re like carrots. I can eat a carrot. I can digest a carrot. I might even enjoy a carrot. Hell, there are times when I’m willing to ask for another carrot. But if you’re going to give me the decision of a carrot over a chocolate cake, then I’m always going to pick the chocolate cake. Even if I enjoy episodes like “Laser Light Cannon," “Too Short to Ride," and “Alone Together," they can never hold a candle to “Jail Break," “Reunited," and “Change Your Mind." This is because the slice of life episodes give off a sense of distraction from the main story. After all, they rarely add anything new (read: meaningful) to the tale. And going back to the carrot and chocolate cake analogy, there’s one aspect that doesn’t do the slice of life episodes any favors. You see, where most shows feel like you have to eat the carrots before having the chocolate cake, half the time Steven Universe feels like you can skip most of the carrots and go straight for the chocolate cake instead. And Steven Universe isn’t the only show to try this. In fact, tomorrow I’ll be talking about a show that perfected this idea. But tomorrow's series manages to make both the story and slice of life episode the chocolate cake instead of the carrot. And it has everything to do with the fact that the characters care about the situation they’re in. There are actual moments in the show where Crystal Gems refuse to participate in everyday antics because they simply don’t think those antics are worth their time. Which is something you never want to do. Because if the characters don’t care, then why should the audience? Speaking of the characters--

I want it to be known that I like the majority of the characters in Steven Universe. Greg, Connie, Peridot, Amethyst, and Garnet are all enjoyable to watch in their own way. Not only is their development on point, but their personalities are all likable, and their issues are also relatable. It’s three other characters that things get a little iffy. Those characters being Steven, Pearl, Bismuth and Lapis. If you ask me, I like these characters, and I think it’s fun to study/analyze their personalities. However, these characters make decisions that audiences are either going to hate or love. It’s sort of like that optical illusion of the old lady/young lady (Google it). Some people can see the ugly old hag, where others will see the beautiful young woman. You’re most likely going to see one or the other, and it isn’t until someone else points out what you couldn’t notice that you are capable of seeing both. It’s something very similar to Steven, Pearl, Bismuth and Lapis. One response is that you’re either going to see characters who are selfless heroes that are victims of circumstance. The other is seeing toxic idiots who cause more harm than good to the people they love.

And then there are the people of Beach City. These are mostly hated by both fans and critics of the show. Personally, I don’t hate most of them. Don’t get me wrong, characters like Lars and Ronaldo deserve every ounce of hate they are given (Although Lars does get better). As for the rest of the Beach Citizens, I don’t think they are that bad of characters. In fact, I think they’re good characters placed in the wrong show. Some of them have issues that most people deal with (Sadie, in most of her episodes), where others seem to be slightly layered and almost intriguing (Mr. Smiley and Onion in “Future Boy Zoltron” and “Onion Gang”). In fact, if these characters were a part of a different series, I’m sure people will be more willing to watch their struggles. It's just compared to the Crystal Gems and company, the people of Beach City are not as interesting to watch or dissect. And because of this, the show drags down to a screeching halt whenever it focuses on these characters.

And the most controversial element of these characters is (semi-spoilers ahead) when the show tries to pull off redemption arcs. Steven Universe seems to work off the logic that nobody is evil, just misunderstood. There’s both a right way and a wrong way of illustrating that logic, and Steven Universe, unfortunately, does it the wrong way. And the best way for me to describe how to do this idea is to use the game Undertale as an example (I’d warn you about spoilers, but odds are you already know everything about that game). In Undertale, you play a character who fell into an underground prison full of monsters, and you have to find your way back to the surface. The monsters you run into give the impression that they’re dangerous and want to destroy you (or at least most of them do). However, the game allows the player to interact with the world and characters around them, soon discovering that the monsters are more complex than one might think. In fact, the game allows you to actually interact with monsters who tried to kill you, showing the logic and reasoning as to why. By the end of Undertale, you learn that every character you encounter is not the villains in the story, but rather victims of a war that forced them away from the surface. Steven Universe has a similar idea but fails to do it properly. All it reveals is that the villains have done bad things, realize that they’ve done wrong, and decide to have an out of nowhere change of heart by the end. The problem is that except for one character, the turnarounds don’t feel earned. Instead, they feel forced than anything else.

These elements are what make Steven Universe slightly controversial to enjoy.

(And also the ridiculous amount of hiatuses. But that’s not really an issue I have with the show, but the network running it.)

But if there is one thing I hope we all can agree on, both the pessimistic and forgiving, I think it’s safe to say that the best thing about Steven Universe is how important it is for the LGBTQ+ community. There may have been kids' shows in the past that hinted at same-sex relationships and they deserve some respect as well. But I'd say it’s Steven Universe that popularized the idea with the characters Ruby and Saphire. Not only are these two downright adorable together, but they also manage to be enjoyable characters on their own (Even though it isn’t often you see them apart, but their personalities still shine through). And I’m willing to make the argument that it’s because of these two why children’s animation is less afraid, but still cautious, of being explicit with having same-sex couples. Like I said, most shows decide to hint at these relationships, so they don't get in trouble for doing so. Nowadays? Most of Cartoon Network’s series seem to have more gay relationships than most children’s networks in recent memory. Nickelodeon allowed The Loud House to have gay parents in a children's cartoon, and one of the main characters being canonically bisexual. Hell, even Disney is currently taking steps in the right direction with their smash hit called The Owl House. Now, more than ever, kids can learn at an early age that gay relationships are more than just acceptable, but they’re also completely normal and should be accepted as such. And I’m more than willing to give Steven Universe credit for giving this trend the push that it needed, like other creators for these shows usually point fingers at it as well.

Is Steven Universe a perfect show? No. But that doesn’t mean I think it’s garbage. There are some legitimate faults that this series has, some of which I’m inclined to agree with. But with all the good it does and how much fun people have while watching it, I can’t really say I hate this series. If you think you’ll hate this show, you have every right to. I can’t change how you feel, but I can ask you to keep an open mind. Because who knows? You might be someone who will find the diamond in the rough of this series.

(Now that’s a pun you’ll be willing to appreciate by the time you reach season 5).

[love-takes-work]

The Tale of Steven - Outline & Review

The Tale of Steven is a wonderful, timeless-feeling storybook about identity, authority, and finding your own way. It's got an innovative design that requires the reader to turn the book upside-down, sideways, and right-side-up to get the whole story, sometimes all on the same spread of art and text, and as we come to find out ultimately, this "tale of Steven" really is STEVEN'S story.

We begin with White Diamond, matriarch of the Gem homeworld, setting the stage--and not only does she frame the other Diamonds uncharitably (especially the littlest Diamond, Pink), she even sets the tone by admonishing THE READER straight away, scolding us to turn the book her way to read her words. (We must turn the book upside-down to read her perspective. Very nice.)

As we listen to White Diamond tell us how ridiculous Pink Diamond is and frame her as "impossible to understand," we also see exactly why Pink felt driven to leave her home. White apparently appointed herself the authority on keeping Pink in her place, and we're treated to White's huge pale hands holding little Pink Diamond in her tiny pink throne, “right”-side-up. White's perspective is proper, and she is to be praised, you see, for understanding that Pink's desires and attributes are not worthwhile and need to be forced out of her. Pink is shown as having run away to Earth and reinventing herself as a new Gem: Rose Quartz. Suddenly, we are able to turn the book sideways and see what she's thinking too. (White does NOT approve.)

The Earth, where Rose Quartz is allowed to love herself and love her surroundings, is simultaneously called "grotesque" by White, and we're seeing the same planet through two sets of eyes. White sees Rose as "stubborn" and "absurd," while Rose just gives us an aside about not listening to White if we don't want to and giving us a choice to read the book her way. As Rose continues to depict rainbows and falling in love with a human--Greg Universe--White is getting angrier. She shrieks, "You're ruining my story!" Rose, rightly, replies, "This isn't your story."

Soon, Rose has bequeathed her Gem--the center of her being--to her half-human son, Steven, with the consequence of ceasing to be herself. Baby Steven appears with his father and Rose Quartz's three companions--Amethyst, Garnet, and Pearl. White Diamond finally abandons trying to narrate this story, escaping with a vindictive comment and an attempt to frame Rose as simply Pink Diamond hiding "inside an unwitting creature." Rose's perspective expresses that she wanted her son to experience the love and acceptance she never received. And then, Steven's perspective pops onto the scene. We can now turn the book fully right-side-up to read his tale.

As the story slides fully into Steven's perspective, Rose's hopes for him still line up on the sides of the pages, longing for him to experience kindness, to never know the awfulness she went through on Homeworld, to never have to feel the criticism issued by the other Diamonds, and to be able to tell his own story one day. Steven reflects on Rose's influence on his life, how he's heard about her and the more truth he's discovered the more everything frightens him. There are many perspectives, he recognizes. Perhaps there is more than one way to read the story.

White's perspective, upside-down now, returns alongside all this. She suggests "Pink" has come crawling back to turn the world the "right" way again, and she's puzzled by Steven's appearance, but she's determined to rescue Pink from herself by separating Steven from his Gem. Meanwhile, Steven's been wondering what his relationship is to Pink and Rose--is she inside him? Is he actually her? What's real?

But they all learn the truth when Steven's Gem reveals that he was also Steven inside there. All along, he was himself and no one else. This is, and has always been, his story, and he has been right about who he is.

Several wordless frames depict Steven's two aspects finding each other, reconnecting, and becoming one again. Newly confident in who he is and having asserted as much in the face of crushing authority, Steven declares, "This way feels right to me." The orientation of the book AND the definition of himself are the focus here, and for the first time, White begins to consider that her perspective was the wrong side up in someone else's story.

Steven closes by claiming the book as his own (writing his own name in the "This Book Belongs To" space, which is superimposed over a Diamond Authority symbol with the Pink Diamond on top instead of on the bottom). The end dedication is made out "To Trans & Gender-Expansive Kids."

To reflect on this sentiment and the rest of the book, I will say that a large portion of the Steven Universe fandom already recognized some threads of a trans allegory in the animation this is based on. Steven, though he is not specifically depicted as a confirmed trans character in the show, does not demonstrate or seem to experience toxic masculinity in association with his quest to be powerful, and has no qualms about using symbolism, iconography, and apparel that is more commonly associated in today's Western society with women and girls (e.g., the color pink, flower symbolism, protective and defensive rather than aggressive and offensive behaviors, wearing jewelry and dresses occasionally without it being a gag). His assertion that he is Steven and not Pink Diamond or Rose Quartz has many parallels with a common trans narrative--including pronouns that the Diamonds refused to respect--even though it is also its own thing since human beings do not have to defend that they are not literally their mother. 

They do, however, frequently struggle with authorities in their lives "correcting" them on who and what they are "for their own good," brushing off the seriousness of the misery it causes, and these children do find themselves forced to wear clothes, use names, and adhere to roles that do not match who they are. They even sometimes hear authorities mourn the "loss" of a different-gender version of them and accuse the child of being selfish for wanting to manifest their truth instead of being the son or daughter the parent thought they had.

It is my deepest hope that authorities like this can learn to turn the book around.

It is so important for children to learn that they ARE the authority on their identity, and while some well-meaning authorities in their lives may frame their identity as a phase or a fake, they do not have to accept this view of the world, or even that it comes from a loving place. White Diamond did not sound like a stern but caring figure to me. She sounded like a tyrant who is convinced of her own correctness, determined to gaslight and shame Pink Diamond into becoming the person SHE wanted. Love is listening. Love is nurturing. Love is seeing pleasure and pain and letting those things guide you in supporting a happy existence. Kids whose gender is complicated and young people who develop misunderstood identities need books like this to center them in their own stories and empower them to show others how to read their book.

Except for the section of the book where Steven's organic self and Gem self are separated and re-combine, the message is solid for readers who have not watched the show. But because of how important that wordless series of panels is and how much background you actually have to have to understand what's happening there, I recommend this book primarily for fans of the show who have seen "Change Your Mind" and the episodes that support it. The other depictions are more powerful and illuminating for those who have context from the show also, but the main purpose of the book can be readily understood without that background. 

If you haven't seen the show, all you need to know is that Steven is a hybrid Gem/human who has a gemstone in his human body, and it gives him superhuman powers. Gem characters generate a body from their Gem, while Steven's body is organic and presumably NOT generated from the Gem. White Diamond removed Steven's Gem from his belly, expecting Pink Diamond to take form out of the Gem. She thought his organic half was just a human that the Gem was stuck in. But instead, a Pink Steven emerged and went back to his organic self to merge again, proving that he is Steven, not someone else, through and through. And he truly loves and knows himself.

A couple other notes fans of the show might enjoy: White Diamond's hypothesis that Pink Diamond was "hiding in an unwitting creature" is really interesting--she knew what Steven was but believed he was just a normal human hosting a Gem. Interesting. White's disdain toward Yellow and Blue for "spoiling" Pink is an interesting addition to what we know about her, too. Pink is pictured standing on her hands on her throne, upside-down, which is interesting since it's both "silly" and an expression of her right-side-up perspective (since, when we obey White, we're reading the book upside-down!). White's commentary that she kept Pink in line is also interesting, considering we've seen way more of how Yellow and Blue treated her and none of that was very nice either (yet they're the "nice" ones in this story, indulging her even though we know they abused her). There's a really cute image of Rose lounging on the beach with Greg in what looks like a swimsuit. Connie is in a frame with the Gems looking through a telescope. And there's a frame with Garnet holding pink and blue butterflies.

Inventive, beautiful, moving, and so necessary. Buy a copy. Let kids turn the book around.

[SU Book and Comic Reviews]

[rubykgrant]

A list for @vann-haal of some romance/love-stories! These are just a few that I know well/personally own, so it isn’t the most complete list ever (and I’m sure you’ve seen most of them). I’ll put them under a cut with a small explanation for each. Hope you find at least a couple new ones you like~

Animated-

the Sea Prince and the Fire Child (1981)- this one is fairly obscure, but I somehow managed to get it on video when I was young, and it is a favorite of mine. It is a fantasy story, somewhat similar to Romeo and Juliet with a dash of the Little Mermaid, and a whole new vibe of its own. A child of the sea falls in love with a child of fire, the two only able to meet at night, and always in danger of being caught as their two peoples don’t get along. Very bitter-sweet, and sad at times, but also cute

Shrek (2001)- we all remember this one for totally twisting the fairytale trope “love made her beautiful”, but we still got a happily ever after~

the Book of Life (2014)- I adore the animation and character design, and I find the love story so amusing because if other people didn’t keep messing things up, the two romantic interests would very smoothly be able be able to fall in love without conflict... but, y’know, stuff happens

Gnomeo and Juliet (2011)- I think this one got ignored for having such a silly title and being using a well-known plot, but it is genuinely adorable and funny, knows exactly how silly it is and owns it. We also get to see the two legit fall in love, and try to stay in love

Sailor Moon Promise of the Rose (1993)- pretty much any Sailor Moon movie has a love theme, but this one is my favorite. We see how much Sailor Moon means to all her friends, plus I am just forever entertained that you could describe the plot as “Guy doesn’t know his childhood friend had a scrush on him, childhood friend comes back to steal guy from current girlfriend”

Doug’s 1stMovie (1999)-  because the show always featured Doug’s crush on Patti, that becomes a core issue of the plot. He keeps trying to impress her when he should be more worried about other problems, and his selfish behavior accidentally drives her away. Once he calms down and acts honestly, it becomes obvious she cares for him, too

the Prince of Egypt (1998)- the romance is just one aspect of this amazing movies, but it feels real

the Princess and the Frog (2009)- I’m a sucker for both “They don’t get along at first” and “They both help each other find what they need” tropes~

the Swan Princess (1994)- how utterly clueless the main guy is almost frustrating, but he finally comes through at the end, and expresses his feelings in really touching words

Anastasia (1997)- this has a slow-burn going on, plus an “I love you but can’t tell you” element, and the interactions between the romantic leads are always entertaining

Quest for Camelot (1998)- the girl is both very determined and also a disaster, the guy is trying very hard to be the strong siltent type, but she won’t stop talking to him so it isn’t working, and they both just keep saving each other

Beauty and the Beast (1991)- I think we all know this one pretty well, but it is one of my favorites. I just love that from the get-go Belle doesn’t take any nonsense from the Beast, and once he learns to chill, he’s an adorable dork for her

Aladdin (1992)- another well known movie, but also one I love. The Wish definitely didn’t need to be so complicated, but it was, and a comedy of errors ensues. The actual love story is so simple and sweet, even in the middle of all the shenanigans

Megamind (2010)- you know exactly why this is here~

 Live Action-

the Princess Bride (1987)- a love story where the two romantic interests only get to spend very little time together, and they are probably even more frustrated about that than we are

Hairspray (2007)- a few different love stories going on, all unique and cute in their own ways, with really great music as well

Little Shop of Horrors (1986)- this might seem like it has the story of a “nerdy nice guy who wishes a pretty girl wasn’t into a bad boy”, but he actually IS a nice guy, and the love between them really works. Plus songs about a plant who eats blood, what more could you want

Runaway Bride (1999)- this movie will always amuse me, because it has almost the same cast as Pretty Woman, but I personally like this one better. It can be hard for somebody to trust the words “I love you” when they haven’t been acting like themselves for the other person

Love Simon (2018)- I’m somebody who doesn’t like a lot of teen-rom-coms, but I REALLY like this one~

But I’m a Cheerleader (1999)- the characters manage to find love, even when everybody around them keeps insisting it is wrong, they realize it is right

the Mummy (1999)- this whole movie has really great character interactions, and the love interests are no exception

the Addams Family (1991)- there are few other couples that could match the sheer passion of Gomez and Morticia

Practical Magic (1998)- two sisters who are part of a family of witches experience different forms of love and loss... sometimes with dangerous results, but true love is the most powerful magic of all

Penelope (2006)- love can do a lot of things, including being what breaks a curse... but there are different kinds of love

the Fifth Element (1997)- an incredibly funny sci-fi adventure, it can be all over the place at times, but somehow manages to pull everything together at the end, much like combining elements

Coming to America (1988)- a young prince doesn’t want to simply be betrothed, he wants find a girl who loves who he really is; he decides the best way to do so is to disguise himself as a poor fast-food worker

George of the Jungle (1997)- people throw around the term “himbo” a lot lately, but George here was the otiginal combo of beeffcake/heart of gold/doesn’t think stuff through, and it is great

 Shows-

Joe Pera Talks With You- this entire show is very calming and soothing, the gentle build-up to the romance included. An episode that made me smile for about 3 solid minutes at the end; after staying upp all night talking and watching funny internet videos, Joe Pera goes outside to check on his garden, and he starts to cheer because the beans he planted have grown all the way up the arch, his girlfriend Sarah joins him, and in a fit of glee he gets down on one knee to seemingly propose, but she knocks him over yelling “Too soon!”, and they both proceed to run around laughing

Gargoyles- before we had legit and obvious monster romance available, we had the slow-burn that is Goliath and Elisa

People of Earth- there are several different little romantic storylines in this show, but my favorite is actually a parental-themed one; a space alien abducts a child, and grows to care for him, promising to always protect the little kid. Because different life-forms have different life-spans, a guy in his 30s is relatively still a child to the space alien

Steven Universe- just... Ruby and Sapphire. Yes

Adventure Time- there are a few different characters who fall in and out of love, but it is really all about Bubblegum and Marceline

YuYu Hakusho- known more for being an action anime, the little bits of love we see are actually pretty cute. Especially Kuwabara, who is a hopeless romantic

[sharethisgemwithme]

Rebecca Sugar Q&A at Barnes & Noble - October 7, 2019

Here’s my notes from Monday night’s book release event in New York. @bismuth​ has posted a link to a collection of videos he took during the Q&A, which might cover the whole thing, but just in case (and because some people prefer reading rather than watching videos), here’s my list. This isn’t complete, but it’s what I could take down. If something is in quote marks, it’s as close as I could get to word-for-word what Sugar said.

Most of it’s behind a cut, but I’ll lead off up here with the final question and answer.

“What is the most important lesson to take from Steven Universe?”

“Marginalized children exist, they deserve to exist. They deserve to express themselves. They deserve funny cartoons, they deserve to make funny cartoons. They deserve to be kids.”

Advice for young creators

Make as much stuff as you can. If you think some of it’s bad, that’s great because you’re learning what doesn’t work for you.

What do you like to work on outside of SU?

She still does music for fun. She recently learned guitar, partially because she was writing songs that she couldn’t perform.

Anything you wanted in the show, but didn’t have time?

A number of things got crowded out, especially in the endgame, but several of those ideas made it into SUF.

How did you get into the industry after graduating from School of Visual Art? [not sure how accurate this recording of the question is; I just know it was something about SVA]

Started AT as a revisionist, which helped her see what doesn’t work. Graduated to storyboarder. Being in all these different roles helped her out as a show creator, because she knows the perspective of different members of her crew.

Is it true you were willing to quit SU over the wedding?

She wants to set the record straight. “In no world would I ever quit Steven.” She was warned that much of the funding comes from other countries, and some of them would refuse to air the wedding and might stop airing the show altogether. If the funding dried up, that could endanger the show. So she had to choose to take the risk that going forward with the wedding might jeopardize the long-term future of SU. “I chose the truth and we survived.”

Inspiration for stories from her personal and family life

Some of the original early-series ideas come from when Rebecca was a tween/teen, particularly when she was around 13 and Steven Sugar (Steven Universe’s namesake) was around 10.

She analogized to how Matt Groening has talked about how many moments from his childhood made their way into Bart Simpson.

How do you stay organized with long story arcs?

“Charts. Lots of charts.” “I really wish I could show you one of these charts.”

Every member of the show staff gets these charts, so that even those not working on a given episode will know big-picture what’s happening, in order to inform later episodes.

A future art book (presumably the one releasing in 2020) will have at least some of these charts in it!

How long did it take Spinel to get to Earth?

Gems have technology that allows essentially instantaneous travel to anywhere.

[When staying in the garden] she hadn’t realized she should go... somewhere else. As soon as she did, she left.

[someone behind me (way in the back) muttered, “ok but where’d she get the drill?”, which honestly is still a valid question]

Are there any Gems not made in a Kindergarten?

“Gems are technology”. They are made, “they are able to self-replicate”. There wouldn’t be any naturally occurring Gems.

Will we ever see Jasper again?

“The answer to this is YES.”

What can you tell us about the gem language?

Steven Sugar invented it and is the only person with the full key. It’s up to him if we ever get a decoder. “I’ll ask him, I’ll tell him you asked.”

Plans to continue the universe after SUF

“I definitely am not done with this universe and these characters.” Even if it’s not a TV series, there will still be more to say.

What song do you have the most personal connection to?

Definitely “Love Like You”, written over the course of a few years. Originally meant to be from an alien perspective, as she got to the bridge, it was becoming self-deprecating (I’m nothing like you) because she was personally struggling. She realized it was difficult for her to maintain connections with those around her while she struggled so much to love herself.

She doesn’t expect to ever take so long to write a song again, and certainly not to invest so much of her personal experience and struggles into one.

How does the viewing experience change for new viewers now that the series is complete?

At first, it was hard to get CN to accept a serial storyline, not just arcs but the whole chronological nature of the series. She understands how hard it was with the awkward airing schedule, but notes “When there are hiatuses, we’re not not-working.” She’s “really really really happy” that people can now watch it straight through, and that was one advantage of the movie.

Influences for Spinel

1930s cartoons, especially Betty Boop. Some specific Betty Boop cartoons were named, but I couldn’t hear enough to jot them down. Oswald the Lucky Rabbit also mentioned.

If you were designing a syllabus for Storytelling 101, what would you have people watch, read, or listen to?

“Your favorite movie, book, and song.” By studying the things you enjoy, you can see why they appeal to you and how to capture that for your own work.

She brings up Ocarina of Time and “no disrespect to Twilight Princess” but she loved how “Ganon kicks you in the face as a child” so you don’t have to be told that he’s bad, you experience it for yourself.

What are the Rose Quartz gems and the Zoo people up to?

“Please watch Steven Universe Future.”

What is the deal with the Pearl who was Pink’s and then became White’s?

“Please watch Steven Universe Future.”

What did you expect people to get out of Pink Diamond’s character from the movie?

Abandoning those around her is "a thing she does”, we’ve seen it before time and again.

“What is the most important lesson to take from Steven Universe?”

“Marginalized children exist, they deserve to exist. They deserve to express themselves. They deserve funny cartoons. They deserve to make funny cartoons. They deserve to be kids.”

[weaselbeaselpants]

Hazbin Hotel Review Part 1: I liek this, this is good

Eeeey I finally watched it how bout that?

I want to start with the things I liked because honestly, there’s a lot of things to like, also to give my opinion on some of the more common criticism landed it’s way.

--- Ima leave all the drama about Vivienne herself aside and focus on the episode/pilot as is. If you want to know the issues with her (actual issues, not the bs Bad Webcomics Wiki spews out or the false pedo claims) here’s a blog from a person within the VivziePop fanbase that’s detailed a lot of concerns. Make of them what you will but please don’t blacklist the show. There’s other ppl working on it and don’t threaten to block fans over them liking a show you don’t. That’s the kind of shit that would feed my Pure O and anxiety back in the day. Please stop, you’re making things really toxic. ---

So here’s what I liked:

People talking about the sound design being faulty or distracting when honestly I thought it was pretty good. Like, REALLY pretty good! The     sound effects weren’t too glaring and fit. IDK, when I hear “bad/too many sound effects in animation” I think of either Johnny Test or this.

The animators should be proud! Yes, there were a lot of shots obviously done by different people, but it didn’t bother me in the slightest (or no more than Steven Universe did). Oh wow you guys dealt with those designs so well and just dang look at that squash and stretch. Also, it wasn’t ALL squash and stretch and stayed fluid while keeping slow and focused like it needed to be.

Songs were great! These animators obviously specialize in music videos so while I might not be going home humming the words the  visuals more than make up for it. Also, it’s musical wow.

Other critics of Viv get on her for making everything super pink but honestly I like the color scheme of Hazbin. Characters are all different shades of red, pink, black, and yellow with some minimal color in between. Glaring, over-designed, and in need of proper color-theory? Yes. Aesthetically doomed from the get go? No. Viv’s surname “VivziePop” suits her cause her style alone does really pop! Simplify designs a great deal and the style is fine tbh.

What reason besides homophobia could people not want Charlie and Vaggie to be an item? They’re literally the ONLY good thing in this world.

The idea! Excuse me while I delve into stupid fan dribble here: 

I love the idea of a “princess of Hell” not fitting the quota of what’s befitting of an antichrist, wanting to reform sinners and demons, acting so un-devilish but having to be in control of this awful place. Sue me that shit is cute.

I reeeeally like Charlie, who is without a doubt my favorite character cause oh my god you know how I am with cute demons and monsters.

This version of Hell is pretty interesting as well. Instead of routine torture (I think???*), souls get purged from existence. Besides wanting to make people happy, Charlie has every reason to want to see sinners reform - these are her people, in her words. Me thinks they’re going for an Elder Cunningham-type character arc from The Book of Mormon; with the demons being cross and convinced redemption is pointless but then Charlie gets them on her side somehow and they steadily make asses of themselves while becoming ‘better’ people. That’s my prediction anyway.

ALL the main four characters have potential to be interesting: Charlie; a bubbly fish-out-of water with big, unspeakably unrealistic dreams who doesn’t give up. Vaggie; a girl who you gotta wonder what the hell she’s down in hell in the first place for and is clearly the only sane woman here. Angel; a jack of all trades but secretly master of none, finding Charlie hopeless but putting up with her all the same. Alastor; a “mysterious”** character who the other demons of hell are scared of and we know is up to no good stuff with Charlie but hey he’s got power, he knows what he’s doing.

Why am I not mentioning the rest of the cast? We’ll talk soon...

A lot of flaq about the cursing and the offensiveness and stuff but...honestly I’ve seen worse! I’ve watched Satellite City and Brandon Rogers. While there still was a little too much cursing from every single character, it wasn’t distracting to me. Also outside of Angel making a bunch of sex jokes, which suits him cause he’s Angel, I don’t remember so much edgy for the sake of edgy humor. I was going in expecting Drawn Together or Shane Dawson, but I came out with Invader Zim style-snappiness. 

Voice acting was pretty awesome sauce. They did a great job and everyone suited their character. I’m iffy on my opinion of Alastor, but ngl wow what a cool idea to have him sound like a radio.

Minor things that I think should be redesigned, rewritten or thought out a bit more are just that: minor and more suited to just baseless what-if fan dribble. The show is in production anyway.

...

[show-me-your-rocks]

I grew up in what I thought was a normal house and maybe it was. But after self exploration and my wife and some shows helping me to see how I’ve been broken over the years, I’m seeing what I experienced probably wasn’t normal. I’m journaling as a form of free therapy.

My first memory was from daycare when I was 3. I remember watching Rugrats, one of my favorite shows when I was little, and another kid came up from behind me and pushed me over. I fell forward. This seems like a good analogy for my life. I’m standing there minding my own business and an external force comes and messes that up. That’s probably normal to think you did nothing wrong when you actually did do something wrong and you just don’t know what it was yet.

I grew up with my mom and dad, older brother, and a house full of plants and animals. My mom and dad met in college and were at least in love at first. By the time I can remember anything about them, all I can remember is hatred for each other. That’s probably normal. They did sleep in the same bed when I was young but then I remember my dad moving to the couch and then eventually another room because of his snoring, from what I could gather. I rarely remember them either saying they loved each other or kissing. My mom would tell me she loved me all the time and my dad would do it if prompted. My mom would also tell me all the time that she was divorcing my dad as soon as I graduated high school. I was around 7 when I first remember her saying this to me. Imagine hearing almost all your life that your parents hated each other and that your mom wanted to leave. I can imagine a lot of parents have the same feelings for each other as mine did but it felt kinda crazy that my mom would dump this on a first grader. I didn’t know what to do with it. As far as I remember I just said ok like it was normal. What else do you say to that?

My dad was there but not really. I was supposed to be a girl and so was my older brother actually. Can you imagine not feeling wanted but the guy is there everyday to give you that vibe? I was nothing like him in his eyes. I don’t look like him (thank god) but I’m tall and built like him. I got his damn crazy eyebrows which are a painful reminder we’re related. I was into cars and it took me a while to get into football which was one of his passions. We didn’t watch them together. I hated him almost my whole life and I felt the same from him. He saw me as a competitor for my mom’s attention and acted like a child. Other family members saw this like my wonderful great aunt who was basically my grandmother.

She was the only one who I saw frequently and gave me that kind of love. She was such a wonderful and loving figure in my life and always made me feel like I was so special and a joy to be around. It was never a chore to drive the couple hours to go see her a few times a year. She died a few years ago on Mother’s Day of all days. It took me a long time to delete the last voicemail I had from her which was her calling me to wish me happy birthday.

My brother was almost a decade older than me and was the troublesome older child. He paved the way for me to not get in trouble but I was also nothing like him growing up so my mom saw no reason to put the same kind of rules on me that they needed with him. At times he served this kind of hybrid brother and dad taking me to football and baseball games. We always had kind of a weird relationship and I remember my mom telling me that some psychologist said that we were essentially only children. I don’t know where she heard that but she doesn’t strike me as the kind of person to take her kids to therapy.

So to recapture all that’s happened so far. I have a dad who doesn’t really want me and makes it pretty well known and he also competes with his own son for attention, a mom who dumps too much on her own son and is a bit much with the attention at times, and a brother who doesn’t even really register as a brother, but sometimes as a father.

Put that together with someone who was tall and big and I never really grew up defending myself, so guess what I don’t do? Yup, I let people walk all over me and use a lot of patience even though my wife says I shouldn’t because people don’t deserve it. Imagine that episode of SpongeBob where Plankton teaches him to stand up for himself. I’m SB and my wife is Plankton. Another kid’s show character I identify with is Steven Universe. In SU Future there’s an episode where he tells the gems they think he’s some great person who got better and he’s only gotten worse and he’s a fraud and a monster. I cried because of how real that felt to me. My wife thinks I’m like him because he’s wonderful and does nice things for people all the time and I see the comparison in that I’m silly and don’t think things through and mess things up and make things worse trying to fix them.

I feel like such an imposter all the time. I’m a husband, father, and I have a PhD. None of these feel real to me and though I hear from others, especially my wife, that I’m great, I’m not. She says I’m a great husband but I fuck up all the time and I try to do better but I’m a shit listener and it infuriates her. Simple things I just cannot do it seems. As a dad I do stuff for my daughter. I change diapers all the time and do bath time by myself sometimes. But I feel like I’m not there enough for her in other ways when she needs me. I’m really good at doing the stupid stuff that doesn’t matter a whole lot but I feel like if I’m called up to the plate I strike out. I have a PhD but I barely have any publications and do so little I feel like a failure. I just got hired to this big director job doing some cool things in a few months and I pulled the wool over there eyes. I have some good ideas but they’ll see I am a fraud soon and I worry what will happen then.

These kinds of thoughts lead me to suicidal thoughts. They mainly stem from the fact I don’t love myself. My wife and I watch RuPauls Dragrace and the end of the show always ends with RuPaul asking if you can’t love yourself how in the hell you gonna love somebody else and I don’t love myself but I love my wife and daughter and our pets so much. I remember driving home from work once and I was at a red light and I had a thought for how to deal with some students and I thought hey that’s a good idea, it might work. Then I thought no it won’t, it’s a stupid idea and you’re an idiot. Then I thought what is it like to love yourself and I cried. I’ve also had the thought of killing myself so I can get rid of my own debt and my wife and daughter can live off the insurance money. She doesn’t want me to and I get that but it seemed like a good idea for a time. Now it’s not so much of a pay out and not as worth it. Sometimes I’ll be driving along and I just get the urge to drive off the road and crash into a tree. Don’t know if that’s normal or not.

I didn’t mention my mom, dad, or brother in that list of people I love so much and that’s also the reason I didn’t say family. They were toxic and I cut them off for my daughter’s sake but I’m seeing some benefits myself. Right after my daughter was born my parents invited themselves (this was a point of contention) to come see her. I didn’t really want them to come but they did. We got into a fight because my daughter was weeks old and we weren’t leaving the house but for essentials. They wanted to take my car out (they flew in) and go get food even though I told them we weren’t leaving the house and I got food for them. They didn’t care about seeing my daughter at all and complained that I was helping her and my wife who had a rough recovery and they didn’t come all the way down to not see me. (?!?!) That blew up and they said they wanted nothing to do with my daughter and it would be a cold day in hell before they came to see me again. It was okay for me because I only ever talked to them on the phone on Sundays and I dreaded that call. It was freeing once we were sure they were gone. They flew out two days after the fight when they found a hotel and left. My wife almost had a nervous breakdown from dealing with them and the stress of a new baby so I was relieved when she ate for the first time in four days.

My brother was kind of caught in the middle and I felt bad for him but he took their side so I ended our relationship too. I have essentially no blood relatives who want to talk to me. That’s fine. Family isn’t just blood to me. I have some amazing best friends who take their places. One who is also a new father and I’ve know for over 15 years is a brother to me. Another who I’ve known for over 5 years and is another brother to me. Although I did only learn he was gay a few years ago. He hid it because he’s afraid of people knowing and holding that against him for jobs. Even though it’s academia and PhDs who are more liberal, it’s the south and it scares him. I feel so bad for him. He’s such an amazing guy and I love his fiancé. It’s funny because my wife said she could leave me for him if I treated her bad because he does love her but guess what, that plan won’t work. I might also kinda look like his fiancé but that’s beside the point. Surround yourself with people who make your life easier, not harder.

[mythicaldemigoddess-of-deltarune]

One More Post To Say That I Will Post Again On November or December...and other stuff I want to say.

this will be the last post until November or December.

once again, the only reason why I had posted earlier today

was because of the two reasons...

because of that toxic-religious person.

and to show the link to save Owl House

which is this link here https://www.change.org/p/disney-don-t-cancel-the-owl-house-diversity-is-important-give-us-season-4

anyway I’m getting back to hiatus and post again in a few months.

if anyone who sees this is a fan of Owl House,

please make sure to check out the link that has to do with needing to save it and needing a Season 4.

and ya know even if Nickelodeon has a Spongebob problem...

(but it isn’t the first to have a talking sponge, the one from Chip and Dale’s Rescue Rangers that I watched on DVD...was the first talking square sponge.)

it might be better if it ends up showing Owl House instead...

I did suggest Cartoon Network, but even if it did show a great show like Steven Universe and even Steven Universe Future that I and a few other fans like.

if some rumors are true, then it might be best that Nickelodeon shows Owl House, and maybe stop doing that broken marathon of Spongebob.

once in a while Spongebob is okay, but like I said before I was at my limit and started to have some dark thoughts.

thoughts of wanting to hurt myself, I didn’t go through with it.

it’s just I was in the kitchen and saw the butter knife and I had to get away from where Spongebob was showing on TV.

I’m doing much better since that happen, but I just wish it would stop already.

you can’t really call it a marathon if it shows the same episode over and over.

and I don’t want to tell my family about those bad thoughts that started to happen because of having to put up with Spongebob.

and I doubt that those who run Nickelodeon

(who also disrespected the last wishes of Spongebob’s creator)

will even stop the show any time soon, even if it still has some good shows to watch and even if it does end up having Owl House.

which might not be likely, and it is just wishful thinking...

I can just hope it is true that FNAF has a new adoptive parent,

after the incident.  

I still freaking hate the person who started it,

it’s not Scott’s fault he trusted two-face lying shisno 

who tricked him into believing that she was for LGBT

but it was really just a trick to get peoples trust.

and even if I don’t really favor Trump,

and only half of my family shows favor for him. 

but when people bring that whole Like or Dislike Fight of Trump or any other people who run things.........and it affects FNAF...it sucks.

and yeah there is that whole FNAF Community Vs Twitter,

but we can’t say that everyone in Twitter had a part of it,

only the ones who believed Scott did that stuff on purpose,

and he had to retire to keep his family safe and because of what those two-faced shisno caused by having some people turn on him.

  even if you got your whole like or dislike of Trump or any other person who runs for power and end up lying about being for LGBT

and yeah Scott was fooled by a woman, like it showed in a Youtube Video.

and he had to choose the lesser of evils, and if he knew that his donations were going to two faced shisno, he would of possibly not let it happen.

  also besides checking out the petition to save Owl House,

I still hope some check out that link too.

but please check out this video that talks about the whole incident

that has to do with FNAF’s original creator.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmrtnEzxEzM

please actually the full video, I think if it isn’t watched fully

there can be still a chance that people can misinterpret

if they only hear the bad mistakes Scott did without meaning for it to turn out like it did in the here and now.

I’m Semi-Misanthrope, but I know that not all humans are bad.

but I just want to hope that those that were the source of what happen to Scott

that got everyone mad at him, will get karma for it.

I do have my doubts that this will be seen right away.

but I hope that some will at least check out the link

that has to do with Owl House.

I wouldn’t of had to post again for a very long while,

if it weren’t for me finding out about that Toxic-Religious Girl

and her video that I haven’t fully watched

but I will try to do so later.....

as well as me wanting to show the link to the petition for Owl House.

I still freaking hate her,

and I don't like it that people have been misgendering Raine Whispers.

I mean no matter if Raine's bio-gender is Male or Female,

they are Nonbinary and will go by They/Them.

even if I do decide to go by Feminine-Nonbinary instead of Gyno-Agender because of my being in a Chrysalis stage, I still want to go by She/Her.

not all Nonbinary will be the same, some will still go by She/Her or He/Him.

also even if that Toxic-Religious Girl has that view,

about the whole only Men and Women should be together,

she needs to understand that some Male and Females born,

will end up being Intersex and the ones who aren’t notice to be so,

will be lucky not to be notice because if they did get notice

and they are in one of those families that will have the doctor “fix” them.

that is taking away the choice, and I am still not sure if I am Intersex

even if my body does make me suspect it, even if it didn’t turn up until after I lost so much weight after the depression I was having because of what was going on at home.

if there is ever a home blood test to show a person if they are Intersex or not,

I would like to take such a test, but for now I can just be okay with the blood test

to see what blood type I am, the last successful test showed

that my blood is O RH D Negative but we are going to extra check it

to see if it comes out the same.

I don’t think it’s fair that doctors wont check what blood type you are

unless you are going to have surgery, so finding out about the whole home blood test to see what type you are, is a blessing.

so it be nice if there was another type of blood test

to see if a person who is unsure if they are Intersex or not.

if if does turn out I’m Intersex, I guess I would end up identifying

as Feminine-Nonbinary/Intersex.

there can be those who are born biologically female or male

but at the same time be intersex too.

I hope someday there will be a type of home intersex blood test

and not just the blood type home test.

it might give me some peace of mind to finally get a confirmation.

anyway I hope this will be the very last post I put on here

at least until either November or December.

until then I can just check out stuff on here and send asks

or reply to messages when I can.

if you are a fan of both Owl House and FNAF,

please make sure to check out the two links. 

see ya later and stay safe.  

[ravenfirelair]

Steven universe future final review

so to give my review on the last season of steven universe. At first I thought the main purpose of this series was to complete some character story arcs and tie up lose ends that the previous seasons and the movie didn’t address, but boy, was I wrong! while I did like the season overall, I have some issues with it. The first half of the season felt very unfocused with a lot of one shot episodes that don’t lead up to anything, like when steven meets a bunch of rose quartz gems that look like his mom and he acts all awkward and uncomfortable around them which shows steven his clearly still not over have the lose of his mom even though they clearly established that he was in the previous season and in the movie, but the issue that steven still have issues to work out over his mom is never brought up again thoughout the rest of the season. The next episode focuses on volleyball or white diamond’s pearl and we discover that volleyball used to be pink diamond’s pearl and pink had some violent tendencies which caused the crack over volleyball’s eye and can’t be healed by steven because the damage is more mental then psychical. This might of implied that with pink diamond there was more to her then everyone thought there was and that she was not always the kind loving character we all know, but these issues are never brought again by the end of the season so they are left unresolved. Then the episode with bluebell felt kind of pointless because the whole episode was spend implying both aquamarine and eyeball rudy have turned good when in the end they really didn’t and they continue to hate steven instead of becoming friends with him and they just leave saying they will come back someday to get revenge, but by the end of the season they never do come back, so what was the point of that?

The episode with the two lapis gems felt kind of pointless too because the lapis gems don’t really change their ways and steven never becomes friends with them and they never show up again, so again what was the point of these characters? Then the episode where steven is over-stressed and overworked by trying to do all these different things with the gems at the same time by becoming fusions with them only to be an episode about good time management felt like really low brow writing. it felt like one of those chessy educational videos you whould show to little kids about simple life lessons, that kind of stuff I would expect from early 90s cartoons, but not from a modern progressive show like steven universe.  Then there was the episode where bismuth started to have feelings for pearl when they have a night out together with friends, but again this never really leads to anything because this plot point never comes up in the season again, we never see them fully hook up together and we don’t see them become a fusion, so again what was the point of this?

But then comes the episode that me groan the most, the episode when steven proposes to connie, this is where steven and the season as a whole gets the most dumb. Connie is going away to college soon and steven thinks her going to college means they will become further apart, so he thinks proposing marriage to connie is the thing to do to keep them from growing apart, but he is not sure if it’s the right thing to do, so he asks ruby and sapphire for advice, which I think was literally the worse thing to do because even though ruby and sapphire did fall in love with each other they still done fully understand how human relationships work and that every relationship is different depending how each person feels for each other. Personally I think steven should of asked an actual human being, like his dad? That way he would have been given better advice, he would of know that even though connie was going away they still can have a good relationship and also know that 16 is way to young of an age to propose marriage in the first place and would have avoided her rejection in the first place.  

Then comes the episode that eerked me just as much when steven and his dad go on a road trip together and end up at his dad’s childhood home, they break into his home and discover a lot about his past. I thought the episode was fine up until the last minute, we discover that steven’s dad never had a good relationship with his parents and that steven gets mad at his dad because he never had a normal childhood like his dad had, but those issues never get fully resolved in this episode. We never fully understand why greg never had a good relationship with his parents or why steven got so mad at his dad because he never had a normal childhood. Instead all we get is greg saying to steven that is proud of him for standing up for himself because he never did with his parents. While that is all well and good, it kind of makes it look like steven’s dad doesn't understand the real main issue going on here.  Also I would of liked to have seen more of a redemption arc with jasper since this series is all about villains getting redeemed. Jasper remains stubborn and unable to change her ways or becomes friends with steven until steven literally kills her by shattering her and once she comes back to life she just fully accepts steven has her diamond and quickly changes her ways, I just would of liked to see more of a slow gradual change to her character.  

Now on to the part of the season that I thought was both the best part and the most frustrating, mostly throughout the series we see all the trauma steven as experienced in his past is starting to take it’s toll on him and is coming out to the surface in negative ways by steven lashing out at people and more of his diamond powers coming out and reacting to all his stress in bad ways. I thought it was good in that we finally see the consequences of steven of going all these traumatic experiences and never really fully talking about it and steven constantly putting everyone else’s needs over his own. I thought it was good in showing how a character handles there own PTSD and that if it is not handled in a good way it can escalate in really massive bad ways and that’s okay to ask for help when you can’t handle it on your own. That being said though, it was equally frustrating to watch steven get worse and worse and yet he never seeks help, he constantly pushes the gems away even though he knows he needs help and the gems clearly see that steven is struggling but yet they do nothing. I know typically in this kind of situation other people should not push the person to seek help unless they want to seek help for themselves, but I think there is a point where someone else has to intervene in getting help for that person otherwise they end up doing something drastic to themselves (which eventually does happen to steven). So I think there were plenty of times the gems could of intervened to help steven before it got so bad he turned into a giant monster. Especially with garnet, if one of her powers is the ability to see into the future, she would have been able to foresee the consequences of steven not dealing with his issues properly or not seeking help and would do everything in her power to stop it, like maybe tell steven he if kept bottling up his issues and didn’t admit that he needs help he would turn into a giant monster. 

Furthermore, if the whole point of these season was steven trying to deal with his trauma from all his past experiences, why wasn’t the whole season focused on that? Have the whole season focus on a slow burn of steven progressively getting worse and worse on not handling his trauma very well. I mean we do kind of get that in the first few episodes with steven being more short tempered, irritable and angsty, and more of his gem powers coming out, but that stuff constantly gets interrupted by one shot episodes the focus on different characters and issues that don’t lead anywhere and thus end up being really unnecessary. Then the series takes a drastic turn to escalate the big moment we all know was going to happen. So yeah, the pacing of this season felt very uneven to me.

Furthermore, I was not so sure steven leaving beach city was the best decision for him? I mean yes, I get that he needed to leave to get a break from all the gem world drama and finally be is own person and make his own path out into the world, but at the same time is further isolating himself from everyone he cares about really the best way for him to handle his trauma? Plus does steven even know how to function as an adult on his own? It’s pretty obviously implied steven never went to school, so it’s kind of unclear of how much he knows even the basics of things. Plus if he plans to live on his own from now on, where would he live? Does he know how to get an apartment or a house? Does he know how money works and eventually has to get a job? If so, what kind of job could he get? Plus him being at the age of 16 he is still considered a minor and not an adult, so he wouldn’t be able to do a lot of things adults can do. I guess those are a lot big questions the audience is left to figure out.  

So yeah, again overall I liked this final season, but I had my issues with it. And far as the whole series of steven universe goes for me, I really like these series for being the progressive, unique and different show that it was. I liked how it started from a simple child-like beginning to slowly progressing to more of an adult show and had great character development with most of his characters. While I’m sad that it ended I know all good things must come to an end eventually and I thank this series for groundbreaking of what a cartoon show could be.          

[birdlord]

Everything I Watched in 2018

I neglected to write this list up this time last year, so I’m catching up! 2019 is soon to come.  Every Movie I Watched in 2018

The number in parentheses is year of release, asterisks denote a re-watch, and titles in bold are my favourite first watches of the year. 

01 So I Married an Axe Murderer (93)* possibly the most early/mid-90s film ever made. Centre parted hair, slam poetry, pre-tech boom San Francisco, Steven Wright cameo?!

02 The Florida Project (17) first theatre movie of the year came early!

03 The Long Goodbye (75)

04 Call Me by Your Name (17) I and some friends made an effort to see movies we thought might be oscar-nominated this year, so there’s a few of those coming up. 

05 LA Story (91)* a forever rewatch

06 Personal Shopper (17) Feels like there’s a thin veil between K Stew and the characters she chooses.

07 I, Tonya (17)

08 Comfort and Joy (84) 80s Glasgow!

09 Faces, Places (17) made me want to pick up a camera again

10 A Futile and Stupid Gesture (18)

11 Creed (15) not for me. 

12 Black Panther (18)* I found this lost a lot of its lustre the second time around. 

13 Ghost (90)

14 Youngblood (86) Rob Lowe and Patrick Swayze hockey movie filmed in 80s Toronto? Sign me up!

15 The Living Daylights (87)* basically sometimes I want to see a Bond film, and really any of them will do. 

16 Brigsby Bear (17)

17 The Ice Storm (97) 

18 Disclosure (94) strong competition for Most 90s Movie, this time set in a Seattle CD-ROM company. One of those movies I remember staring at the cover of, in the movie rental place. 

19 Saturday Night Fever (77)*

20 Barry Lyndon (75) God, the look, the costumes, the performances! This killed me dead.

21 Fried Green Tomatoes (91)* Another forever rewatch!

22 Howard’s End (92)* rewatch prompted by watching the new series version. 

23 Sense & Sensibility (95)* keep those costume dramas coming...

24 The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (01)*

25 The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (02)* 

26 Breakfast at Tiffany’s (61)*

27 Paterson (16)

28 Three Kings (99)*

29 The Talented Mr Ripley (99)* 99 was a good film year...I’ll go to this version of Italy anytime. 

30 The Equalizer (14)

31 Paddington (14)

32 Paul (11) the initial charm doesn’t carry the movie through til the end.

33 The Virgin Suicides (99)*

34 Friday the 13th (80)

35 Sea of Love (89)

36 Won’t You Be My Neighbor? (18) a great opportunity to shed some tears in a movie theatre.

37 Star Wars: The Last Jedi (17)*

38 Wild (14)

39 Housekeeping (87) love me a Bill Forsyth, as you can see. 

40 Predator (87)* if it bleeds, etc

41 Close Encounters of the Third Kind (77)*

42 Fever Pitch (05) the US remake...

43 Fever Pitch (97) ...the UK original 

44 Bridget Jones’ Baby (16)

45 Stand by Me (86)*

46 Three Identical Strangers (18) 

47 Mission Impossible: Fallout (18)

48 Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol (11)*

49 Election (99)*

50 The Killing Ground (17) utter brutality in the Aussie bushland

51 Eyes Wide Shut (99) never saw this at the time, and thought Nicole Kidman’s perspective was more important within the film but GUESS WHAT, IT ISN’T

52 Repulsion (65)

53 Crazy Rich Asians (18)

54 Halloween (78)* the start of Spooker Season

55 A Star is Born (18)

56 The Hunger (83)

57 Annihilation (17)

58 Scream (99)*

59 Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (98) this was...terrible

60 Halloween (18)

61 Deep Red (75) one of the better Argentos, imo, but no Tenebrae

62 Dead Ringers (88)

63 Rocky Horror Picture Show (75)*

64 Silence of the Lambs (91)*

65 Nosferatu (22)

66 The Italian Job (69)

67 Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (01)*

68 Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets (02)*69 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (04)*

70 Gangs of New York (02)* Wow, I hated this! If I never see sweaty Leonardo DiCaprio again, it’ll be too soon. 

71 Shirkers (18)

72 Terminator 2 (91)*

73 Little Women (94)*

74 The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (18)

75 Life Itself (18) this movie has left my mind ENTIRELY, wow did it even happen?

76 National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (89)*

77 Home Alone (90)*

78 Gremlins (84)* turns out I’d forgotten more of this than I remembered??

79 The Shop Around the Corner (40)

80 You’ve Got Mail (98)*

81 Mr Smith Goes to Washington (39)

82 Widows (18)

83 Roma (18) I did see this in theatre, so the surround-sound experience was in full effect. 

84 Ghost Stories (17)

85 200 Cigarettes (99)

DOCUMENTARY:FICTION - 3:82

THEATRE:HOME - 11:74

I had no idea I’d watched so many movies from 1999 this year! It was certainly not done on purpose, but that year had some great movies. Spooker Season was a particularly strong one this year, too, with ten horror/spooky movies over the course of October. It’s always interesting to me to see how many comfort viewings vs more challenging fare that I manage to watch in a given year (probably correlated to how many times I was sick and/or had a rough work day). 

Every TV Series I Watched in 2019

01 The Crown S2 - the difficulties of royal marriage are a strong theme in this season, but there’s also some great sister-sister material between Elizabeth and Margaret. 

02 Lady Dynamite S2 - too weird to live, I guess?

03 High Maintenance S2 - this is the second HBO season, and the first one that really tries to grapple with high-level world events, in this case Trump’s election, spoken about as if it was a natural disaster.

04 Queer Eye S1, S2 - I’d never seen the original series, so this was my first exposure to the concept. It aims for pathos, but you have to accept a pretty rosy world to get into it. Easier to enjoy before any of the boys had book deals/got Milkshake Duck’d.

05 Love S3 - still watching for Bertie, I love her.

06 Collateral - thorny British political police procedural, ultimately pretty forgettable, barring Carey Mulligan’s performance. 

07 Alias Grace - the Atwood adaptation that people *weren’t* talking about. It’s great, though!

08 Atlanta S2: Robbin Season - Atlanta got weirder, more idiosyncratic, and even better in its second season. 09 Barry S1 - Barry got a lot of plaudits this year, and while I really liked the cast, and the plot was engrossing, something didn’t stick for me, and ultimately I didn’t watch the second season. 

10 Howard’s End - it is a truth universally acknowledged that most books are better adapted as a miniseries than a single movie. Not that I hate the ‘92 movie, but this gets deeper into the class relations than it ever could. Plus: TIBBY!!

11 Killing Eve S1 - the series that hackneyed “smart, stylish and sexy” critic descriptions were made for.

12 Detroiters S2 - pouring one out for my fave pals, who never got a chance to make another season of this little darling (though there were a couple of episodes in this season that didn’t do it for me). 

13 Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat - perhaps the only adaptation of a cookbook that I’ve ever seen, and certainly one of the best food shows ever. 

14 Big Mouth S2 - More of the same, so if you could hack it in the first season, then keep it up!

15 Bodyguard - another in the sexy/dark/procedural vein, with bonus Scotsman from Game of Thrones.

16 Utopia/Dreamland S1-S3 - an Australian comedy series about a government infrastructure department, which has apparently spawned real such departments in the country, even though it doesn’t come off all that well. The first title is the Aussie one, it’s known as Dreamland everywhere else. 

17 Baroness Von Sketch S3 - Canadian series that I actually watch are rare as hen’s teeth, so I was delighted to find a woman-centric sketch show that has kept me laughing. Plus, sometimes I see my neighbourhood? That’s fun!

[missfinefeather]

MissFinefeather

Oooh!

Steven's aged a bit! : D

You can see his neck!

Looks exactly like he did in that Birthday episode

pablo360able

I KNOW RIGHT

MissFinefeather

Also, blue shirt with pink jacket! O:

pablo360able

I don't think we've ever seen him with either of those

MissFinefeather

There's also a sky scraper in the background

But you still see the temple on the right so, Beach City has received an upgrade

Love the design of the villain! ^^ Gog, she looks like an Anpanman villain

Specifically this one

AlphaCrimson

It'd already been pointed out that the big structure on the left has details similar to The Barn

Seems Peridot's been busy making living accommodations for all the returning Crystal Gems

And the house on the temple has a new floor and a dome structure on it that miiiight be their own Diamond Communications Hub, a la the moon base?

MissFinefeather

Oh wow! It's so far away, I could barely see that!

Though, if all the gems stuck around in Beach City, enough to fill a sky scraper, that would mean Gems would outnumber the humansIt would be interesting if they have a viewing dom now though. A little bit of an invasion of privacy though.

Solidad

*Dome

please, that makes things a bit weirder otherwise

MissFinefeather

Pfffft, not changing that typo now xDD

Ydah

My bad.I kind of riled miss up yesterday and left her hanging.

MissFinefeather

It's fine really! ^^

Ydah

Well. If it leads to awkward typos.

It really is.

GhastlyGhifin

Oh, snap, time skip?

Heh, he looks like his stretched-out 'grown' version from his last birthday.

And the villain, for some reason, gives me a mixed Sonic the Hedgehog/Tiny Toons feel.

Nefronis

Why is the villian Jenny from My Life As A Teenage Robot

GhastlyGhifin

That too!

Also, wait, where the hell did Steven get a Varsity jacket?.....did Steven go to College?

Nefronis

Is that the jacket from his Birthday episode?

GhastlyGhifin

No!

Nefronis

Also, his shirt being blue is freaking me out more

GhastlyGhifin

Also, blue shirt?

What the hell happened in this time skip, Sugar?

I like the idea that Peridot and Bismuth have made the Barn site into a Foster's Home for Recovering Gems

GhastlyGhifin

I can't wait to drag either my dad or both my parents to this

If they can handle most of Diamond Days they can probably handle this

MissFinefeather

I doubt Steven is college age. He's still pretty short

Then again, aging linked to mental age...

GhastlyGhifin

Yeah

Last we checked he was, what? 14? 16?

MissFinefeather

last time we heard his age he was 14

But that was in Season 2

I can't wait to see Connie after the time skip! ^^

GhastlyGhifin

oh, hell yeah, she'll be almost Stevonnie size at that point

So what do you think the odds are of this making it to theaters

MissFinefeather

I have no idea xD

I hope it shows on TV too or else I won't see it anytime soon.

GhastlyGhifin

I mean Regular Show made it to the silver screen, and so did TTG

MissFinefeather

Hmmm...

GhastlyGhifin

But on the other hand Steven Universe has stuff that grouchy old film execs might not want getting to theaters, and CN is usually pretty fond of TV Movies

MissFinefeather

The thing to consider is the Time Jump. This isn't your standard storyline, it's a reintroduction to the world and the characters

GhastlyGhifin

(Anyone remember Firebreather? No?)

Oh, yeah

MissFinefeather

Which, would be a good idea for a movie, but I could see some execs not wanting to invest in something that strays too far.

But then again, the network has been pretty chill so far, hmmm...

GhastlyGhifin

I mean it's not tied to DC's shitty gendered marketing rules so who knows

MissFinefeather

Oh, if it was, SU would have been canceled years ago.

Lots of women in the SU fanbase

(edit: For context, a lot of DC shows have been canceled for having more girls watching then boys. Their excuse is toys or some BS. It’s really frustrating.)

[anythingstevenuniverse]

*SU Spoiler* How Steven Will See Pink Diamond’s Past

Since new Steven Universe episodes are coming very soon, there was a theory that has been on my mind since “Legs from Here to Homeworld” from July. So it has been stated from Rebecca Sugar that fans were very spot on about White Diamond’s personality from just a short introduction (article: https://www.thewrap.com/steven-universe-showrunner-rebecca-sugar-fans-on-point-about-white-diamond/). The article stated, “Sugar also hints that as Steven learns more about White Diamond, fans will also learn more about Pink Diamond’s past before she faked her death and disguised herself as the rebel Rose Quartz.” We are not only going to learn more about White Diamond but also Pink Diamond’s past on Homeworld as well as her relationship with White Diamond.

Now one must wonder how will we know about her past? Well famous Youtuber, Awestruckvox (highly recommend watching his video), did theorize that Steven will probably use his mind powers to see Pink Diamond’s memories. It is highly possible and here are a few reasons.

1) “Legs From Here to Homeworld” gave a major hint

Rebecca is known for foreshadowing. Since Blue and Yellow Diamond know Steven is Pink Diamond, they think he literally is Pink Diamond even after lots of explanations. After Steven explains he does not have Pink Diamond’s memories, Yellow Diamond says, “Hm. I am sure your memories are in there somewhere Pink.” That literal sentence is what got me to theorize that Steven will be able to gain Pink Diamond/Rose Quartz memories. It basically foreshadows Steven looking into the past through Pink Diamond’s memories and we will see lots of things about Pink Diamond we have not known.

2) It has happened before.

Steven has technically accessed Pink Diamond’s memories before. The first to occur was “Jungle Moon” when Stevonnie was stranded on a planet. Because Stevonnie is a fusion of Steven and Connie, we see Pink’s memory of her and Yellow Diamond as Stevonnie and Connie’s mom. We can see Pink Diamond wanted to have her own planet but was refused because Yellow Diamond believes Pink Diamond is not ready. This happens again in “Can’t Go Back” when Steven falls asleep on the moon base. We see more of a silhouette version of Pink Diamond, Yellow Diamond, and Blue Diamond. It seems Pink Diamond is complaining on colonizing Earth and Blue Diamond is giving her advice (not very good one) to basically stick her ground and continue because she is a diamond. Two times Steven was able to access Pink Diamond’s memories and it likely it will happen again on Homeworld.

3) Steven’s powers are growing and still developing.

Throughout the whole series, Steven has been developing new powers. First it was his shield and bubble which are more defensive moves. Then it was healing spit, organic based life animated powers (watermelon Stevens and Pumpkin), dream powers, levitation, dream powers, and psychic powers. In “Reunited” we see his psychic powers develop further as well as a new power emerging: the pink aura. Now that Steven is on Homeworld, he will have to use those new powers. His organic powers will not work on Homeworld and his defensive powers might not par with the technology. The healing spit may help physical damage but will not help the mental damage (White Pearl comes to mind). So only 2 powers will help on Homeworld: psychic powers and dream powers. His dream powers will help him understand Pink Diamond and her past and his psychic powers will help his battle with White Diamond in the upcoming episodes.

4) New promo shows Steven having a dream about Pink Diamond/Rose Quartz memory

The new promo clip for the upcoming episodes shows Steven dreaming. It is not very clear, probably to not show spoilers, but it shows two important details: white shine shaped like a diamond and Steven puking out Rose’s curly hair. Before we could see anything, Steven wakes up like he saw a ghost. That clip is probably Steven dreaming of Pink Diamond’s past, specifically related to White Diamond.

Now it has only occurred twice that Steven was able to access Pink Diamond’s memories. However, why only twice? Steven’s dream powers started to emerge in “Chille Tid” and has grown stronger since. But it seems Pink Diamond’s memories are special and must be triggered by something. Then it hit me: there is something both those memories have in common: Both memories popped when something is familiar to that memory. In “Jungle Moon” Stevonnie was trapped on a remote planet that turned out to be colonized be an abandoned Yellow Diamond colony.

This is where we see Pink Diamond and Yellow Diamond fighting. Then it happened again in “Can’t Go Back” as the moon base was Pink Diamond’s.

In this memory, Blue Diamond is giving some strict advice to Pink Diamond about handling her colony. In both times Pink Diamond’s memories popped up in Steven’s dream, it happened in areas similar to the memory and have negative attachments. Now with Steven on Homeworld, there are areas that have ties to Pink Diamond and lots with bad memories of White Diamond as well as her memories of Homeworld.

In “Legs From Here to Homeworld” White Diamond casts Steven to Pink Diamond’s room. This is important because Pink Diamond probably spent a lot of time in that room. However, the new episode about to come “Familiar” is probably going to show more areas of Homeworld, triggering Steven to see more memories of Pink Diamond. Hence the episode name “Familiar” as places on Homeworld will be familiar to Pink Diamond’s memories.

We shall see tomorrow!