#chekhov answers

[ask-whitepearl-and-steven]

Hey Chekhov, this is completely unrelated to the comic but I wanted to emphasize how much I appreciate that you put your money where your mouth is in assuming good intentions and always answering/speaking in good faith. I started reading this close to the beginning, when I was a really high-strung kid, and I can say without a doubt seeing a blog that made something as awesome as WD!Steven behave like a rational adult made me want to do better. You rock 🤟

This is a very sweet message to receive, and I feel bad that I'm answering it just after I answered a (joke) ask about assassinating my readership. 😂

[thechekhov]

Did you seriously reblog a post defending the sanctity of life of pedophiles?

You did not read that post.

I understand that it might be difficult, because of the knee-jerk reaction we all have when it comes to this topic. I admit I also had the emotional first-response of disgust. But I urge you to go back and try to read it again, when you are cool-headed.

Stating that 'murdering people we find disgusting is not the moral high ground it feels like', is not the same thing as 'defending the sanctity of life' of anyone.

And while it feels good to emotionally say 'we should kill all (people who do bad things that cause harm to others)' this does not actually accomplish what our brains think it does.

From the post:

denying the humanity of people who do horrible things accomplishes exactly three things:

give cover to people who haven't been caught yet by allowing them to use their humanity as "proof" of their innocence

silence any criticism of societal structures and institutions that facilitate those horrible things by putting the focus on individuals who are assumed to be so uniquely monstrous that the ways it was made easy for them are irrelevant

provide a shortcut to dehumanize anyone you feel like killing: simply accuse them of doing a horrible thing

Listen, to me, listen:

I know that we are all human and when we see someone committing evil things, we feel justified and good, and we want to use our teeth and claws to rip them to shreds. I KNOW it feels incredible to reply to pain and harm with equal violence.

But on an ideological level, if you EVER hope to understand how emotional manipulation and dehumanization on a social level works, you NEED to be prepared to unwrap this delicious i-can-murder-that-person-and-feel-rightous burrito.

You need to understand why it is not the swiss knife of justice that it feels like.

You need to know that it can and will be used to kill innocent people who don't deserve it, and you will not even notice.

Because if you can justify murder with a simple 'if you fit into this category you automatically don't deserve to live' then you are supporting an authoritarian regime, who can and WILL happily take the easier job of convincing you that some person that they need dead fits the description (of a person you've already agreed doesn't deserve anything but a swift and unquestionable death).

This is why, when they needed the gays to be feared and hunted, they labeled them 'pedophiles'. This is why they're now doing this to trans people. This is why dehumanization is a tool of oppression, not justice.

There is way to fix injustice in the world and protect children without becoming easier to manipulate and trick.

[facets-ttrpg]

question; will we be able to play fusions flat out or just single gems?

I think it is possible to build and play a fusion, but playing a single-player fusion needs to be heavily discussed with your GM.

Fusions are inherently more powerful than regular gem builds. Although it's not impossible to balance the rest of the team to match, it needs to be done carefully to make sure no one feels like they're being 'outshined'.

The concept of fusions is, after all, cooperation. Part of the challenge of fusing, and the way to make the payoff worth it, has to be striking that balance between two people who are a part of it. At least that's how I've envisioned it.

But if you have a GM who feels confident they can offset the power imbalance, then sure, do you! I don't think there's any 'wrong' way to play. :)

[ask-whitepearl-and-steven]

How is the Diamond's relationship in this? Are they sisters or more like the typical family structure?

You know, Pink is the daughter, Blue and Yellow the moms and White the grandma

Because if it's the latter then we can say that White Diamond stole her granddaughter's boyfriend and that would be goddamn hilarious

It's funny that this topic keeps coming up. I think back about... 4 years ago? We had a HUGE discussion about this, and now it's back again.

Here's the thing about me, personally:

I dislike trying to put gem-relationships into human-shaped dynamics.

I understand it might be useful for analysis! I understand it might be fun. I understand it's just a way to interpret the text.

But to me, the bottom line is that gems, including diamonds, AREN'T human. That's the fun of it. That's the frosting on top of the worldbuilding cake.

They don't HAVE mother-daughter relationships. Nor sister-relationships. They don't really even have the same romantic relationships as humans do, although I understand that Garnet steers very close. But it's still inherently different because their culture, their history, their very physiology and psychology-are all inhuman!

The Diamonds' family structure is just... that they're all Diamonds. That is their relationship to one another! And yes, that can be compared to either sisters OR mother-daughter-granddaughter, etc. But none of those are really 'truly' the one.

Anyway, sorry. I think that might be overthinking it. But I like to overthink. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[ask-whitepearl-and-steven]

have you ever considered hiring assassins, to help you deal with the readership?

I have.... I have thought about it.

[ask-whitepearl-and-steven]

How did you come up with the new Steven powers?

Unless they aren’t new, but I thought WD’s power set was just “mind control pew pew” and “reverse mind control pew pew”.

Well, that would be one way to do it. But given that Pink, who we are more familiar with, ended up having a whole SLEW of powers, it makes more sense to me that the powers we see the Diamonds using aren't the only ones they have (the potential for).

And honestly - I just extrapolated.

White's power ("mind control pew pew") is literally pushing herself into the consciousness of other gems and pushing them down. That's technically two things. She can suppress others' will (the current Geas that Steven uses on Jasper, but snipped down to its basic form) and also see through their eyes (Steven did this with Earl in season 2).

The glowing was just... glowing.

The power to poof gems was simply another extrapolation of White's ability to control others. She's big, yes, but SOMETHING must be making her scary.

Anyway, I suppose the simple answer is that yes, I am just making it all up. That's the nature of fanfiction! :)

[ask-whitepearl-and-steven]

Question about Rose - I recently rewatched a few episodes of SU and was a bit surprised by how childish and immature C!Rose was even a few years before she had Steven. I feel like your version of Rose is a bit more mature/empathetic by comparison (even the way she speaks is slightly more sophisticated). Are there events that played out differently or occurred before Steven showed up to cause this difference?

Yeah! This was already touched upon, but basically

1) Rose spent more time with Greg here

2) Greg has severe anxiety due to past traumas, and Rose had to learn to meet him on his level

3) a lot of early Rose interacting with Steven was colored by him being a new gem, and her wanting to make a good impression

4) a lot of 'Rose is more serious' here came after she realized who Steven is/was and she is not necessarily acting more 'mature' as she is acting more cautious and anxious due to him being there. She isn't necessarily empathic until she realizes he IS Steven instead of WD, and even those realizations change her fundamentally.

[ask-whitepearl-and-steven]

when the comic ends, are you gonna spill the prediction folder?

Oh yeah, absolutely! That's the plan haha

[ask-whitepearl-and-steven]

So, I had finaly read the WD au after like, an year procrastinating, and it is amazing, but, there is something I keep wondering, keep in mind that I had read it all on Tapas, so I might not know if it is the case, but why dont you try working with the au? I mean, I dont know if you gaing enought from donations to sustaing yourself just with that, but it whould surprise me if you didn't, because your art is amazing and the story is even better, so, there is a reason you still work? That is, if you do, as I said, I only read the au trought Tapas, so I whould'nt know if you said thatbon Tumblr. English isbnor my first language, so sorry if I messes up some sentences or words, I love your au, have an amazing day! <3

Hey, thank you for your kind words!

The reality is, even with the very generous support of those people who subscribe to my Patreon, I simply Do Not earn enough money to live off of my art.

Most of my fans are kids, which means they don't have means to pay, or have to save their money for better things - and even those who DO read my comic and are adults are rarely able to/inclined to donate money. The comic is available for free on Tapas, after all. I don't want to paywall it - Patreon is entirely for perks.

Of my total followers on tumblr (not counting instagram and twitter follower count because there's probably a lot of overlap)...

...only 1.25% subscribe to my Patreon.

And I'm LUCKY for that number. That number is enough to allow me to work part time at my IRL job and devote a couple of days a week entirely to art. Which is great!

But WDAU is not MY comic. It's a fancomic based off of original material. I cannot/do not want to put it behind a paywall and sell it as a product. I can monetize some sketches and give people benefits through Patreon, but that's not the same thing.

[ask-whitepearl-and-steven]

Has there been anything that changed from when u started the comic to now? (Like characters or plots that got scrapped or changed)

Also If u could rewrite the comic, would there be anything that yu would have liked to add from the beggining?

Actually, it's funny that you ask because I was recently going through the document and noting all the little differences that ended up happening in the plot from my initial conception.

It's nothing Major, because the plot of this comic has been relatively solidified since its conception, but there are tons of small things that happened differently to how I had planned it.

I was thinking of making a video about it, since I haven't done that for a while. If you guys would be interested in that, let me know in the comment section, because maybe it'll give me the motivation to finally do it!

[ask-whitepearl-and-steven]

Is Earl's crack getting wider the more Steven is controlling Jasper with his mind powers or his powers have nothing to do with Earl's problem.

Earl's crack and Steven controlling Jasper are, indeed, two separate issues. They aren't related.

[ask-whitepearl-and-steven]

Have you ever thought about hiring assistants to make the comic?

I have thought about it.

I have thought about how much I would hate it.

[ask-whitepearl-and-steven]

Idk if you've done this before but could you show people's predictions that already happened?

Unfortunately, that folder is a relatively recent thing so there are no predictions in there from before mid season 4.

As in, I think I made it a couple years ago, but most of the predictions people make are end-game stuff details. So I don't have anything in there that is old enough to be a prediction AND have come true at this point.

[ask-whitepearl-and-steven]

I didn’t see this specifically in the FAQ so sorry if this has been asked before - is it okay to draw fanart of our OCs and WDAU characters interacting?

Oh yeah, absolutely! Go for it. :) it's been done before, and I'm always thrilled to see it! Please tag me and please tag #wdau-fanart just in case!

[thechekhov]

what if it rained pianos?

we would b flat

[thechekhov]

Omg hi! I'm a huge fan of your gun!!

why are you on anon, you're the funniest motherfucker in this town