#greg this entire episode was so holy fuck

[madwickedawesome]

tom and greg talking to lukas was fucking EXCRUCIATING good god

[desecrated-guacamole]

I know I’m *checks watch* twelve years late coming to this realization, and two years late to talking about it when it would’ve been at all relevant, but godDAMN

Young Justice wastes NO time being good after season 1. The producers really just said “hey, y’know all the characters and relationships you’ve loved seeing develop for the past 26 episodes? Well actually, fuck that, fuck them, and fuck you! Everything’s different now, everyone’s developed in new ways that you won’t get to see, but not even in a way that makes sense for a FIVE YEAR TIME-JUMP!”

Take Robin for example; in the five years that take place offscreen, Dick becomes Nightwing, Batman recruits Jason Todd as the new Robin, Jason Todd gets killed, and Batman recruits Tim Drake as the new-new Robin (oh and also Barbara Gordon becomes Batgirl). I love the Batfamily, but I can barely call it the Batfamily when we don’t ever actually see them becoming a fucking family! We don’t get to see Dick struggle with his mentor’s legacy, we don’t see Jason struggle to live up to the Robin that came before, or Barbara picking up crime fighting despite what Bruce tells her to do because fuck that guy. We don’t get to see any of them grieve Jason, we don’t get to see Bruce go off the deep-end, only to be brought back by a young Tim Drake, who shows him what makes Batman, well, Batman; helping those in need, saving people.

INSTEAD, we’re introduced to two characters we knew that are now wildly different with ZERO explanation as to why, and one that we’ve never seen before and is (so far in my watch) severely underwritten, but because they’re the characters we love from the comics we’re supposed to love them here. It’s using the iconography of the characters to get us invested without putting in any of the actual work DEVELOPING them as people. It’d be one thing if this was the first time we met any of them, but we’ve already been introduced to Barbara, and we’ve spent an entire season with Dick, but now both of them have undergone massive development we aren’t made privy to.

I read an interview with Greg Weisman talking about the time jump, and he says this;

“We wanted a big time jump between the first two seasons to truly illustrate what our series was about, i.e. GROWING UP. After that, honestly, it’s more about what feels right. There are always things we want to skip, so that they become reveals.”

Man, I wonder if maybe allowing the audience to actually watch the characters grow and change might illustrate that growing up thing better than just skipping ahead so you can make it a reveal??? Imagine a show where we get to see these characters grow up together, maybe even grow apart, some leave, some stay, some are replaced, some come back. Like, imagine getting to see Dick reckon with the fact that Batman REPLACED HIM, only to watch that replacement die! Imagine getting to see Tim Drake come to Dick for advice, instead of just skipping ahead to the point that they’re already an established team. Imagine getting to see M’gann help Gar learn to use his powers for the first time. Imagine the team throwing a goodbye party for Wally and Artemis! Imagine seeing Wally and Artemis continue to develop their relationship instead of just jumping to them being fully moved in and together! WE WERE ROBBED!!

Like I’m still gonna watch it (not in the least because my roommate’s already seen it) but I need everyone to know I’m doing it under duress. I love these characters, and they did not deserve this lazy bullshit. I do not understand how Greg Weisman made Spectacular Spider-Man because HOLY SHIT the writing decisions made on this show are pissing me off, and don’t even get me STARTED ON CONNOR AND M’GANN BECAUSE WHAT THE FU

[toastywatchesstevenuniverse]

S1 E43

Maximum Capacity

Okay so this entire episode just made me feel like....uncomfortable? Like the entire time I just kept feeling so off. Like my brain was going "okay this is way too weird, why do I feel like there's gonna be some horrifying plot twist?"

Then it fucking happened & I felt like a psychic. Like holy shit it wasn't just me, this episode was purposely uncomfortable on purpose & idk how the fuck they did that but WOW the entire episode made me feel so uneasy & it was legit for a reason.

Also ngl Amethyst....kinda just super fucked up to do that- Like I haven't LOVED Greg as a character so far (he's there but I mean him lying about his leg, good intentions or not, was a pretty shitty move & also he's just kinda not that great of a dad but I also understand that's literally the point so I'm not gonna just toss aside his character because I'm assuming he's supposed to get better as the show goes on. For now: I just kinda feel nothing strong towards him character wise), but oh my God this episode just made me feel so bad for the guy. Holy shit like this dude just misses his wife. Fuck. I'm surprised how much he kept his cool here. Like he didn't blow up at Amethyst or anything he was like super quick to forgive her despite the fact that he kinda would have been super justified in being upset for this. But I like that this was how it was done. No scene of them fighting or yelling, Amethyst just chooses to do something to make up for it without Greg having to lecture her. In that regard: it actually made her seem way more sincere. Like she had to make that choice via her own genuine remorse. I'm wording this badly I think but like I think that it made her seem like she really was trying to attone for it & that she really did regret what she did.

And honeslty after On The Run? With the knowledge that, knowing how severely fucked up Amethyst is mental health wise, yeah her lashing out at people like this? And saying/doing extremely shitty things because she's upset & she doesn't have the capacity to hold herself back & only realizes how badly she fucked up until its too late? Yeah as someone who has that kinda mental health shit as I said in my post about that episode?....yeah, that's pretty accurate tbh. In my experience that's something I can confirm does happen. So yeah it actually makes sense why she did something so extreme out of fucking nowhere.

I have said a lot of really regrettable shit to people that I'm friends with (Sometimes idk how I'm still friends with them after bc I still feel bad about it yet they seem to insist I'm forgiven) during times where I was really fucking upset. And it's only until RIGHT after it happens that I fully go "oh shit that was a really bad thing to say & I made the situation significantly worse" Yet just like irl, they forgive. *cries*

Really well done character focused episode. They did fucking stellar character writing here.

OH WHAT YOU THOUGHT I WASNT GONNA GO INSANE GOBLIN MODE ABOUT PEARL????? TOO BAD PEARL TIME

OH MY GOD SHES IN A SWEATER AND SHES DOING HER BEST YES PEARL YOUR VOLUME IS PERFECT YOURE DOING AMAZING AAAAAAAA SHES SO CUTE AND HUGGABLE LOOK AT HER SHES THE CHARACTER OF ALL TIME !!!!!!

[thirdtidemouse]

as i gaze upon your blog i wonder, “what the hell is taskmaster?” i’d journey the lands of safari but its much better to hear the words of insight from the enjoyer. quite interested in the au tho, tempted to watch this thingamabob because of it. i like hearing your ramblings about your fave doodabs and whatchamajigits. i am determined to return to you with the holy gift of a singular hilda but finals are kicking my ass and i’m learning a new art program. while i wait i’d love to be graced by your words :3

HI ANON!! first of all good luck with finals and your new art program i hope everything turns out BEAUTIFULLY for you don't forget to have fun!!

i'm so glad you asked! taskmaster is a ridiculously entertaining gameshow that originated here in the uk with other versions in other countries. it's super fun to make aus/character studies around the tasks because they're so telling of personality!

the format of the show is - 5 comedians per season are set tasks by host greg davies (6'8" ex-schoolteacher, and it shows) and creator/cohost alex horne (the brains behind it, but onscreen is very weaselly/neeky and generally picked-on).

each episode begins with a prize task, in which contestants must bring in prizes to be won by the winner each day - the most high-octane item, the thing that makes the best noise, the most difficult thing to take home. prizes range from body parts to furnished bathroom sets. these, along with every other task, are scored in the studio from 1-5 points. the rest of the tasks are filmed beforehand mostly in one house, individually and sometimes in teams, and are incredibly arbitrary, silly, confusing or difficult:

eat as much watermelon in 60 seconds. eat an egg the fastest (it starts raw). interview, then write and perform a song about this stranger. conceal an entire pineapple on your person. take three huge exercise balls to the top of this large hill. make the biggest mess, then clean it up. get this object as far away from here as possible. go the longest time without blinking.

sarah kendall purposefully, blindfoldedly, throws her own house and car keys into the trees in front of the building. james acaster gets taken aside onstage to be told off by greg like a schoolboy. respected academic richard osman throws a shopping trolley into a river in a fit of rage (it is retrieved). nish kumar and mark watson write a genuinely beautiful song together. bob mortimer makes a floor-size chart documenting the amount of piss produced across britain.

the episodes end with a live task in the studio in front of the audience. the show allows the contestants to genuinely go off the rails with comedic creativity and problem solving, and it's SO fun to impose characters onto this template. person gets presented with task -> completes task as they see fit -> is judged on their actions -> reacts to the judgement. like if you want to develop an oc. look no further!! put them on taskmaster in your brain.

every contestant, whether it be famous comedians, up-and-coming stand-ups, or actors & presenters, really shine in taskmaster. people who i don't really find funny become entertaining and i root for them simply because of the genius format of the show.

it gets gross, argumentative, tense, earnest, and never ever loses the clownish spirit and light-heartedness of the meaningless and hilarious program it sets out to be. greg davies is ruthlessly harsh with points, alex horne is endlessly nitpicky and often bullied, and they frequently bring up fanfiction written about the two of them for some fucking reason. they embody such perfectly fine-tuned characters, only to break them constantly to laugh at the show.

if anyone (no one) wants to know a few of my fav contestants rn they are:

sam campbell, lucy beaumont, sarah kendall, bob mortimer, nish kumar, james acaster, and the ENTIRE freakish family team dynamic of frankie boyle, ivo graham, jenny eclaire, kiell smith-bynoe, and mae martin

thank you anon :-) i'm sorry this was so long i hope you didnt mind reading it all and it told u what u wanted to know!!

[gregorygerwitz]

Tell me about your pd thoughts if you'd like to share them?

I wasn't even going to share my thoughts because the only way I can make them coherent is by rewatching the s10 premiere and I... don't want to do that. I didn't actively enjoy the Voight-centric episode. shocker.

Some thoughts (not complete in any way) under the cut. Beware of spoilers. mentions of drug use because... they really decided to hurt us with that premiere, huh?

Were there parts of it I enjoyed? Yeah. But I... do not care about Voight's problems. I have never liked him as a character. When I found out he was still in charge in s9 during my binge last year, I was angry. I'm still angry. Do I understand why he's acting like this? Yeah, grief and guilt are fucking wild they'll make people do things they normally wouldn't, and the things Voight was doing in 10x01, the instances where he was actively putting his team in danger - Torres, Jay, Hailey, all of them - that isn't Voight behavior.

The lying, the secrecy, the going off on his own and acting against orders? That's pretty normal for Voight, unfortunately. I hate it, but I can't change him. At this point I genuinely don't think he can be changed, because I don't think he wants to? He's doing exactly what I predicted back in May, pushing Jay away and not letting him help, so I'll take that as a little win, personally.

My post last night about my thoughts was about Voight's continued bullshit. I'm tired of it. While some of the stuff he said about Upstead was true, it was a very cruel and unnecessary moment in the episode, honestly. I see the metaphor in him stepping in during their moment in Mouse's cage of all places and that being representative of him meddling in their marriage and their dynamic, but I think it's a stupid, contrived way to write Jesse out of the show.

Voight needs to face consequences for his actions, not get a longer leash from the higher ups. I... do not like the new chief. It's very much so going to turn into an Old Boys Club between him and Voight, and apparently we're not even going to have Jay there to balance that out, so I'm going to complain the entire time.

Um... lightning round? because some of the episode actually fed me really well?

I got to see Greg the mouse pretty early on in the episode, that was nice. I love that little guy.

Jay's little smile when picking up Torres was so cute, actually. He's grown on you, Halstead. You like him. You're gonna miss him when you leave.

Heroin/opioid cases in general always make me think about Mouse, for the obvious reasons, so I got to sit in that little bubble for an hour. That was fun for me. (+ the first half of the episode with the kid who OD'd and the parents being uncaring about it? it's not a one-to-one parallel to my Mouse backstory but I'm living off of crumbs I'll take it I love being sad and suffering)

Mom! Not enough mom but also... I got a glimpse of mom 😊

I'm gonna get hate for this but like... I don't care about Upstead? But I don't know how I feel about their relationship being dragged through the mud for the sake of a plot device. Their marriage is still fairly new? Let them breathe?

I'm also sitting here wondering how Hailey goes from feeling Like This about Voight to supposedly "confiding in him" about Jay in two episodes. Because... I think Hailey might hate Voight more than me. Which is fair. Because holy shit the stuff he's doing is awful, even by Hank Voight standards.

TLDR;; I'm really sick and tired of The Hank Voight show, and all the things he said to Jay and Hailey toward the end of the episode made me super uncomfortable. Basically threatening to fire them because of the shit that he is putting them through is giving me major s4 vibes - namely some of Voight's bullshit being the thing that pushed Mouse out the door way back when.

That being said, if Jay and Mouse's exits parallel each other? I'm going to be the most annoying person in the world. And I won't apologize for any of it. I will complain the whole time though because I'm sick and tired of Voight creating this toxic, unhealthy environment for his team and then not facing any kind of repercussion for it. Because at this point it's manipulative and controlling and I still get angry about this exact same shit in s4 at least once a week.

[aryllux]

So I've been rewatching Steven Universe...

In an early season 2 episode, Greg says to Rose: "can you just talk to me like a real person?"

And Rose awkwardly looks away and says "I'm... not a real person"

Without context it just seems like she is saying, she's not a real person, cause she's a gem. But... After seeing the whole show that one line carries so much weight... As late as meeting Greg, she still doesn't even think of herself, as Rose Quartz, as a real person.

No wonder she wanted so badly to become Steven. She was still running from who she was, after all that time.

And it's kind of interesting how on this watch through I feel like I'm noticing just how bad, like, every role model in Steven's life is.

Even that video Rose makes for him; it seems really nice but it's like... The main takeaways from it are:

- when you experience joy, that is not your joy. It is mine.

- "take care of them" which is a lot of fucking pressure to put on a child

She literally tells him that if he ever feels like he loves himself, that's her. Like, holy shit, no wonder he has insane identity issues.

After watching Steven Universe Future, I'm really noticing how each episode must affect Steven psychologically. The first time around I was too busy loving all the characters to really understand just how horrible the gems all are to him. They love him and they're trying, but none of them really understand how human children work.

They do this interesting thing where Pearl is sort of the one who takes care of him the most, but she's also the one who hurts him the most?

Like, she's sooooo dismissive when he sees the thing in the warp. She tries to teach Connie that she's meaningless compared to Steven. When Steven falls off a cliff she just looks away and he has to climb back up himself. And there's the spaceship episode where she essentially kidnaps him and almost gets them killed.

But, while I am noticing more just how terrible the mistakes she makes are, understanding the context changes my understanding of the situation a lot. It's one thing to think "Pearl was 'just a pearl,' who joined Rose's rebellion." But in actuality, it's "Pearl was still serving pink diamond even when she was helping Rose." She was completely dedicated to the same one person, not just for 6000 years, but probably thousands of years before that too. The reason she thought of herself as nothing and Rose as everything (and therefore tried to teach Connie this same lesson) is because, even during and after the rebellion, she was still just serving the gem she was made for. She was, in essence, still serving her original purpose. Her relationship with Rose was doomed to end in tragedy, because the foundation of their relationship was "a diamond and her pearl." Even in Rose's Sword, when you see the moment when they decide to rebel together, Rose calls her "my pearl." Their entire relationship is built on the idea that Rose is superior. Rose wasn't mature enough to realize how fucked up that is and Pearl was too indoctrinated into that mindset by the time they started to ever not be dependent on her

And it's interesting, like. There are so many things that suggest that Pearl is, just now, learning more closely about how humans actually work... It's almost like Steven's birth/Rose's death is the first thing that actually forced her to change in her entire life. Even when Rose taught her that she's her own person, she was still being that person for her diamond. when she's in that trap with Garnet and she finally says "I'm just a Pearl... I need someone to tell me what to do" it's like. Fuuuuckk. Pearl could totally have ended up like Spinel in another timeline.

But going back to that scene where Rose tells Greg she isn't a real person. Greg tries to fuse with her and she laughs at him and he yells at her asking her to talk to him like a real person...

I think that is the first time in Rose's entire existence that someone demanded her treat them as an equal, instead of demanding she treat them like an inferior.

And that's why Greg became the most important person in her life. It's why she fell in love with him instead of just "playing" with him (as she describes it multiple times before that). It's why her relationship with Pearl was never going to work in the end. Even when she was Rose instead of Pink Diamond, she was idolized for being an indescribably powerful rebel leader. She didn't have equals; she had followers.

It's interesting... Like. Rose is presented as this untouchable deity almost. And you, the audience, hear people talking about her so much before you actually see her, that when you do first see her... You want to idolize her, as the characters you already love do.

But looking at who she is after seeing the whole show... Like... She was kind of still Pink Diamond up until she died to give birth to Steven. And the fact that she was revered and idolized even by her closest friends... Hurt her, deeply.

She wanted to become Steven so bad... She wanted to no longer be herself so bad.

I know "Love Like You" wasn't written to be to or from any one character, but I've been reading it recently as Rose, to Steven. She says to him "every time you love yourself, that's me.. Loving you and loving being you" But like.. Why would she love being someone else so much, if not because she doesn't know how to love herself?

Steven loves with his whole heart. Rose lived an unimaginably long time, completely unable to love someone who didn't think of her as somehow "greater" then them, until Greg... She clearly resented the idea that she was somehow greater. But she didn't know how to break free of it, except by giving herself up to give life to someone new. Steven isn't just her son... He is her final chance to become something she never believed she could be. A real person.

[tellthemeerkatsitsfine]

So I’m a day late for this, had to work late last night but luckily I’ve managed to stay off Tumblr since the episode aired and have not been spoiled. The only clue I have as to what happens in this episode is the thumbnail from the video I downloaded has that image of Lee in a dress and lipstick from the opening titles. So I guess this is when that happens.

Anyway, I’m ready to do this now. Thoughts on Taskmaster s11e09, written as I watch it:

- Big fan of the callback to season 2 in writing “Lord Greg Davies” on the novelty cheque. Solid start.

- Holy hell, Lee’s prize task is horrifying. I don’t know what “natty” means but if it means “horrifying” he should win.

- I love the contrast of the next two. Mike, who has already brought in a few homemade prizes, once again shows a fair bit of effort in having actually put something together (or he just asked the Taskmaster people to put a knitted balaclava on a mannequin’s head, but at least he bothered to come up with the idea). While Jamali didn’t know what “natty” meant (to be fair I just admitted that I don’t either, but if I were a contestant on Taskmaster I’d have looked it up), didn’t bother to find out, and clearly just someone from the show to embroider the word “natty” on a sweater. But he’ll probably get five points for it, given the way Greg’s been judging lately.

- I paused the video to write the above point, then hit play again, and immediately Greg said, “A literal interpretation, I like it.” Oh fuck off. Also, Jamali tried to claim he’d ruined one of his favourite jumpers for the task, and I was pleased to see Lee say, “You do not own that jumper.” I can believe Mike might have made his own prize for this one; he’s done it before. There is no way Jamali did anything more than just tell people to find a sweater and write “natty” on it. Anyway. It’s fine. I’m fewer than five minutes in so I’ll try not to get too competitive just yet.

- All right, I think Sarah should have beaten Jamali (I do actually sort of know what “natty” means, and I’m pretty sure that frog sweater is, in fact, natty), but I actually think that scoring was mostly fine. I’m cool with Charlotte getting five for the nose warmer. Weird, unnecessary, technically sort of cool idea. Which I’m pretty sure is the definition of “natty”.

- On task one, are they in the same place where in season 10 they listed American states and it made me feel better about my own ignorance of Europe to see British people being unable to name even the most well known states? (I feel the need to clarify here that I’m not American, I just come from a country that’s right above them and can’t help knowing the American states because it’s all we hear about up here.)

- God, Charlotte Ritchie’s adorable. “Rainbows … That’s not weather.”

- “Tidal waves. That’s not weather either.”

- Sarah: [That clip of me having to do an affirmation out loud to silence self-deprecating voices in my head is] actually a really chilling insight into… inside… in my life.

Greg: Oh. Sorry to put it on national television.

Taskmaster in a nutshell right there.

- Lee: This is the smoke from all the chimneys that are destroying this planet.

Me: What the fuck, man? Smoke isn’t weather! What are you doing? You’re going to get disqualified again!

Lee: But… it’s weather, for the competition, so I’m not losing points for that. It’s fog, I’ve changed my mind.

Me: Thank you.

- Charlotte’s is actually quite good; when they zoomed in on the falling water with the flashing lights it legitimately looked like a thunderstorm. My biggest criticism is that she put so much effort into creating lighting and she could have easily made loud noises to accompany it as thunder.

Lee’s… appears to entirely consist of running a smoke machine. Not his best effort.

- Oh, they’re in the garage of the Taskmaster house. The famous garage where Rhod once found “the perfect stuff” and then closed it to make an extension. Is that where the American states task was filmed too? I didn’t realize that location was in the house.

- “I’m thinking there’s thunder.” – Jamali Maddix, as he flashes a light on the table to simulate lightning

I have a pet peeve about people getting this wrong, partly because I have a pet peeve about people getting anything wrong, and partly because a guy who ran my sports team when I was in high school, whom I fucking hated, insisted on renaming our team so we were called the “[school name] Thunder”. But he had shirts made with a picture of lighting on them and he never acknowledged that it made no sense. Lighting is the visible electricity. Thunder is the noise it makes.

- This is now the second task (in addition to the “make sauna rocks hiss” task) when Jamali has taken a fairly tenuous excuse to just set shit on fire.

- Okay, Lee’s was shit, but technically fog is actual weather that exists. Jamali just set the thing on fire and dropped rocks on it. This should allow Lee to squeeze in at one point over Jamali even if they lose to everyone else, but I bet Jamali will beat him because Greg will call it charming and inventive or some shit.

- Just a few seconds into Mike’s attempt, and he’s immediately won me over by flashing a light and correctly referring to it as “lightning”. He did then lose me a bit by perpetuating the myth about cows lying down when storms are coming. But overall I have a feeling he and Sarah will be good at this.

- Mike, those are not the colours of a rainbow. But yeah, overall he and Sarah both did a great job. Honestly, given the fact that their weather system was supposed to be realistic (I liked Sarah’s snowstorm, but I’m not sure it counts as realism on a tropical-looking island), I think Charlotte’s was the best one.

- All right, Sarah actually saved hers pretty well with the argument about God smiting the house. We all know Greg loves a narrative.

- Okay, I know it’s silly to complain about Lee coming last when Lee did that bad a job, but I’m still annoyed that Jamali dropped a bunch of rocks on the thing and beat Lee’s fog, given that fog is at least realistic. You know what, Greg? To paraphrase Richard Osman, maybe you should go marry Jamali Maddix.

- I actually completely agree with the rest of the scoring, though.

- Oh nice, another task on the weird airplane area location.

- I’ve only seen the instructions for task 2 so far, but that’s a great task. Alex is clearly not close to running out of creative ideas.

- Alex: Jamali, you look like you’ve got a plan.

Jamali: Yeah.

Alex: Have you got a plan?

Jamali: Nope.

- Alex: When do you think you might start building?

Sarah: Look, mate. If you give me four hours to chop down a tree, I’m going to spend three hours sharpening the blade.

I have no idea what that means but I think it’s the most badass thing that’s been said this season.

- Hang on. I just went back and re-listened to the task’s instructions. At no point does it say you have to build your tower on the red platform. You could build a tower of just one of those wooden things right next to the highest-numbered bricks and then just knock it over. Any chance Lee and/or Mike figured that out and that’s why they’re being shown separately? I hope so.

- I just got a phone call so I paused the video to the take call. I’ve finished my call and looked at the screen, and seen I happened to pause it at this exact moment:

- “It’s not good when you break down your life into, sort of quantities, and realize whether you’ve achieved something during that time or not.” – Charlotte Ritchie

The women of season 11 are dropping “Taskmaster in a nutshell” quotes left and right in this episode.

- Alex: So the idea is the three of them, with that on top, down we go.

Charlotte: Bosh.

Charlotte’s tower: [just falls the fuck over]

Charlotte: Aww…

That’s so sad to watch. She thought she was going to have a Kerry Goldiman moment but all she could manage was a Charlotte Ritchie moment.

- Oh, Greg just attributed Sarah’s “three hours sharpening my blade” quote to Abraham Lincoln. I looked it up and it’s hard to tell if it really is a Lincoln quote (a few people on the internet say it is, but that doesn’t necessarily mean anything and I don’t care enough to check properly), but either way it means she was repeating a quote she’d heard before and didn’t make it up. So that makes it slightly less impressive. She still gets credit for how incredibly fucking cool those words sounded coming out of her mouth, though.

- “My feeling is that Jamali’s is going to be most effective.” – Greg Davies, right before we saw Jamali knock over his tower and it barely splashed into the number 1 square

Of course, I shouldn’t start taking pleasure just yet about Greg being proven wrong in his persistent belief that Jamali knows what he’s doing, as I haven’t seen the others. With a task like this, it’s possible that Jamali will be the only person who got it into any square at all.

- “It’s just a shame it didn’t fall directly on Alex’s head.” – Charlotte, about her yoghurt.

I love it when sweet Charlotte gets sassy. Also, when I first saw her yoghurt fall I thought I’d gloated about Jamali too soon, but it did splash into a few of the slightly higher numbers. She beat Jamali, at least.

- Hmm. The fact that this is Sarah’s face immediately before they show her tower fall doesn’t seem like a great sign of what’s to come for her.

- I actually think Sarah’s was the most well built of those first three, but some bad luck there. Still got some into the number 2 square, so she also beat Jamali. Anyway though I can’t focus on any of that or on anything else in the world because Sarah Kendall just ate yoghurt from off the paved ground. Where airplanes drive! Yoghurt that she acknowledged might be poo. That is the most disgusted I’ve felt this season, possibly including the time Mike shat out a hemorrhoid. Because we didn’t actually see the hemorrhoid. What the fuck, Sarah? Stop putting everything in your mouth!

- Mike starting the task by saying, “Oh this old chestnut,” seems like another example of the way Mike Wozniak has just done everything before. Face-based geometry. Saying “metronome” while blowing up a balloon. He’s fine with it all.

- Lee pointed at those coloured things and said, “If anybody uses any of them, they’re an idiot.” Then they switched to a shot of Mike, and I assumed we’d get a moment like this one in which Mike decides to use the thing that Lee had just said only idiots would use. But no, instead we switched back from Mike to a shot of Lee immediately using those things. Nice.

- Mike has found a proper-sized ladder. Impressive, but I’m still hoping he and Lee got put on their own because one or both of them figured out that you can just put a cardboard tube next to the higher numbers, put the yoghurt on it, and knock it over.

- “Abraham Lincoln said, ‘If I had four hours to chop down a tree, I’d spend the first three hours sharpening my axe.’ ” – Lee Mack

Okay, apparently I’m the only person in the world who didn’t already know that quote.

- What is Mike doing with that extended ladder? It seems like it would make much more sense to put the yoghurt on the ladder, instead of putting the yoghurt on a cardboard thing that could fall off the ladder.

- Well, we’ve seen the end of the building process and neither Mike nor Lee tried anything particularly… hang on, I have a pun here but I can’t work out exactly how to word it. I want to argue that they didn’t use the lateral thinking I was hoping for, but also point out that Mike did use a bit of a lateral thinking in the form of a… ladder. You can work it out yourself. Pretend I said something clever about that.

- Right. I can’t say I’m surprised that Mike’s tower fell entirely the wrong way; he absolutely squandered the opportunity of the ladder. I have a sinking feeling that he may have been paired with Lee because Lee’s will do the same thing. But maybe it’s just that they both managed to make huge towers. Doesn’t necessarily mean they both fell the same way…

- “I didn’t want to be the contestant who killed Little Alex Horne.” – Mike Wozniak, speaking for himself and for not other contestant in the history of Taskmaster

- Okay. I was ready for Lee’s to go backwards and not get anywhere close. But the way it actually went was so much more upsetting. Because at first I thought he’d done really well. God damn it. Lee’s reaction to that task does show why I like him so much as a contestant, though. That is exactly what I would have done. Shouted, “Bullshit!” and then tried to find some way to make that result not have to stick. Fuck you, Alex, you must have moved the tower. Fuck you, Alex, do not fucking go over there to check on the yoghurt and then wave your arms, I can fucking see it didn’t score anything. Fuck.

- Well, that was upsetting and we’re all going to pretend it didn’t happen. Aside from Charlotte getting her second five-point task of the episode; that’s nice and is allowed to be acknowledged. Otherwise, fuck this shit, let’s get on with the next task.

- Ooh, I like the instructions on this third task too. Hopefully the many images of all the contestants with different looks will replace the image in my mind of Alex waving his arms to say no points for Lee’s fallen tower.

- Blink-and-you’ll-miss-it homage to Ed Gamble there.

- I tried to think of something clever to say about this moment so I’d have an excuse to post a screenshot of it, but I’ve got nothing (the obvious route is a Cousin Itt joke, but that would feel disingenuous as I’ve never actually watched The Addams Family). It’s just a fucking excellent image that deserves to be preserved:

- Ah. That would be the Lee in a dress putting really bad lipstick all over his mouth moment. I’m not sure I need to screenshot that one. We all see it every week in the titles and that’s upsetting enough.

- ...Okay, the image of him in the main titles definitely does not involve sitting on a cow, sticking his tongue out, and cupping his... pectoral muscle. God, his kids are watching this. He’d better at least get a decent number of points for all that.

- I feel like Mike as what’s maybe supposed to be some sort of Time Lord, and Mike with a skull for a head, also deserve a mention.

- Lee actually did a very good job arguing in the studio, claiming there’s some sort of narrative with character 2 courting character 4. Greg does love a good narrative, or even a shitty narrative. But I couldn’t properly appreciate it because I was too upset by the image of character 4.

- Okay, I did not realize while they were showing the pictures one at a time just how little variety Jamali actually got. That’s hilarious.

- Mike’s variety is actually very good. I also think his cat behind a wall deserves a mention in this post. Nice cat behind a wall.

- I also missed in the quick one-at-a-time shots that at one point Charlotte just straight-up put a bucket on her head. Nice.

- I screenshotted Sarah’s hair-covered look earlier, but I think I also need to acknowledge just how good a job she did with the distressed writer look as well.

- How the fuck did Jamali get two points for that? Even when Greg does put him last because he did an absolutely shit job, he still gets two points instead of one.

- I agree with the rest of the scoring. I might have switched Lee and Charlotte, but that might just be my bias toward Lee and particularly how I want him to get something to make up for what he did to himself on a show that his kids watch.

- I said earlier in this post that it’s clear that Alex isn’t running out of ideas for tasks, but this studio task is not the most original. They have done various versions of shuffleboard in a number of previous seasons. I’m not complaining, though. That game can make for some entertaining moments.

- Charlotte immediately launching her fish way off the surface is one of the funniest things I’ve seen all season. She’s doing so well in this episode and then at the end she had to remind us that she’s still Charlotte Ritchie.

- God damn it, Lee. Is that what you do with your darts? Just toss them on the floor two feet in front of you?

- Solid drama at the end there. Nice composure by Mike, all the way along.

- Well, Lee’s pretty fucked now. Fallen into third place (behind Mike, it’s important to note - he’s still beating Jamali) and still far enough back so he’s very unlikely to catch Sarah in the one episode they have left. Mike could get there if he has a fantastic episode next week, though. Honestly, as much I’m annoyed that my boy Lee was getting close to overtaking and then fell so far back, if Sarah does win next week, I’ll have to take my hat off to her. She does deserve it. And no, this isn’t me trying to cop-out now that my contestant doesn’t seem to have much of a chance anymore. I will absolutely spend the final episode holding out the sliver of hope that Lee can bring this back, and if he doesn’t then I will acknowledge that the contestant I backed lost. I’m just saying I’ll try to be somewhat sportspersonlike about it and honestly Sarah has played a really good game. It’s fine. Everything’s fine. This is a comedy show.

For now, however, Charlotte Ritchie has won her second episode of the season! Lovely. Lovely, lovely woman. And really, it’s right for her to win this episode because I’m pretty sure she’d appreciate a bunch of natty knitwear more than anyone else. Good for her.

[mimik-u]

“Mr. Universe” Thoughts:

Pie in ice cream looks good on paper, but oh my go d, it’s super duper sweet. My town has a local milkshake place where their gimmick is putting whole ass slices of cake/pie in their milkshakes andidjdoejsmsjdisijs it’s so much.

Aughshdhsh, Greg is being wonderful here: attentive, caring, present.

“I spent so long trying to figure out whether or not I was Mom, now that I actually know I’m me, it’s like I have no idea who that is.” ;-; I think I talked about this in some odd post or another, but something I really commend Future for doing is showing what it’s like to be sixteen and faced with an existential identity crisis. This really is that time where kids have to reconcile their pasts with who they are now in the present and who they ultimately want to be in the future. It can be a scary process sometimes—if not most times—and here, of course, it’s heightened by the extraordinariness of Steven’s story and selfhood.

Greg with short hair is good, but I keep staring at him thinking something is wrong here firirkifiejdjdjdjs.

THE DEAR, OLD DAD SONG. AUGHNDF, MY FEEL IN G S

My favorite shot in this montage is the one of Steven snoring and Greg fondly looking over, a small smile on his face. 😭😭😭

Omg, is this Greg’s childhood home????????

Oh, my go d, the living room looks like my grandmother’s living room used to. The woolen doily on the couch. The assorted knickknacks everywhere. The wooden walls.

“Letters from Dad? They’re all unopened.” That is one of the saddest fucking lines I’ve ever heard in this show. What the actual

And then the camera zooms into one of the pictures on the wall that confirms where we are—this is Greg’s parents’ house. From the portrait alone, I get the vibe that Greg’s folks were the strict, high expectations, buttoned up shirts kind of parents. And if this is true, then boyyyy, that Rose/Greg parallel is really going to hit me in the feels.

As Steven enthuses about this new revelation in the background, Greg’s back is turned to him, but we see his face: the melancholy in it, the conflicted feelings.

“You looked just like me... only more human.” AUGH. DAMMIT, THIS SHOW.

I was talking to someone on AO3 about how Future has really made me appreciate the human episodes in SU more in hindsight, not because they were the most engaging in the series—admittedly, there are only a few I can name that stand out to me as being favorites—but because of their overarching function. These episodes were the ones in which Steven got to be half-human, in which he learned about what it was to be a human generally. But inherently, the tension has always resided in the fact that Steven is neither fully human nor fully gem. As the original show progressed, Steven and the people around him tried their best to navigate this tension, especially in the earlier seasons. You have quotes like Garnet reminding Amethyst and Pearl that Steven needs his human friends. You have Greg and Connie forming a “humans” bond, which Steven silently felt excluded from. You have Steven feeling on the outside of Onion’s group of friends. And the more Steven became necessarily drawn into the mythos of his mother and his inherited powers, the less human-centric episodes there were, which tracks with Steven’s development as the half-gem savior of Earth, but unfortunately, in the commotion, he lost out on fleshing out his humanness, too. This is a big part of the pathos in “Bismuth Casual,” which reveals to us that Steven’s forgotten how to talk to humans who aren’t Connie and his dad. And this is a huge part of the pathos in this episode, too, Steven yearning for his father’s humanity and wanting to connect to his past.

Greg’s graduation photo. ;-; He looks so sad. And is that, like, a military buzz cut?

OH, HE GOT HIS LAST NAME OFF OF A SONG 😭😭

This song is really lovely. 😭

Greg’s eyes being bright with his tears as nostalgia rushes in. 😭

“They can’t be worse than Mom’s family.” WOOF.

“I can’t believe I ever realized you’re just like Mom.” FUCK FUCK FUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUFUFFJF

“I grew up in a VAN. I never went to school. I’ve never been to a doctor until two days ago.” I CSNT DO THIS. FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK

“My problem is that I’m a UNIVERSE.” FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCKF CUFKCMDUFJC

OH MY GOD THE VAN

HOLY SHIT THE VAN FLIPPED

JESUS

HE WAS UNCONSCIOUS LONG ENOUGH FOR A TOW TRUCK TO BE CALLED???? GREG, CALL AN AMBULANCE?????

OH, GOD, GREG TRIES TO BE POSITIVE AND MOVE AWAY FROM THE DEEP EMOTIONAL STUFF, BUT IT’S PRECISELY NOT WHAT STEVEN NEEDS TO HEAR AT THE MOMENT, SO HE TUNES HIM OUT. HOLY FUCKING SHIT

NO. THIS EPISODE. OUCH

HE DELETES THE PHOTO BC GREG DE MAYO ISN’T PRESENT. FUCK FUCK FUCK.

FUCK?

I’m suing this show for emotional damages.

Final thoughts: Greg’s life, like Rose’s was as Pink, was heavily regulated to the point of suffocation, and so I think it makes sense then that Greg’s own parenting style has decidedly been the antithesis of that. He’s pretty much allowed Steven to do as he pleases and not exert that same sort of exacting control that he experienced from his own parents. But just as Greg’s parents represented an extreme in parenting, I think, too, that Greg’s on the polar end. Steven was loved and cared for, which is fundamentally the most important thing, but there was a lot of maintenance work (a la parenting) that I think Greg unfortunately wasn’t attentive to in his desire to be the total corrective to his parents. Yes, Steven should have gone to a doctor way before two days ago. Yes, Steven should have gone to at least elementary and middle school. Greg says, in response to the doctor bit, “You’re a gem. You weren’t like other kids,” but just as everyone else has done over the course of the last couple of years, he, too, has forgotten the fundamental fact that Steven is half-human.

And ofc, I think there’s absolutely something to be said about the fact that Steven, having not known his grandparents, can’t accurately judge the situation as he did with his mother and the Diamonds. I don’t think it’s fair for Steven to completely compare Greg and Rose together because he’s missing essential context, or maybe, more accurately still, he’s forgetting a crucial fact. Greg has apparently tried—for years—to reestablish contact with his parents, and the silence of the unopened letters speaks louder than words. Unlike the Diamonds, awful as they undoubtedly were, the DeMayo parents don’t appear to want reconciliation, and that’s an important distinction.

But then, God, I think about that last scene again and go feral. Greg, your kid just accidentally flipped the van, and you don’t, like, call an ambulance? Instead of being emotionally honest with him, you default into safe and sage platitudes that both of you know aren’t entirely authentic in light of everything that has happened?

But THEN, I think... well, what did I expect? This has been Greg’s modus operandi for the entirety of the series. When bad things happen, he tries his damnedest to subjugate all of his negative emotions beneath his chosen veneer of the calm, easygoing father. It used to work—it used to work so well—but not anymore.

A fact I’m not sure that Greg recognized at the end of this episode.

Fuck, fuck, fuck.

[yourmemoriesandminesu]

My thoughts on suf

So the 4 part series finale happened and damn what a ride. Personally I liked the direction they went with the final episode and of corse I have my own personal nitpicks, so let’s start off there!

Nitpicks:

Not enough corrupted Steven and him rampaging through the streets. (That might just be my love of monster carnage talking) but having all the gems work together to get Steven into the water and make him cry to uncorupt him would have been amazing! Imagine the possibilities, every gem who was helped all coming together to ensure the safety of the townspeople and Steven!

Pink pearl hiding her eye SUGAR!!!!

His healing process was slightly hinted at, like mentioning his therapist. Throughout the series we kind of get implications that he’s gotten over his mother and who she was, but I always wished we could have gotten that inner peace shown better. The only close instance we see is volleyball and even then it’s both pearls coming to realize that pink was trying to change and become a better person, but we never get Stevens input on that. Along with the struggle between being a gem and a human, the main issue that seems to be somewhat dropped. Time constraints are understandable, but leaving the audience out of months worth of therapy was a tad disappointing for me as that was large part of his outbursts.

No after corruption scars, many people (me included) theorized that there would be some sort of ‘scar’ left behind as a sort of reminder of the emotional and physical toll the whole situation had. Very sadly he came out physically unscathed, which for a show about symbolism surprised me. You could argue that he does have scars, they’re just on his skeleton. (Or inside) perhaps I was just too invested in the idea of maybe a pink patch or eye (like a lot of imagery throughout the series) again this one is the most nit of the picky.

Things I adored!:

The diamonds (and everyone else) realizing just how bad they fucked up. Steven went through some shit with them when they still thought he was pink diamond. White reflecting on what a bitch she had been to literally everyone and everything. Greg finally standing up and saying no more running from gem stuff.

That fucking group hug killed me, it destroyed me. The moment of realization of just how many people were there for him and willing to show it ( the fucking cluster showed up and when it held his hand I just fudhetekhf) and of corse the Connie kiss. The good ol healing kiss not in the same way, but fuck it melted my stone cold void of a heart. Right after Steven corrupts he’s still crying, but this time everyone is there, his support system never truly left. They are all still there for him and it took turning into a giant Godzilla for him to truly see it. And the meltdown on lion, just... man I can’t bro. That cry, it hurt, but in a good way.

Steven leaves, but not on bad terms. Yes Steven leaves beach city to travel the states and eventually settle down but unlike his parents he’s keeping in touch with everyone, he’s not running away from his family or faking his own death. He’s going out and seeing the country (and I’ll bet you 50 bucks he’ll build a portal at his new home for the gems to visit his kids) he also didn’t leave immediately as its been months since the wormy boi incident. (I’m assuming he’s 18 at this point as Connie was talking about college) he gives everyone a goodbye gift, he tells everyone he’s leaving, and it’s bittersweet. Now I’m a sucker for bittersweet! I love it (and the ending to ymam actually has a planed bittersweet ending) so seeing him go out into the world and leaving the only home he’s ever known is really nice. But it’s also nice to know that he will most likely visit beach city, video chat with friends and most likely live stream tv shows with peri.

Stevens breaking point, oh that entire sequence just obliterated me. Everything he’s held in and been afraid of just BURST into the open. He pours his guts to everyone all in the midsts of a manic episode. We get to see Steven at his lowest point (before wormy boi) everything he thought to be wrong and he would never do. I never thought the series would go there, but they did. They went above and beyond with showcasing the effects of PTSD from a young age and damn it was done well. And Stevens diamond form, holy cow he was HUGE! And the diamond eyes! For so long fans have wanted to see Steven with the good ol diamond pupils and we finally get them. Just, yes!

All in all there are some things I would have liked to get more attention, but it’s ending was bittersweet with a good helping of an uncertain but hope filled future.

8.5/10

[ramblingguy54]

How do you feel about the sudden shift in pacing in SUF? Personally, I was so disconcerted at first, I thought that it was /worse/ than the original series, then I rewatched, and realized that it was just really different. It's definitely a lot more blunt in the humor, and of course there's the whole Steven-not-knowing-everything-anymore-thing. What do you think?

The overall pacing of Steven Universe Future has been very enjoyable!

I genuinely find it to be pretty damn good actually, as its focus is crystal clear on where it should be. That being Steven Universe’s inner dilemma of what he’s supposed to do now the whole massive conflict with the Diamonds has been solved. As much as I loved Steven Universe’s story when it focused on the main conflict surrounding the Crystal Gems against their own planet and learning more about each of them, along with Rose’s entire backstory too, it still suffered from some of the Beach City episodes dragging it down in the pacing when it could’ve focused more on the other characters, like further exploring Lapis and Peridot’s chemistry for example. That isn’t to say I hated every single one, as some were actually enjoyable and gave me an appreciation for them in a sense. Sometimes it’s okay to take a breather and have a simple slice of life episode. Fun fact, I didn’t get into watching the OG series, until the movie was released last year, so that gave me more of a tolerance for the Beach City episodes. Makes me very glad that I waited this long because hoo boi some of the hiatus issues I’ve heard about from a close friend of mine, who got into watching this series when it first aired back then, weren’t pretty. LMAO!

Anyways, the idea surrounding Steven’s characterization of not-knowing-everything-anymore-thing, as you’ve put it, isn’t actually as weird, from I’ve heard some people make it out to be for a form of criticism that people on Tumblr have made rebuttals against before. It’s wonderfully consistent with what Steven’s character is all about and that’s trying to figure out his place in the world. This has always been a consistent struggle for himself, like the lyric mentioned in the full version of the series opening from Steven.

“I will fight to be everything that everybody wants me to be when I’m grown!”

Steven’s whole internal conflict surrounds not knowing whether or not he can exactly be like his mother, which puts a shit ton of insecurities on his own self-worth into trying to fit in with the other Crystal Gems because he’s not your average-every-day-kid that you see in society. He’s a special hybrid of human/gem that neither side of the species connected to him has ever seen before and that puts a ton of pressure onto how the boy feels a need to connect with both sides of himself. While he already has a deeply loving relationship with his father, Greg, Steven also wants to better understand that Gem lineage and why his mother was so revered by what he perceives to be these amazing warriors, who fight evil. Never mind putting this onto a kid’s existence, as soon as he or she’s brought into reality, but even an adult would struggle a lot with all this stuff. As the original story progressed, Steven learns all of the hardships the Crystal Gems faced many centuries ago and what his own mother did to protect the Earth in exchange for many issues Steven would have to handle, as soon as Pink Diamond gave up herself to create the child.

Holy shit, did he ever have to handle the baggage from Pink Diamond.

You should’ve shattered me back then. At least if I were in pieces, I wouldn’t have to know how little I mattered to you. You didn’t even tell em. You bubbled me away and didn’t ever tell your friends! MY friends!

I’m going to tell them. I’m gonna tell them everything.

Then you really are better than HER…

Pivotal moments, like in the episode centered around Bismuth, paint everything in an entirely different light for Steve’s ideals based around his mother. At first, Rose Quartz was implied to be an individual who could do no wrong to any living thing, but hindsight from Bismuth’s trauma paints everything in an entirely different light for this poor boy having to take on the entire blunt of this figurative dagger. A question that is represented in the episode, Storm In The Room.

Did you make me, just so you wouldn’t have to deal with all your mistakes!?

Is that all I’m here for…?

I’ve went into more detail about this episode in a previous ask surrounding this topic, so you can check that one out in your free time, but the point I’m making here is Steven has centered a lot of himself around the idea of Rose Quartz being a self-less individual and helped many others through her actions that put this entire series into motion in the first place, but when all of that from this kid’s perspective is thrown out the window through tragic events that also happened in part because of her decisions, Steven starts questioning everything about his life. I’d like think in these moments Steven’s internal dialogue is worded around these types of statements.

“I wanted to be a savior, like her. Although, she did bad things, too! Am I no different from her? Can I truly help people without hurting them in the process?”

That’s why he helped the Crystal Gems in The Test Season 1 episode feel better about their own issues, while hiding how hurt the boy felt about being lied to about the obstacle course being 100% percent un-failable because Steven adopted the selfless image of his mother in this important moment. Steven listened in on a private conversation he had no business hearing from Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl that fueled this idea further of becoming a savior to all living things and put into perspective that these “amazing warriors” were in fact very insecure like himself and needed Steven in their lives, just as much as he did.

That’s why he helped heal Lapis before.

That’s why he helped Peridot open her eyes and come outta her shell.

I could go on and on, but in a nutshell Steven has made life revolve around others so much that feels only natural to help anyone he can, considering that’s what his mother believed in. Even if they’re morally questionable individuals, Steven still tries to see the good in everyone. His angry statements against Lars attitude about Rose put all of that into perspective to contemplate about.

What do you know about my mom!? I didn’t even get to know my mom, but I do know she saw beauty in everything! Even in stuff like this and even in jerks like you!

Steven’s only known what to do because he’s adopted the ideals of his mother so much. Kind of like being brought into existence like your typical Gems, where they’re programmed to feel that way and commit the actions they’re all built for. It’s poetic honestly that he’s helped everyone, but not himself in the long run. These issues were piling on since the start because Steven didn’t have to worry about feeling inferior because he could always help everyone in this series, but now that the events of Steven Universe Future have occurred this puts everything into a more deeply poignant light for the kid entering a more mature phase of his life now and is going to reflect on every little aspect of himself.

There’s no such thing as happily ever after. I’ll always have more work to do.

But if there’s nothing to work out…

Steven Universe Future is a brilliant character study pay off to all those five seasons that were paving the way to this cementing the idea that Steven has issues that are spiraling outta control from putting all of independence into the idea that he has to be a savior like his mother was. Much like how Spinel was so attached to Pink Diamond as a “best friend”, Steven puts so much faith into the mindset that he has must stick his guns and stay that perfect savior everyone knows/loves. It’s unhealthy emotional attachment that is coming to light with these Pink outbursts of his. While he still loves what his mother stood for, despite feeling very conflicted about her in general these days, still strives to be the best parts of her and not the worst, hence the ending of the Rose Buds episode where he puts the painting of her pure persona into Lion’s mane realm.

It’s entirely reversed roles now where the Crystal Gems and mostly everyone are fine, but Steven is far from being emotionally stable currently in recent events. Steven Universe The Movie built the subversive punchline that this epilogue series has been delivering strongly on so far and hope it will continue to do so. I’ve loved how they’ve deconstructed Steven’s characterization.

To end this lengthy post, I’ll refer to these words from Jasper that sums up everything on Steven’s issues. She may have been seriously harsh, but Jasper aint wrong in some ways about Steven feeling very low on himself in general.

You think everyone needs help, but its only you! No one is as pitiful as you!

On a side note, regarding the humor real quick in Future, I can see why you’d think its more blunt. It’s very on the nose with how much it pokes fun at itself, but honestly I don’t have issues with it all. I don’t know about you, but I find it fucking hilarious how they’ve been openly taking potshots at their previous ideas in the story line. I’m always down for a creative team being snarky with themselves!

Thanks for taking the time to read this detailed post of mine! =)

[animentality]

So...I was sort of bored with Steven Universe Future for a bit...

Because for a long stretch, it just seemed like the plot was going nowhere. 

But these most recent episodes have restored my faith in Steven Universe. 

Not just for confirming Steven suffers from PTSD, which is amazing and heartbreaking and good for the Crewniverse for showing children what PTSD looks like, but also because... it’s just so good? 

Like the episode where Greg tries to convince Steven that he needs “freedom” and can solve his problems through doing what he did, which was basically run away from home...

That episode was fucking amazing because we see how for the first time, maybe ever, Greg and Steven are totally at odds.

Greg doesn’t understand that Steven’s childhood was radically different than his.

He DID grow up with freedom, but now, as a young man, he longs for the safety and security of a normal, regulated life.

He WISHES he’d had a bed time, a stable home, a stable family life, planned vacations, everything that normal kids got. 

And Greg, the free-willing dad, who’s been so charming throughout the whole series, is just not understanding that the pressure of being your dead mom’s surrogate and the legacy of a millenia-old alien war? 

I mean, wouldn’t you want some stability after spending your whole life cleaning up the instability left by your own free-wheeling mother? 

I mean Jesus. 

I might criticize SU’s writing from time to time, and I don’t agree with some of the SU fandom’s nutjob “these three lines foreshadow the entire plot of season 4.”

But this episode is seriously the best writing. 

We’ve never seen them at odds, because Greg is so easygoing you really don’t expect him to ever be super stressed or argue with his kid. 

AND amusingly enough, when Steven tells him off, and crashes the van, Greg’s reaction is... to congratulate him and tell him that he would’ve never had the courage to tell his parents off.

And you know what really perfects the episode for me??? 

STEVEN. DOESN’T. FEEL. BETTER. 

I’m not sure on this, but this might be the first time where “open communication” and “honesty” didn’t immediately fix everything.

Seriously.

I love SU, but even i can admit, sometimes I get sick of the idea that if we just explain why we’re mad, then the person making us mad will just instantly stop doing whatever they were doing.

FINALLY, we get a scenario where two characters are at odds....but they DON’T resolve their issues through talking and just make up, and everyone’s fine and dandy. 

Steven is PISSED. 

And rightfully so. 

And you know what, maybe this is just my gremlin brain speaking, but I actually really liked that Steven really was sick of Greg’s overly easygoing manner. 

Like. 

FUCK yeah? 

Steven Universe has every right to be fucking furious and tired of the message that’s been repeated over and over ad nauseam throughout the whole show. 

Open communication and trust and honesty and love are all UWU valid, but...

Man, don’t you just wanna go APESHIT sometimes? 

Don’t you WANT to be allowed to be angry and pissed and hurt and don’t you sometimes want to NOT communicate, to let it stew up inside until it blows up? 

And then we moved onto to Jasper’s episode and....I’ll save that for another post, but holy shit. Also an amazing episode.

These episodes of SU:F have really made up for the rest of the season in my opinion.

I was really getting bored of the daily life episodes, but...these episodes have just been stellar.

Steven’s emotional and psychological struggles have just been such a fitting and troubling end to his story. I’m not sure how they’ll be resolved, but now that they’re finally kicking into high gear, I finally feel like this season has justified its continued existence. 

[toastywatchesstevenuniverse]

S1 E45

Rose's Scabbard

Okay so I've learned a lot today.

Also this episode much like the fireworks one made me..

Very uncomfortable. But even more so than that one did.

This episode was just......really fucking sad man.

First off:

None of the gems seemed to like Greg so far (Except Amethyst) but Pearl especially seemed particularly not very fond of him. I kinda didn't think much about that. I just assumed it was because "Greg is a slob & Pearl doesn't like that he's a slob." And honestly given his current state in the show rn, I ain't exactly too fond of the man either. Though the winter episode definitely made me like him more.

But uh....now I'm starting to think Pearl's distaste for him isn't as simple as that. Because Pearl....

This whole episode Pearl was being like....

Okay look we can't word this in any other way: PEARL WAS BEING A MASSIVE HOMO™ THE ENTIRE TIME LIKE GOD DAMN SHE WAS GAY™ AS FUCK ABOUT ROSE THIS EPISODE LIKE WOAH OKAY NOW I GET WHATS GOING ON HERE. PEARL IS A MASSIVE FUCKING LESBIAN™ FOR ROSE & NOW THAT THIS REVEAL HAS HIT. Well to be honest that actually explains a lot. Like, huh, yeah actually this makes sense & explains a lot about why she's like this.

Guys when I called her a Gay™ Disaster™ all the way back in the start I wasn't expecting to actually be correct. I was like half joking when I said that????

I WAS TRYING TO BE FUNNY I WASNT TRYING TO BE A PROPHET HERE WHAT THE FUCK WHY WAS I ACTUALLY CORRECT¿???????¿¿¿¿¿???

I WAS JUST BEING A GOOF WHY DID I END UP HAVING THE GIFT OF PROPHECY???? FUCK OFF APOLLO.

PEARL & ROSE WERE APPARENTLY 'VERY CLOSE FRIENDS'. ROOMMATES OR WHATNOT. SHE EVEN FUCKING BLUSHED & HAD THE QUEER™ EYELASHES. DAMN PEARL I THINK YOU MIGHT BE SUFFERING FROM A CASE OF BEING A FUCKING SIMP, YOU FUCKING LESBIAN™.

MY GAYDAR™ IS OFF THE CHARTS RIGHT NOW. THIS MF IS GAY™ AS FUCK. 💀 THIS IS BEYOND NORMAL GAY™. THIS IS ADVANCED GAY™.

So idk what happened that led to Rose vetting with Greg but yeah, suddenly I'm realizing Pearl disliking Greg is definitely a case of her being....

Well. And excuse me for the vulgar metaphor here but I can't resist.

Pearl is bitter because Greg was the one who got to put the sword in Rose's Scabbard when she wanted to put her sword in there in the first place.

And honestly if I lost out to someone like Greg who....let's face it is kind of a pretty shit dad so far. Yeah I'd be bitter too. It actually makes the fact she's the one trying the hardest to be Steven's mother make more sense & honeslty it makes her even more sympathetic. He's the closest thing she has left of Rose & the fact she's so caring & all just....if Rose had to sacrifice herself for Steven to exist, the fact Pearl isn't resentful towards Steven at all for that is so nice. Because it'd be so easy for the writers to just have her be like that for cheap drama but no, they don't. Thank you for that writers. That's so wise to avoid that bullshit bc I'd hate this episode if they went that direction....look idk how to word this rn but damn Pearl has some serious emotional issues. And Amethyst had some trauma reveal a few episodes ago too....

So if this pattern continues....

Guys I don't even know if I want to find out what fucked up shit Garnet is going through because I feel like hers is probably gonna be the most fucked up of the lot. Like I don't even think I WANT to find out what shit she's carrying in her head. I mean....like, fuck all of these people need therapy & a hug.

Anyways Pearl was definitely being shitty by the halfway mark (I mean what she said to Steven was legit fucked up I ain't gonna lie, like, damn, you said that to a CHILD, Pearl. Holy shit. I get that you're upset about the wife thing but he's literally a child I think he's probably upset about his mom being gone just as much as you are.) but y'know-

Okay quick side note: Amethyst I get that Pearl was being shitty but you have no right to be talking shit about her like you didn't just do some pretty fucked up shit just a couple episodes ago. Neither of y'all are in ANY position to be acting all high & mighty. Pearl just SAID something but you straight up fucking used your transformation magic to torment a man about his dead wife. You don't have any fucking high ground here girl. Garnet is the only one of you that has any room to be acting above it. She hasn't done anything like that so far so she's the only one that gets to talk shit. Sit tf down ma'am.

ahem, anyways Amethyst was being shitty too just a bit ago. And like I said then: when you're that mentally fucked it leads to that kinda behavior. It's not an excuse but it does mean you know there's a legit reason for why they'd act out like this. And it's not entirely their fault that they have a tendency to be that irrational. But Pearl, like Amethyst, you can tell she felt remorse.

Again, the way they resolve it without a drawn out argument...but instead it's just Pearl openly showing her vulnerability & Steven just showing her a sign of affection. No argument. No yelling. Just a genuine moment of sincere emotion. Steven understood. While what she said was horrible, he gets why she said it. They both miss her. But they have eahcother. I am going to fucking sob typing this oh my god.

Yeah this episode made me cry a lot. Absolutely stellar episode. And the ending was just beautiful.

Further cementing the fact that Pearl is my favorite. I can't wait to see how much the show uses her emotional baggage to rip my heart in half & stomp on it mercilessly.

Second best episode of the entire show so far. Only just slightly behind 'On The Run'. (That one just hit me on a more personal level so it still has my heart by the throat.)

[corn-sugar]

Welcome to me writing down all my thought of the su finale

Obviously, SPOILER WARNING! Steven universe future episode 18,19,20

Holy shit he big

Dude do not ignore your problems this is very problematic

No dont go to little homeworld i think thays bad

Im scared

Why did he run to little homeworld when he can literally just take the warp

AHCIJFJFJNGJTJ THEY TURNED INTO CACTI- IM- THE COMEDIC TIMING -

“It must be shop o’ clock”

YELLOW PEARL IN ARMOUR IS ALL THAT I NEED

“WEDDING ARMOUR”?????? IS SHE GONNA MARRY BLUE PEARL

“Now you have two anvils” steven-

The diamond eyes literally creeped me out so much

Steven just go to therapy

Hell yes you’re helping you funky little cactus

Why is he only wearing one slipper and it’s too small

Sidenote: i would die for connie

How her hair grew a little over time i would give up my entire life for her

“I broke an anvil *chuckle* what teenager hasn’t?”

I just realised steven is like twice as big as greg dude, even bigger than garnet do y’all think he’s rose sized?

I would also die for lapis

Yea no shit he shattered jasper do you think he just found her in the bathroom?

Wait are his spikes- swords?

You guys dear god you cant fix his mental state with magic

White oh my god last time you connected with him he tried to shatter you why does this seen like a good idea to you

HE MADE GARNET UNFUSE!! He has crossed!! A line!!!!!

Oh hell ye cluster

Diamonds- spinel- there is literally no use in crying about who did it.

CONNIE :DD

CONNIE WE LOVE YOU

Connie singlehandedly made the sun come out

Oh shit he’s walking on water

Why is garnet so big what happened

Garnet is literally the size of a diamond

Everyone’s screaming and connie is just talking thats awesome

Ep 20 hell ye

Wait is she gonna marry him

no they cant do this to me they samg the cookie cat theme in the first and last episode i am Not okay

HE HAS A THERAPIST

Garnet amethyst and pearl: yknow do what you want dude, you wanna move out? We support you

Lapis, bismuth and peridot:

What in the actual fuck are you talking about

Lapis loves art oh my god

WATER COLOURS

Jasper please he shattered you you dont need to protect him

Why did she make another hole in the wall

Why the hell would you guve away your ukelele

Greg is gonna have his own home 🥺

THEY KISS

i dont know whats different about connie but there is something and i love her so much for it

Pearl is rounder than she used to be.

Oh my god no this cant be it

This is whre it settles in this is the last episode

Oh my god that was it

Im not okay

That was the last time im gonna see a steven universe episode for the first time

No

Fuck

Help

Okay im okay

I think

[dukeofriven]

Steven Universe Future had two challenges it had to overcome: First was that it had to prove that with twenty episodes it could tell a more complete and meaningful resolution than Change Your Mind managed in a single thirty-second shot: in other words, it had to demonstrate that it could more meaningfully summate and resolve the narrative tension of the work than the shot of Steven embracing himself, and understanding himself to be himself. The second challenge was that it had to outperform Steven Universe: The Movie in showing ‘what happens after The End.’

And it failed. That that... nothing was what all this was leading to is flabbergasting. I have often been frequently discomforted by Steven Universe Future: I said more than once that this show, episode after episode, seemed to have narrowed-in on my adult trauma and separated it into component parts. Being so distorted by rage you feel like you’re flying to pieces? Feel that down in my soul. SUF was building to something  - some people thought it was a narrative truth, some final revelation about Pink Diamond, but it was always more likely an emotional truth: whatever it was it was big and heavy and was going to hit like a meteorite. And then it... didn’t? There is something to be said for subverting expectations: the devil’s advovate wants to point to The Holy Grail as a film that builds to an ending that gets the rug pulled out of it at the last second. But that kind of irony isn’t really Steven Universe’s mode of story. The show has often handled ‘big battle segues into talking things out’ very well (see, again, Change Your Mind). The fact that the resolution to Steven’s problems would be found in talking and not fighting was never in question. What was in question was what kind of conversation would it be. And the answer was ‘everyone stands around and restates their primary character flaw from, like, season 2.’ okay, they don’t stand, they hug, but it’s where Steven Universe Future just falls over and dies with a sad little wet fart of a dying balloon. I mean the tension was already gone: there’s no sense of menace from KAijuSteven, there’s not really any thematic reason to go with a giant kaiju except it’s maybe the one anime trope the show hasn’t hit yet. It’s not a visually interesting kaiju: it’s kind of awful, honestly, and for a show that’s so great about changing bodies that still retain some semblance of original personalities, it doesn’t much seem like Steven. It’s a fight of mediocrity: the fight between Alexandrite and Malachite had more oomph, and I always forget that happened.

But forget the fight: bad fight choreography can be forgiven if the show nails the emotional tone. But what is this... this nothing! Why is Steven Universe Future regressing to character beats from years ago? BAM BAM BAM we had emotional punches over and over: Jasper, the White Diamond screaming scene, Steven losing it in the hospital - what’s it going to take to bring our boy home and help him heal? Warmed-over season 1 scripts, I guess. Connie’s argument that everyone always leans on Steven and he never leans on them in return is... completely divorced from the text of the show: the entire first seasons were about Steven learning to step out from the gems shadows, and even in later seasons where he has largely become the Leader Of The Crystal Gems the interplay of ‘we all rely on one another’ remained strong. I... I.... Ugh. I think what rankles is that the solution to Steven’s problem i just a big group hug feels like... kind of a ‘oh fuck off’ moment. It’s a catharsis of emotional release that doesn’t genuinely seem grounded in any of the experiences Steven has just gone through: Steven cries all the time. Steven feels all the time. And Steven gets plenty of physical affection. The show seems to be playing the reversal card: Steven has helped so many villains hug it out and get in touch with their emotional sides, now it is used on him. But

But it worked on villains because they were touched starved. It works on them because they’ve been denied love, because they’re lonely. There’s sort of a theme going on earlier in SUF that part of Steven’s problem is that he’s afraid everyone’s moved on without him and that’s he’s stuck in old paradigms not knowing how to feel. But everyone hugging him, telling him its okay to feel is... it’s still an old paradigm! We’ve done ‘Steven gets angry’ before. A few times! WE”VE BEEN HERE ALREADY.

And a big group hug is - it’s not the fucking solution to the problem. Steven hasn’t had a problem with being emotionally closed - he was weeping over Jasper two episodes ago, and screaming out a lot of anguish through White an episode before that

Fuck, what am I even trying to say here? I think it’s this: what makes Change Your mind work so well is that it’s quiet. The real climax of the narrative arc isn’t the big fight with White’s SHip, it’s the almost-silence of Steven crawling across the floor, hugging himself, and laughing. It’s small and self-contained. The resolution to SU the Movie isn’t the fight on top of the drill, it’s the aftermath, the quiet little conversation with Steven and Spinel that finally gets through to her. The resolution to this is a massive, shouting group hug full of big loud emotional tears and it... makes the monster go away. It’s big and loud and noisy and it sucks.

This sucks. It’s a shockingly mediocre nothing that neither rises to the emotional complexity it raised in early episodes nor manages to subvert expectation by playing down to the truly intimate: it drags in an ensemble it’s spend the previous 17 episode not really doing anything with. God, I could talk about taht for ages - quick, what, if anything, was accomplished with spending a full eleven minutes giving a shit about Bluebird Azurite? SUF is horribly unfoccused, with the lighter ‘here’s some things that happened in the future’ ‘fan-service’ episodes being entirely unrelated to the the ‘Steven struggles to deal with anger’ plotline of the later episodes. The best moment in it is an off-handed comment by Steven that he’s talking toa therapist now. For fuck sake, that needs to be the fucking finale right there. The actual emotional catharsis the ‘defusing the kaiju’ needed wasn’t other people telling Steven how they care about them - in fact, that just plays right back into Connie’s point about making it about themselves. It’s that Steven needs the opportunity to talk about his problems and be heard - WITHOUT ANYONE IMMEDIATELY TRYING TO RESOLVE THE PROBLEM. No Greg giving a speech. No Garnet dropping some wisdom. No 15-point Pearl plan or Amethyst scheme. It neede deveryone on that bitch to sit down, shut the hell up, and just let Steven talk until he had talked himself out, and at no point offer any solutions. Those come later. First, important, desperate, is just to let him talk his shit out without anyone jumping on the issue. But it just get relegated to a throw-away line. God this was dull. More than anything it was just dull: it pulled every punch, and it blew all it’s surprises and twits on episode 1-17, I guess, because every moment lands exactly as you expect. It spent seventeen episodes acting like it had something really important to say about anger and an uncertain future and not knowing your place And then it got up to the mic and had nothing new to say. A show that triggered me this many times over the previous 17 episodes should have something fucking meaningful to say at the end of it, for pity’s sake. What a waste.

[aconitewolfsbane]

Steven Universe Future Reactions - The Future

This is it, folks. The last episode ever.

- Didn’t Garnet smash that player back in season 1? - And Lion’s broke it. This is why they can’t have nice things. - Boogle Maps! - It’s been a few months since the last episode. He must be around 17 now, or close enough. - Homemade Cookie Cats! “You can kinda tell.” LMTO! - The ‘Gem Glow’ callbacks abound in this episode. Nice bookend to the series.

- Pearl had a nibble! That’s huge!

- And she liked it! - Cookie Cat song! - Pearl’s cookie cat disappeared during that, and never returned... - All 39 states?! This is a different America, for sure. - He finally got a therapist!!! - “Do not try to talk me out of this!” “When are you leaving?” LMTO! Cold, Pearl. Cold. - Classic Crystal Gems took it better than New Crystal Gems. - “Wherever you go, there you are.” That’s fair. - She blew her nose on it! - Ugh, one of those all-in-one artboxes... They actually suck. Although, this one has a wooden box, so maybe it’s better quality? - Except maybe Pearl, who basically started the rebellion? - “I’m gonna use my tears to make a watercolour painting of you!” You be you, Lapis. You be you. - Jasper, making an entrance. Literally. And acting like she was standing there the entire time! LMTO! - Nope, not happening. - Oh, for fuck’s sake! Just walk through the first hole, not make a new one! She is so fucking extra, istg... - He just wants them to admit that they’ll miss him... - Translation: Yeah, it’s a bit petty. - Greg’s in love with that bed. - Also, it’s nice that he’ll finally have an actual home now. - They kissed! On the lips! Undeniably Canon Converse! - Whoa! Car did a headstand! - Holy shit! The goggles cannot contain the tears! - Pearl: *incoherent sobbing* Garnet: “Pearl agrees.” LMTO! After five thousand years of listening to Pearl cry, Garnet’s able to translate her. - Over 363 versions of his wedding! To Connie, of course! - Townies all gathered to wave goodbye and wish him luck. -Onion has his old Cheeseburger Backpack! - Ronaldo’s back together with Jane! - Mr. Frowney’s back! - More gourd pets!

TL;DR: Steven wants to go on a ROAD TRIP!; Family means letting them go, but always being there.; STEVEN FINALLY HAS A THERAPIST! That’s huge!.

Hopefully, the various loose ends will be tied up in the upcoming ‘End of an Era’ book that’s due later this year. Like the contents of the chest. What the world map looks like, complete with the 39! American states. Everyone’s actual ages. The complete official timeline is what I’m really hoping for, though.

That’s it. It’s over (isn’t it?)... Goodbye, Steven Universe. We will always remember you.

[zxcerjnvxrh]

havent watched yj yet bc a bitch is broke!!! and waiting for all the eps to drop BUT this ominous shit about ep 18 has me doubly confused cuz idk whats happening in the second half of the season!! but there are only so many things that could piss of the entire fandom so my guesses:

they bring back wally but kill a different character to do so

they introduce the 68th het couple, confirm some rando bg character is gay AND kill them in the span of like 4 minutes

dick does something he thinks is morally ambiguous but Fun Fact it’s actually just Bad

lian dies

....oh fuck im doubling my money on lian dying

a character we relatively like kills lian OR they kill her on screen

yjfanvids more or less said its not will/artemis but they could b lying...so what if its will/artemis

they kill off one of the kids who Does Not Fucking Deserve It, like gar

or holy fuck they kill off an older team member who has survived this long just to die in the last 30 seconds of the episode

i refuse to imply that it will in anyway be kaldur, but if it, im challenging greg weisman to a duel in jersey