#it makes the homeworld gems feel so alien and distant really effectively

[hifi-walkman]

Thoughts on that kids show from the 2010s that changed the course of my life:

So, season 1 of Steven universe is really clever, because it shows the world from the perspective of a child in such an effective way. For example, the plot.

The viewers become aware of homeworld as a threat in ocean gem, but the crystal gems (other than Steven) know homeworld is coming from episode 2.

The red eye is the first thing homeworld does to check on earth, and the crystal gems are *powerless* to destroy it until the laser light canon is used (and that's *old* gem tech, not even the new stuff!)

In serious Steven, Coach Steven, and Steven's lion the gems are actively working to dismantle structures they had previously left untouched for thousands of years. Why? In case the diamonds try to use them.

Even after lapis' two parter the extent of why and how the gems are preparing for homeworld to attack isn't spelled out.

Pearl is trying to *escape* just like lapis did in Space Race, she knows it's possible... She knows if they leave earth they can be safe. Warp tour shows more explicitly that homeworld was already coming before lapis left, that even though she was Steven's introduction to the concept, homeworld was already interested in earth for other reasons. In rose's scabbard, they're clearly cleaning up the battlefield to keep extra weapons out of homeworld's hands, as it happens right between two major homeworld episodes, and just barely before the finale itself. Steven may not have known homeworld gems were coming for them, but the crystal gems did, the message only told them just how little time they had to prepare for it.

When you're watching Steven Universe for the first time, all this context slips past, you don't consider the reasons for the crystal gems going on certain missions, because the viewer doesn't have the information to even realize there was anything to consider (because the crystal gems are obviously keeping that info from Steven early on). Only on a rewatch does the exact level of urgency weigh in on the viewer, only when looking back do they realize exactly how much danger Steven was in even in the first season. It's a really clever set of details.

[jheselbraum]

Part of why the writing of steven universe is one reason for the common fan interpretation of Rose (that she is, somehow, an irredeemable monster despite the concept of irredeemable monsters being in complete opposition to the show's thesis) is that Rose haunts the narrative so fucking much that it feels like the show... forgot? To include more stuff about the other diamonds being evil? We're shown them doing horrible things a number of times (the biggest being the corruption blast, of course) but each of them only really gets one arc where they do one truly awful thing. White's only directly shown during the final arc of the series, of course, and thus only gets that final arc to show off how truly heinous she is (and boy howdy does she pull out all the stops trying to do this), but we only see Yellow being evil during the cluster arc, we don't really get much more on her aside from that and we don't see her making either it or the other gem experiments. We only see her invading other planets once in the show and even then it's from a distance in the form of a surrealist flashback that focuses more on and tells us more about Pink (as an aside, the entire concept of colonization in the show is often relegated to flashbacks or simply not shown. Gem Colonization, like Rose herself, haunts the narrative but it does it in such a way that looking back its ties and symbolism regarding real world colonization isn't as strong as it is in some other shows, and is arguably barely there at all. It's got the trappings of classic b-movie alien invasion but in a less directly and culturally disruptive way. Human culture largely developed the same as it did in the real world, albeit with a few name changes, whereas in a show like The Owl House even though the dominant culture of the show isn't a human one we'd be familiar with, even casual watchers can tell that witch culture is something that's been deeply disrupted by Belos in a way that perfectly encapsulates the effects of colonialism on the cultures it tries to erase. Belos is also never openly mentioned as a colonizer despite literally being a colonist, and yet he's a much stronger metaphor for a fascist, colonialist, overlord than the diamonds ever were. The colonization metaphor in Steven Universe leans very heavily on a couple of Jasper's lines and the word colonization itself. While Steven Universe very much feels like it was going to have political undertones at some point, particularly in the early Peridot arcs, the story seems to pivot and dive head first into "homeworld isn't the government, homeworld is your parents" somewhere around the 3rd or 4th season. This pivot into the eventual metaphor for the diamonds works better with the central thesis of the show but contributed if not directly caused a lot of fandom bullshit because people were expecting the diamonds to be full on space nazis and not your homophobic grandma).

Blue's big villain moment is her kidnapping Greg. We see her threatening to shatter Ruby in a distant flashback, a grudge that Garnet holds throughout the rest of the show and brings up several times but it honestly comes off as a way to remind the audience that we're supposed to think Blue is a tyrant and not a giant homophobic sad sack too upset over the loss of the gemdaughter she neglected and mistreated to do much. Narratively speaking, she's not presented as being as threatening as Yellow, who herself doesn't get much time to be threatening on screen. And while both Yellow and Blue remain villains until the last episode, throughout the entire Diamond Days arc they're arguably at least trying to help Steven get through the princess gauntlet. Their villainy is distant, and much of what we do see outside their big reveal arcs was directed at Pink.

Meanwhile, most of the other rogues filling out the SU roster are either corrupted gems with little to no agency in the narrative, Lapis and Peridot, or gems who have some bone to pick with Rose and have decided to ruin Steven's day about it. What do we have on Pink? Well she bubbled Bismuth, cracked Volleyball's eye with her trauma beam, left Spinel in the garden, didn't tell Garnet she used to be Pink, didn't tell Greg she used to be Pink (but notably almost did), commanded Pearl not to tell anyone she used to be Pink, started a war, Rose intimately haunts the narrative and she kind of has to in order for that climax where White takes Steven's gem out in a failed attempt at bringing her back to really hit right but like. We got an entire movie where the plot was "Hey Rose fucked up here's a brand new villain that everyone can project themselves onto." Her mistakes are deeply interpersonal ones, not vague science fiction concepts like Yellow, and they're not overshadowed by just how sad she is all the time like Blue, and they're not saved for the very end like White. And that deeply human, interpersonal, relatable evil the other diamonds commit? It's abusing Pink.

I'm going to be generous here and blame part of this on the fact that the show was cut short (I brought up TOH earlier in this post but I'm gonna do it again to mention that what they were able to do with their shortened show is an absolute miracle, most shows can't pull off a near-perfect finale like that at all, let alone on such a strict time schedule. S3 of TOH still felt complete while giving us little bites of what could've been here and there. The last arc of SU felt like they were ticking off boxes in some places, and I'm glad that Future and the movie were able to happen because while the finale would've been serviceable I really think the story needed those last bits for Steven's sake) but god, how this show balanced Rose against the diamonds really distorted things and honestly as much as I love this show it really weakens the overall writing for me.

[maine-writes]

Meanwhile...: Steven and Connie's Adventure & Couple Time

Space, the final frontier. When one looks up at the night sky, one looks upon a million, billion stars, each star is either a distant solar system or an entirely galaxy of its own. So when one looks upon a star, they are really looking at another sun of another, distant world, or a million suns with a million planets.

But with the miracle of alien technology, where one generates an artificial gravitic singularity to "bend" space in front of a vessel and expand space behind it, allowing said vessel to travel past the speed of light without experiencing the negative side effects of such travel, this vast expanse of space becomes a little smaller.

"This is great, isn't it?" Steven said, lying in bed as he stared at the viewscreen on the ceiling of the room showing the vastness of space.

"Yeah, sure." Connie unenthusiastically agreed.

The pair were on an adventure of a lifetime, or at least their latest strange adventure. A childhood of near-death experiences and adventures tend to make subsequent adventures rather mundane, even the space adventures. But on this particular one, the couple were destined for an old Era 1 colony, located on a planet beyond the Perseus Veil. According to the Diamonds, this colony was one of White Diamond's first and was believed lost after a supernova caused them to lose contact with the colony. Recently, an expedition led by Lars Barriga reported that the colony was alive and well, unaware of the events of Era 3. After initial contact, it now falls on Steven and Connie to check on the status of the colony and get them up to speed.

But first, they have to get there.

So now we find the loving couple, lying in bed in comfort as their vessel speeds past hundreds of star systems on the way to the colony.

"We get to help a bunch of Gems catch up with the rest of Homeworld." Steven continued. "Helping people to make the universe a better place."

"Yeah," Connie muttered, "Just you, me, and Jasper lying between us."

Of course, Steven and Connie weren't going to a distant alien world alone, they had a small contingent of Gems accompanying them. However, Jasper, being the protective Quartz soldier she is, insisted that she come along as well.

"I get the feeling you don't like me being here." Jasper grumbled.

"Oh no," Connie quipped, "Why wouldn't I enjoy a big, buff Gem intruding on me and my husband's alone time?"

"Steven is an important dignitary on an important diplomatic mission." The Gem argued. "We do not know how these Era 1 Gems will react to him. After all, they were independent of the Diamond Authority for well over 10,000 years. So as his bodyguards, we must accompany him wherever he goes."

"What do you mean, we?"

"It makes little sense for only one of us to stand by him at a time. And since he is most vulnerable while sleeping, we must both be as close and as vigilant as possible at this time."

Steven was worried, since Jasper and Connie had been at each other's throats since they boarded. The worse was when he needed to use the bathroom. Jasper was following closely behind him, and when he said he'd rather not have her be in there with him, she called for Connie to take her place. Eventually, she agreed to just having one of them wait at the door.

Jasper was a diligent bodyguard, but sharing a bed with her was going too far.

"Jasper," Connie began as she sat up. "You know, I was really hoping I'd get some alone time with Steven."

"Alone time? Like training?"

"N-Not exactly..."

"Then allow me to training with Steven as well, just like before when he shattered me!"

Hearing this made both Connie and Steven blush, but for very different reasons. To Steven, it was an embarassing chapter of his angst-ridden teen years. To Connie, it sounded pretty bad, but in a different way. What was terrible about the whole situation was that Connie was just planning on cuddling, enjoying each other's company, cute stuff that they never get to do with all the work they have.

"Jasper." Steven interjected. "What Connie means is, the alone time we have is something someone does with someone special to them."

"Am I not special to you?"Jasper asked. Despite her gruff, rough exterior, she did seem genuinely hurt. There was something, puppy-doggish about her amber eyes.

"No! I mean, you are!" Steven stuttered, "I mean, you are important to me, but Connie's important in another way!"

"Explain." Jasper said. "What can Connie do that I can't?"

Steven nervously glanced over at Connie, who was also unsure as to how to approach this problem. They thought they'd have their first "The Talk" with Vonvon, who knows a little bit because of Amethyst's loud mouth, Pearl's enthusiastic approach to education, and Garnet tendency of simply stating facts. After a previous incident, however, they realized that they may not have to have "The Talk" with their child after all. But somehow, explaining human biology to a Gem was just as embarassing.

"I don't get it." Jasper stated after Steven's convoluted, vague, and flustered explanation.

"Well, Gems and humans are different." Connie said, "You guys come fully formed out of the ground. There's not a lot of similarities."

"Show me."

"No."

The whole trip would turn out to be a nightmare for Connie and Steven. Jasper, unwilling to accept that she was possibly not as "useful" or important as Connie, would loudly demand that the couple demonstrate the particular miraculous human activity they inadvertantly exposed her to. The worst was whenever they hugged or cuddled, Jasper would appear and ask if they were currently demonstrating said activity, which only furthered their embarassment.

Connie only wanted to cuddle, maybe kiss. How did it end up like this?

Their visit to the colony itself was mostly uneventful, exactly as one would imagine a diplomatic visit. One unexpected aspect of the colony was the civil war they fought and the establishment of a diverse ruling council. In all, Steven thought they could easily integrate into Homeworld's Era 3. But that was a long ways away, as the council must gather the opinions of the colony and come to an agreement on a course of action. The Pearl that greeted them when they landed, an interesting Aubergine Pearl, was rather excited to finally meet someone from Homeworld. She showed them the vast cityscape they had managed to build from their old spaceships and native materials. Steven and Connie were taken by the seas of crimson grass, the violet sky illuminated by two suns by day and the nebulous glow of the Perseus Veil in the moonless night, and the warm, black sands of the earth. In the distance, natural obsidian spires tower over the colony's skyscrapers, which tended to be mirror-like in appearance to better preserve the natural beauty of the surrounding landscape. The interiors of these buildings were typical of the interior of Era 1 colony ships; marble-like stone, carved into geometric shapes.

Although there were many who were afraid Steven would attempt to re-establish the Diamond Authority's rule over the Perseus Colony, their worries were quickly laid to rest with his presentation on the events leading up to Era 3 and the many changes Homeworld had undergone. There was even a pre-recorded message from White Diamond, encouraging the colony to continue "pursuing the life and freedom" they desired. Luckily, they didn't need the pre-recorded message from White Diamond that was to be used if the colony was hostile.

But during that whole weekend, Connie was still irritated. When not out touring the colony with the Perseus Gems, the couple were interrupted by Jasper.

"Steven! I can't take it anymore!" She screamed as the couple were standing on a balcony overlooking the colony. "We finally have time to ourselves and an easy mission! Can't you just pull rank or something and get Jasper to leave us alone?!"

"I tried, but she insists on being nearby."

"Steven. We have been working for eight months straight." Connie continued, grabbing her husband by the shoulders. "For six of them, we were on different planets. I'm kissing you, we're cuddling, we are going to enjoy each other's company on a beautiful, alien world!"

But shortly after planting her lips on her husband, Connie was interrupted by the big orange Gem bursting through the balcony door.

"So this is kissing!"

"That's it!" Connie screamed, drawing her big pink sword, "You've hus-blocked me for the last time!"

Steven would say something. But he knew better than to get in the way of his angry, sword-wielding wife. He just hoped the Diamonds were faring better in their endeavor of taking care of Vonvon, blissfully unaware of the horrible mistake they made at around the same time.

@artsycooky13

[breakingdownsu]

Bits and Pieces

A gem that does illegal modifications on pearls, her own pearl, and the space between them.

.....

Bits and Pieces

Author's note: a commenter on ASOP said she'd like to see more of the Orthoclase and pearl characters from the most recent chapter, and I felt like expanding a little on their story too, so Lyprelia here you go!

Also, because I'm a somewhat shameless self-promoter, please support my novel if you like my work:

US link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BGSPPBY

UK link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07BGSPPBY

…..

“That last one had some shimmer left over. They really do go overboard with the new line....you want some?”

“No thank you.”

“Why not? You'd look like new, I've got nowhere else to put it...”

“I'd just prefer to stay like this, thank you.”

“Fine, be boring. I'll keep it in the back in case you change your mind.”

…..

Orthoclase hadn't set out to be one of Homeworld's most sought-after underground remodelers. She'd fallen into it quite by accident, during the waning cycles of the zoatox war. She had come out of the ground much smaller than the average Orthoclase and therefore unsuited for direct combat, but a knack with machinery had put her in the hangar squad.

The Jaspers had a set of three pearls at the start of the war (illegal, of course) and had broken one. When a second one seemed on the verge of breaking, one of the Jaspers brought it to Orthoclase.

“What do you want me to do with it?” she had asked, only getting a shrug in response.

“At least get it to stop making that weird noise,” the Jasper begged sullenly, already walking away.

The 'weird noise' was a high-pitched whine coming from the back of the pearl's throat. Orthoclase only took the job because she had nothing better to do; she took out an old half-scrambled manual on pearl maintenance and deduced that the only way to stop the noise was to sever the pearl's manifested vocal chords.

“That can't be right,” she muttered to herself, searching the databases for other solutions.

In the end, she found that applying the right amount of pressure to the edge of the pearl's gem setting would get it to stop making involuntary noises. She fashioned a somewhat crude splint out of a polymer base and soldered it on, and sure enough the pearl stopped making the noise. She sent it back to the Jasper.

Word soon spread that Orthoclase was some sort of genius when it came to pearls. The fact that the pearl was broken two cycles later didn't seem to matter.

…..

“That last customer paid us a bit extra. Fancy some new apparel?”

“No, I'm all right, thank you.”

“Come on, you've been wearing that old thing since you left whats-her-face...pick something comfortable.”

“I am comfortable as I am.”

“Okay, guess I'll spend it all on compound then.”

…..

Everything she learned about pearls, she learned on her own. She tracked down all the manuals, even for the old, outdated and the limited editions. She picked up tips and tricks on the underground information banks. She experimented on broken pearls during her brief time as an impound worker, before they were due to be processed.

It fascinated her; they were so alien and yet also more like real gems than appliances. She'd heard the comparisons to zoatoxes and scoffed. There were superficial similarities, but they resembled gems more closely. Even their creation was gemlike, though it was the slow water-based buildup rather than growing in the earth.

The potential they had made Orthoclase a little sad that they were just used as a luxury item. From what she had learned, pearls had a versatility that was rare in gems. They adapted perfectly to just about any task. Perhaps if they had been used more effectively in the zoatox war, Diamond Core wouldn't have had to make the sacrifice she did.

…..

“How about a recolour? All the fashionable pearls are in pastels right now.”

“I'm happy with my colour, thank you.”

“Really? Not even your hair?”

“Really. I am fine.”

“You know it won't cost me anything....I have all the stuff here, I can do it no problem, just say the word.”

“I will keep that in mind. Still, no thank you.”

…..

Given how fascinated Orthoclase had become with all things pearl, it took quite a while for her to get a pearl of her own. She couldn't afford a brand new one, and the black market pearls came with heavy damage (that she could probably fix, but it made her uncomfortable for reasons she didn't quite understand.)

In the end, it was a pearl that came through the impound that caught her eye. It looked to be in near-perfect condition, if plainly dressed in a short indigo tunic with its dark red hair pinned back in a thick tail. It had unusually large eyes, typical of the 5VO series, and something in its expression captured Orthoclase's attention.

She pretended to crush it, but instead she slipped it into her pocket. The impound had sensors to prevent this kind of thing, but she knew well how to get past them.

She remodeled it, not extensively but just enough tweaking to satisfy herself. She removed its spike, and when it had finally stopped crying and flinching at everything she gave its functions an upgrade. She set it to work on simple tasks at first, handling her stocks and orders, filtering her requests and organizing her tools. After a while, she started trusting it with more important things.

“I should've done this a long time ago,” she said one cycle, midway through a mass tweaking on a pearl that her pearl was assisting with. “You're better than Jade ever was.”

Her old partner Jade had been good, but suffered from bouts of squeamishness. The pearl, on the other hand, was holding both sides of the worked-on pearl's ribcage open without even blinking when she got a splash of liquid nacre on her face. Her stoicism when it came to the really messy parts of pearl remodeling was nothing short of astounding.

…..

“That was a strange one, right? It's not just me?”

“No, that was very strange.”

“Maybe she had some sort of thing for fused gems or something...she got lucky we had a scrap pearl on hand. Speaking of, since we only used the arms, the legs...”

“No, thank you.”

“Figured you'd say that. Think of what you could do with four legs. Doesn't appeal?”

“Not really, no.”

…..

The pearl turned her more-like-a-hobby-job into a fully fledged operation. She efficiently sorted through Orthoclase's requests as they came, memorized at least as much of the manuals and notes on pearls as Orthoclase had in the early cycles, and handled the risks Orthoclase took with as much indifference as she handled everything else.

The few remodelers Orthoclase had worked with before had balked at the idea of picking up pearls in public areas, or gathering scrap pearls directly from the impound, but thanks to Pearl's subspace transporting whatever she was working on was easy.

It allowed her to take on riskier jobs, jobs that other remodelers would never risk. Jobs disguising stolen pearls, fixing what was left of the barracks pearls, even disguising pearls as other gems. That one was particularly tricky, because it involved opening up the pearl's manifested form and warping its skeletal base to allow for extra mass. If done incorrectly, or if the gem doing the operation made a wrong move, it could potentially corrupt the mass and turn toxic.

Pearl, however, was perfectly fine with holding another pearl's innards while Orthoclase worked on them. At least, she thought she was fine with it. If Pearl wasn't, she gave no outward sign.

…..

“That's the third one this cycle. We're not doing it.”

“Can we afford to turn it down?”

“Yes, if we wait to order those spray matts next tripcycle. We just have to lay low for a while. They can find someone else.”

“....”

“....”

“....”

“....you can act relieved, you know.”

“What do you mean?”

“You know what I mean. I know you hate those jobs. You don't have to pretend you don't.”

“I will do as I'm told.”

“I know you will, that's not the point....look, be honest with me, okay?”

“All right.”

“You hate those jobs.”

“Yes.”

“And you're relieved we're not doing this one.”

“.....”

“Well?”

“...no, I'm not relieved.”

“Okay....tell me why.”

“At least if we did the job we could block her pain receptors. If another remodeler takes the job, they won't do that.”

“Oh.”

“....”

“....”

“....fine, we'll take the job.”

…..

It was getting harder and harder to do the remodelling work, as she got to know Pearl better.

She had always known there was something more to pearls than Homeworld imagined, but she hadn't seen it properly until the first time she caught Pearl modifying a work-in-progress. And now...how could she not see it?

Orthoclase found herself watching Pearl out of the corner of her eye as she shaved down another pearl's gem, cracked open a chest or sawed off a limb, watching for a telltale flinch or even a blink.

Nothing.

It was frustrating. Beyond those first two cycles after her spike had been removed, Pearl had never really shown any emotion. Orthoclase knew they were there, they had to be. If they weren't, where had her sense of mercy come from?

Ultimately, the more she probed and refashioned and rebuilt pearl after pearl, her own Pearl stayed distant, unknowable.

…..

“Have you got a glitch or something?”

“I don't think so. I feel fine.”

“Your fingers....they look a bit twitchy lately.”

“It is nothing to be concerned about.”

“Did you pick it up from one of the new jobs? I see them do it too, is it some sort of virus?”

“No.”

“Right. Whatever.”

“.....”

“....if there was something wrong, you'd tell me. Right?”

“Of course.”

“So this finger thing....it's not something to worry about?”

“Not at all.”

“Well then.....get back to work.”