#like idk about him but i would've had a whole identity crisis

[autisticlilith]

After like five yrs I finally watched SU:Future and the last episode of Steven Universe myself— turns out I actually stopped right before the last episode, which is weird cuz I thought I had missed a whole season, but yh.

But anyways I wasn't blessed enough to not see all the socmed posts abt it— in fact I watched it cuz of the sort of SU renaissance last month —but why did everyone make it out that the memes making fun of the ending were wrong? The plot was exactly as what was claimed. Now I'm getting flashbacks to the LandlordCap diskhorse, cuz it feels like ppl are claiming that detractor's reading of the text is wrong when said reading is flatly correct & the actual unspoken objections are whether the text is enjoyable as an audience member or not

Like with the amount of posts being like "Steven actually HATES the diamonds and fantasizes and even attempts to murder White!" I thought that the sunshine boy protagonist somehow underwent a drastic change, but no he's still sunshine boy— and to be clear, He should still be sunshine boy, that's not a problem at all! —but when I watched the actual arc, the context got totally erased by ppl who think they were "defending" the show but we're actually mischaracterizing it severely. Steven's anger get framed as a mixture of trauma and superpowered pubescent identity crisis that— in the most literal sense —turns him into a raging monster and gets heals through the power of his family's love, which includes the Diamonds hugging him until they all cry and go back to normal. But the way ppl acted, I though Steven was gonna get revenge— for himself or others —but no it's framed as a horrific impulse that was a sign of his descent into madness that he needed help with.

Idk why there were sm many posts misrepresenting the arc when there could be posts wondering why tf the series puts sm onus into Rose/Pink— and that's not to say she didn't do things ppl should be mad at her for, but if we're gonna play relativity games.. then why did the other Diamonds get a series of quirky fun cutesy hobbies while the mere mention of Rose puts the characters on their toes? —And also why did SU: Future completely flatten every non-Steven character? In the main series the "side" characters often had the most personality and growth, but in SU:F they're so flat and dull and effectively lampshaded for Steven crying hour redux. I can see why SU:F wasn't really a hit.

Amd also with the surviving CG's (especially Bismuth) making such a big desk about their friends and comrades lost in the war, you'd think uncorrupting the Crystal Gems would introduce a wide and expansive cast for SU:Future, but they have no character either and the surviving CGs act like they're just acquaintences at best. Seems like a waste of a Future spinoff, and that's saying smth bc the mainline show— in light of getting cut 40 episodes short —wasted a whole episode of their limited schedule just for Watermelon Steven making a phone call from prison.

And— now I'm just thinking about other potential content —you know what else could make for like a flashback or something, smth abt Who made the Diamonds. Or at least White Diamond cuz maybe she made Blue and Yellow. I always headcanon'ed that an advanced organic civilization invention the gem lifeform and created White, but either their civ died out or she killed them or White's creation drained their entire planet's resources and accidentally self-destructed them, and then White perhaps created the others by draining entire other planets for one gem. Whatever the case, I'm sure it's canon that Pink was a later creation cuz she was entirely unfamiliar with organic life, but it would've been cool to see confirmation about White's origins and who made her.

who is this. why are you sending me a whole novel

[justanisabelakinnie]

I've seen this post of your, and Idk if this is critical thinking or not but I do agree with you on that. However I think people like those characters because of either appearances or ideas around. It's like the whole show and tell thing: We are told that Camilo has identity issues and does impressions to make others happy. We theorized that he only gets validation when he isn't someone else. However we were shown a minor shapeshifter character that says a few funny lines.

Don't get me wrong, I like those ideas because in theory if that was the character we were shown, he would've been a great characters but that's not what we were shown. In reality, I think Camilo and Bruno are overhyped. Overhyped isn't a bad thing, but people treat it like it is because it sounds wrong. Idk why but I would like to share this. I guess I wanna start a discussion on this cause idk if this is critical thinking or just being Captain Obvious.

I agree, I would have liked it if they actually SHOWED Camilo's interests and identity crisis onscreen in some way instead of just going "oh yeah he has one teenagers amirite" and just...telling us he's a theatre kid instead of actually showing it onscreen. Camilo having an identity crisis because of his shapeshifting could be interesting, same with him being a naturally theatrical person. Maybe he's a drama queen who overreacts over the slightest thing? Maybe he's overly emotional/crybabyish and he gets it from his mother and that's why he's a mama's boy? Maybe it's connected to his identity crisis in some way because he gets to play multiple different characters and not have to be himself? Idk. I know they didn't have enough time but that is exactly why the movie could have been longer but oh well budget I guess. It's just that fandom misogyny is definitely a part of why they are so overhyped, like you said. I completely agree with you. But nobody wants to talk about it.

Bruno at least has development and a reason to be popular, though even he is overhyped too just like Camilo. My intention was never at all to say "stop liking these characters, if you like Camilo and Bruno, you are sexist" but it's embarrassing that I even have to say this because it's the only way these people will listen: if you placate them and tell them what they want to hear. Just consider why it is these two particular characters who are popular. Especially since most of the reasons they say they like them is because of things that apply to the female characters as well, especially Bruno. Mirabel also felt like the black sheep, Mirabel also had a good relationship with her mom, Isabela and Luisa also felt like their gifts were a burden, Luisa especially felt like she was nothing without it. So it makes me wonder(not) why people latch onto the two male characters for having qualities that the female ones do too, and then sleeping on and villainizing them whenever they get the chance.

It's very critical thinking and I'm glad you sent this into my starved little inbox. ;( I really wish this was more talked about, and hopefully that this led to people focusing more on appreciating the real center and surprisingly unsung heroes of the movie's plot: the women. 

EDIT: FTA that someone on YouTube legit fucking told me that “Mirabel is too loud and expressive to be interesting and her design is less impressive than Dolores’ and Camilo’s. :/” YOU GET WHAT THE FUCK YOU DESERVE FOR SAYING THAT SHIT no but all jokes aside I don’t even know what to make of this anymore. 

[gone-series-orchid]

I know you didn't finish it, but what did you think of the sequel series characters? And what did you expect the sequels to be like when they were announced? I thought they'd be a toned down exploration of the characters trauma, I was not expecting them to be so intense lol

hi, anon!

i really enjoyed dekka as a protagonist! it was really fun seeing her shine! this might be a given since she has a whole series worth of books that give her presence and depth, but she felt a lot more interesting and her struggles a lot more urgent than any of the other new characters.

cruz! i liked cruz. i think she was one of the only new characters that really stuck out to me. her gender identity crisis felt, to me at least, written tastefully and sensitively, and i really think mg excelled at writing a character whose insecurities (and not only those gender-related) were palpable. her latching onto shade, who in contrast has such a strongly defined sense of self, felt very understandable. i think it would've been interesting to see how she developed if the rest of the first book didn't fall so flat for me.

shade! oh, boy. i really wanted to like shade, but her character never quite clicked for me. she was a genius and sometimes calculating like astrid (which i like!), but she seemed to lack her compassion and morality. i never quite understood why she was so desperate to get into the supernatural nitty-gritty knowing how much grief and trauma the fayz caused so many kids her age. i mean, her mom died and that's awful, but i never really understood her motivations exactly. her actions never seemed to gel with her genius characterization--they just seemed sort of reckless and hard to justify. the original series had the benefit of the characters being dropped into the fayz and having to sort out the answers themselves, deprived of food and shelter and parental authority, and having to survive all by themselves. but shade wants to endanger herself and eat radioactive rock, despite living in the normal world where she's taken care of because...her mom died? i just can't sympathize i'm sorry. her character flopped for me :/ but maybe she gets better in the other books? i just wasn't convinced of her genius because what genius would get themselves willingly wrapped up in the fayz after what all those other kids went through? it's especially frustrating since we get dekka's pov and know, intimately, the trauma she's still suffering. idk shade makes me mad i just don't understand her

malik! we don't get much of malik in the first book, but he seems cool. i like him.

armo! again, not too much of him, but he also seems cool!

vincent vu! ableist characterization aside, i gotta admit, i really liked vincent vu. idk.

drake-lite guy who was the villain but died: i really liked his backstory about being in the fayz but being a totally ordinary nobody who wanted to be a comedian. that's such an interesting idea!

[subfunctions]

I keep thinking about the Lightkeeper Protocol and like? Idk I wonder how well it would've(or wouldn't?) work out. Like the wiki says they had genetic materials of the alphas in cradle and they would've been moved to Gaia prime afterwards? Did all cradle facilities had the material? How would they move them to Gaia prime then? How well do you the clones would've worked willingly on the project and not sabotage all the hard work? Would they have had like identity crisis and break down(or have the same name as well, I'd imagine theyw ould probably but wouldn't that be confusing)? Does this mean ted faro may have had genetic material as well? Like idk so many questions with it. Thoughts?

I think that’s exactly why Elisabet canned the project, because the possibilities are ghoulish, and the mental health of the clones probably would have suffered greatly. Aloy will ultimately be fine because she’s not trapped underground and will have the whole world at her fingers, and even the initial Cradle humans had a better deal because their only real objective was to survive + they got out eventually. But for potential Lightkeepers, the Alphas themselves would have ultimately been in no mental place to raise children, and the circumstances would have just been bad all around.

I don’t remember the bit about GAIA Prime, so idk. And I’m not sure about Ted, but my stance on that has always been that I don’t want to see him again in any form except datapoints. Clone Ted is a no from me.