#sketchertalkssu

[seventeendeer]

wait, how did su piss you off? plz i need gossip

oh mood, I will indulge you 100%, as you are indulging me in turn with this question hahaha

okay first of all, I have to disclaim that I think steven universe is fine. some parts of it are amazing, some parts of it aren't that great, but it has great messages for kids and cute art and brought a complexity to children's television that had been missing from tv for years at the time it was made, and it changed the industry for the better in a bunch of different ways. I've got mad respect for the crew. my gripes are purely personal. I love this show like one loves an imperfect parent; it brings joy and comfort when it isn't busy severely hurting my feelings.

the thing that brought the record scratch "hey wait I don't like that !!" moment for me was how about halfway into the show, the characters start laying way too much into rose quartz. I've always related extremely heavily to rose - her character brought me a lot of comfort when I was a fat teen learning to love my body as well! - so it's hard for me not to feel weirdly hurt at how much her character was dragged through the mud for the sake of the other characters' personal development.

I kept hoping it would eventually let up. so many of the show's themes circle back to "people are a product of their environment and anyone can improve and make a better life for themself given the opportunity", and I sort of assumed that after talking her up as the Best Person Ever, and then talking about her as if she was the Worst Person Ever, her arc would finish with a thematically appropriate "she did what she could with what she had, and by learning to see her good and bad sides equally, steven will learn to love himself as a complex, imperfect person too!", But That Shit Sure Never Happened !

after steven universe future ended with rose's portrait stashed away in storage so the others wouldn't have to look at her anymore, I was honestly genuinely really sad. this character meant a lot to me and I felt angry seeing the narrative refuse to give her the same benefit of the doubt that it extended to way shittier, meaner people in the story who had to be all but dragged into acting nicer, while rose literally killed herself trying to be better. she was allowed a lot of depth and nuance, which is nice, but it was heartbreaking seeing everyone she loved love her a little bit less by the end, even though she fought for literally thousands of years to try to overcome her own problems.

my own feelings aside, I do think this was a misstep in the writing. I think it undermined the show's themes and came off way more mean-spirited than the show tries to be. I think the writers got so caught up in telling kids it's okay to be mad at someone who hurt you by accident, they forgot to commit to everything else the show was about.

it would have been easy to fix the end of her story, too, if you ask me. just one scene toward the end of greg reminiscing about the good times he had with rose and the person she was when she was with him, the person she wanted to be, could have mended so much of the problem. it wouldn't have taken full advantage of her character, but at least it also wouldn't have spit in the face of both the show's core themes and kids in the audience who looked at rose and saw themselves.

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for the sweet and pure ask meme, ✨, 🍓, and 💬?

✨- which fictional character (book, show, or movie) do you relate to most?

This one is soooo hard because I relate really closely to a lot of different fictional characters, but I think maybe the one I relate to the most is Rose Quartz from Steven Universe? Thinking about her makes me a bit sad, because I honestly feel like the show really shafted her character in the name of development for the rest of the cast and it makes me kind of bitter/has soured me a little on the series as a whole, but in some ways, that kind of makes me love Rose more out spite.

SU is a fantastic show, but it really did go and try to convince us to have mixed feelings on a character who worked so hard to try to be a better person that it killed her, like, nice try, but I’m gonna adore her anyway lol

🍓- one secret about yourself

My biggest secret is actually that I’m full of secrets! I love talking to people and sharing experiences and expressing feelings, but I’m secretly also a really private person who keeps a lot of thoughts and feelings and past experiences to myself. @thenearsightedmicroraptor unlocked the last bit of Sketcher Lore just a few months back, and we’ve been talking to each other about most anything and everything for over half a decade. I like to pretend to be a simple lad living a simple life, because that’s what I wanna be, but I’m actually filled to the brim with secret unlockable bonus features >:3c

💬- what your last text message says?

congratulating a family member on their negative covid test ... we sure live in interesting times :s

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What’d you think of the finale/worm episode?

OH ... LOTS OF THINGS, MAN

I think I need a little more time before I can like ... fully put my thoughts into words. what I do know is that these were excellent episodes that spun a perfect little ending to the series. it felt like a proper farewell, and I think that’s great. the show kind of coming full circle with all of Steven’s family helping him instead of vice versa was wonderful.

though I must admit, I’m also left with a lot of sadness. once you’ve kept up with a series for over half a decade and actively engaged with it and theorized and hoped for certain things, and potentially gotten attached to things that the writers didn’t intend to address after all, it’s inevitable that there’s going to be some amount of ... grief, or whatever, at seeing the series end and know that the things you were hoping for will now never happen.

this being a very convoluted way of saying that I connected really really heavily with Rose’s story and knowing that the last we ever saw of her was the painting of her being put away because the other characters don’t love her the way they used to hurt me in a way that I will genuinely need some time to recover from

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What do you think about the Steven corruption theory? Do you think it’s gonna happen or is it something else

I actually have an alternate theory! my theory is that since it appears to be Steven’s gem side that’s going out of control in an attempt to protect him from what it perceives to be mortal dangers (a clear parallel to real PTSD), Steven’s own abuse of that side of him is eventually going to end with his gem self going out of control.

I think the giant worm thing in the intro is either 1. the result of him being separated from his gem again somehow, and the big worm is his gem side manifesting as a monster in order to protect his human half, or 2. a monster his gem transforms him into in order to force him to protect himself from imaginary danger.

since corruption seems to only be caused by the Diamonds, and they wouldn’t hurt him anymore at this point, I don’t think he will be corrupted per say. I think he’ll simply lose control of the part of him that’s trying to protect him because he refuses to treat that part of himself with the kindness and understanding that it needs to heal.

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Top five SU episodes?

1. the movie

this is cheating a bit bc of course a full length movie with a higher budget than the series is going to be good, BUT WITH THAT SAID, the movie just really knocked it out of the park, in my opinion! the songs were fantastic, it was really well structured, the visuals were even prettier than normal, and of course ,, Spinel was there ,,, I just really connected with her and I absolutely adore how strong her presence is in the story. I got big big love for villains that are both funny and genuinely scary, she’s got so much flair! I feel like the movie also pulled off emotional moments that were more raw and painful than the rest of show has up until this point. I 100% respect that the series generally keeps the characters’ emotions relatively grounded, because there’s more space to address all the nuances in a problem when the characters get to talk things out properly most of the time, but the sheer drama of the movie was fantastic to watch and hurt in a completely different way. the climax especially felt like a punch in the gut. Steven finally snapping at Spinel, Spinel’s rage and violence, an uplifting song sung during a fierce one-on-one battle, and Spinel finally breaking down crying as she realizes that killing Steven isn’t going to make her feel better all came together to make such a painfully real image of conflict that totally killed my feelings. again, I appreciate that the original series wasn’t often like this, it’s good for different reasons, but the movie resonated with me in a completely different way because of it. I’m glad Future is leaning into this kind of drama more and I’m very excited to see where it goes!

2. Last One Out of Beach City

totally opposite my feelings about the movie, I love that Last One Out is so super low-stakes. it’s a really pleasant episode to watch. seeing the characters just hanging out and having fun is a great time, and I think this is one of the funniest episodes in the show. it also has a really great escapism-y feeling to it, like, who wouldn’t wanna hop in a car, put on a leather jacket and some cool music, run from the cops, have a meet-cute with a large pink-haired punk lady and then go to a party? I think part of my love for it is also that it contains so many little details that mirror my own experience as a lesbian. of course I love Ruby and Sapphire, but they’re Experienced Gays who have had each other for thousands of years and know exactly who they are in relation to their identity. Pearl is a mess who’s trying to put herself back together and take her first unsteady steps towards being a functioning gay, and that’s exactly where I’ve been in my life too for the last several years. trying to catch up on all the fun irresponsible stuff you missed out on previously because you had a full-time job just keeping yourself alive is hard. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a story that put that feeling into such accessible packaging before and it feels so validating.

3. Reunited

this episode is so good in so many ways! of course the big thing was Ruby and Sapphire’s wedding, and them getting to kiss. it was such a huge moment. I remember as a kid, I never thought I’d see something like this for at least another thirty years. what Rebecca Sugar and the rest of the crew have done for queer kids (and queer adults like me, who didn’t get to have this when we were little) can’t be praised enough, I am truly personally grateful to them for fighting this battle for us and sparking a wave of other media that is now allowed to follow her example. also the wedding was just beautifully and heartwarmingly executed, I love that it was allowed to be completed before the Diamonds came. the fight against the Diamonds is also super stellar, it was so cool to see all the characters fight in their formal wear! in general, this episode was just fantastic and I loved it.

4. Jailbreak

the original ‘make Sketcher cry because gays get to be on children’s television now’ episode! I remember I could barely believe it when this episode first came out and Ruby and Sapphire were as confirmed to be in love as they were allowed to be at the time. aside from that, I think it’s also Jasper’s best episode, and she was my favorite character for a while. I love how beautifully she’s drawn in this episode, and how genuinely threatening she gets to be. later episodes portraying her more as Lapis’ stalker ex and a pathetic brute was ... a little bit of a letdown when she started off as such an imposing villain (which seems to be intentional, but I reserve the right to be a lil sad about it) (also why is she drawn so unsettlingly detailed in later episodes? Jailbreak portrays her as super beautiful in a scary tiger woman kind of way, but in later episodes she’s rarely if ever drawn as pretty?). anyway, Jailbreak was awesome and really marked a turning point for the show where it went from great to fantastic storytelling, and I’ll always remember it fondly!

5. Jungle Moon

this one is just cool tbh. loved seeing a whole episode with Stevonnie, loved seeing another planet up close with alien life that weren’t gems, super loved seeing Pink Diamond for real for the first time. ‘stranded on an alien planet’ is such a fun story idea. also Rose/Pink has been one of my favorite characters since the beginning of the show and it was so interesting to learn more about her, even if I didn’t know they were the same person yet! just an overall excellent episode that I like to rewatch sometimes.

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So I know you like Madoka Magika and steven universe, so I gotta ask. What gem would each of the holy quintet be? Or, if you’ve already answered that one, what would each gem’s wish be to become a magical girl?

ooOOHH THIS ASK IS SO EXCITING TO ME, THANK YOU

exciting enough that I ended up uhhh writing a whole little AU in my head about it, where the Madoka-characters took part in the war between Homeworld and the Crystal Gems way back in the day, whoops, here it is:

Madoka - a rose quartz. she defected from Homeworld sometime between the beginning of the Crystal Gem rebellion and the rose quartzes being bubbled, so she was never imprisoned along with the others.

Sayaka - a lapis lazuli. her gem’s cut is imperfect, so her abilities are weaker than most lazulis’. while allied with Homeworld, she had to work twice as hard as others of her kind in order to hide her disability. she defected at the same time Madoka did and the two became close friends. while she fought for the rebellion, she learned to use swords in place of her hydrokinesis.

Mami - a citrine. her cut is perfect and she used to be a valued member of Yellow Diamond’s court. she was one of the first high-ranking Homeworld gems to join the Crystal Gems, but said rank made other Crystal Gems distrustful of her and she had a difficult time fitting in with the others. she met Madoka and Sayaka while on a mission for the rebellion, and when she realized that Madoka didn’t want to fight and Sayaka was barely able to, she convinced both of them to come with her and join the Crystal Gems, where they formed a permanent team.

Kyoko - a carnelian. created on Earth and initially a part of a carnelian squad, before a high-stakes mission went horribly wrong and the Diamonds had her friends shattered for their mistake. Kyoko escaped and hijacked a spaceship, then went on to terrorize Homeworld and the Crystal Gems equally to the best of her ability. after clashing with Sayaka many times, the two formed an almost friendly rivalry, and mere days before the Diamonds unleashed the corruption, Sayaka finally convinced Kyoko to become a Crystal Gem. the two were fused when they were corrupted and their monster form stayed together.

Homura - a black pearl. she was created for a powerful general, but she came out off color and had to be replaced. one of the general’s underlings took pity on her and made her her own pearl, but never treated her as more than a burden that couldn’t get even simple orders right. through a series of misfortunes, Homura ended up lost on Earth, and no one bothered to look for her. Madoka found her and brought her back to the Crystal Gems, where she teamed up with her, Sayaka and Mami. inspired by her new friends’ kindness and courage, Homura trained hard to become a good fighter and learned to use all kinds of artillery in her quest to protect the only people who had ever given her the love she deserved. when the Diamonds’ corruption hit, Madoka managed to save Homura from the blast, but not herself or their other friends, and Homura was left alone again. after the Diamonds left, she tracked down her friends’ monster forms, poofed them, and bubbled their gems. she then spent the next several thousand years wandering the Earth alone, searching the ruins of gem civilization for a cure for their corruption. she was aware of the existence of other gems who survived the corruption, but she couldn’t bear to be with other people after she failed to save her old friends, and actively hid from the others in order to focus on her mission in peace.

Kyubey - a white pearl. he was gifted to Mami when she was still in Yellow Diamond’s service. he defected at the same time that she did, though out of curiosity about life on Earth rather than a wish to save it. he never fought for the rebellion, preferring to study the planet in peace (he also changed his pronouns after learning more about humans). him and Mami remained good friends, and he would frequently follow her and her other friends around the planet just to see what they were doing. when he was corrupted, he remained oddly non-hostile, and while Homura never got along with him when he could talk, she kept him around un-poofed and un-bubbled while she searched for a cure.

-

also, bonus: your second question! also very exciting! so here’s all the main gems’ wishes if they were magical girls in the Madoka-verse:

Pink Diamond - to become someone else. she was reborn as Steven as a result.

Pearl - to have the power to protect Pink and their home city from witches (she contracted before Pink did). she almost became a witch when Pink disappeared, but upon meeting Steven, she decided to protect him the same way she protected his former incarnation and regained hope.

Ruby and Sapphire - to be allowed to stay together forever. when they transform, they fuse into one doubly powerful magical girl, Garnet.

Amethyst - to find her purpose. in a cruel twist, her purpose became to fight witches. when she met Pearl and Garnet, she decided that her real purpose was to fight to protect her friends.

Bismuth - to find a job that made her happy.

Peridot - to never have to work again.

Lapis Lazuli - to protect the city from Jasper’s destructive powers.

Jasper - to gain incredible power through magic.

White Diamond - to have the power to fix her broken family.

Yellow and Blue Diamond - to be allowed to have their own branches of the family company and prove their worth to White.

Spinel - to have the power to get revenge on Pink Diamond and her friends.

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"does steven even know any straight people" consider: ronaldo?

I see we had very different interpretations of the lighthouse episode ...

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Steven knows kevin, so he knows a total of 1(one) straight persons

Ok yes here is a valid contender for Steven's only straight acquaintance. Here he is. The only straight person in SU

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is ronaldo fryman is gay: the actual true conspiracy ronaldo should be investigating

the ultimate conspiracy ... I believe in it

(probably bi or pan, what with him having a gf, but!!! regardless!!!!! steven still only has 1 straight friend and it is not he)

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Me @ those suf titles: what the fuck wHAT THE FUCK WHAT THE F U C K!

I KNOW RIGHT??? ALL THE FANDOM'S WORST FEARS GONNA COME TRUE RIGHT IN FRONT OF OUR EYES

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I’ve never watched Steven universe and only know what it’s about from what you and my friends talk about, but seeing Steven snipe a friggin politician was not what I expected to see is he okay???

he shot him with a t-shrit canon, everything’s chill! no mayors were killed that day, I promise!

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"Supposed to show how the gems influenced earth" . amethyst fucking blew up Russia.

she was in her purple puma form and wanted to body slam a gem monster and. miscalculated

sunk ... the entirety of russia. whoops

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What does the q stand for in steven q universe?

'Quartz'! his full name is Steven Quartz Universe, he just doesn't use his middle name that often.

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How do you feel about Steven Universe Future!

I’ve really enjoyed it!!!! making an epilogue series was such a great idea, this show’s got so many subplots and it’s nice to have a post-series series where they can all get proper closure!

I especially adored the rose quartzes episode and the pink pearl episode, they both introduced fantastic characters that appealed directly to me and my needs ... I really really hope we get to see all these pink friends again before the end of the show, I especially fell in love with shy Rose and desperately need more content with her, what a sweetheart

I’ve always been v v emotionally invested in OG Rose Quartz/Pink Diamond’s story and I’ve been so sad that she’s dead bc it means she can’t actually get involved in the plot, but! now we have the next best thing! her kinda-daughters are here and they are ... so cute ... and have a much less tragic backstory that hurts my heart less

anyway I’m extremely happy we get to have this excellent content and I’m so excited to see more!

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Homura Pearl is so cute

thank you!!! I really like designing pearl-characters! their lore and the variation in their designs is suuuuch an interesting basis for all kinds of characters. had great fun thinking about how Homura’s pearl-form would look vs Kyubey’s, and so on

Homura Pearl is very covered up, wears layers, and forgoes sheer fabric to show that she’s distancing herself from how pearls are ‘supposed’ to look per Homeworld tradition. Kyubey Pearl doesn’t care one way or another, so he dresses more similarly to Homeworld pearls, albeit more practically and in a less revealing way. I imagine Homura changed her form drastically when she became free, while Kyubey only changed a few details.

visual characterization like that is so interesting!

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I want to know everything about this new AU, everything about it is just perfect! Id love to hear more of your headcannons!

thank you so much, I really love it too!! and I would love to share some headcanons, thank you for asking!

more Madoka headcanons:

- she’s about a head shorter than a standard rose quartz soldier. her colors are also in the very pale end of the color spectrum for her kind. she doesn’t quite deviate enough from the others to be considered off-color and her powers work just fine, but her differences did make her insecure while she was in Homeworld’s ranks. joining the Crystal Gems and learning that there’s nothing wrong with being different changed her life.- she looked up to Rose Quartz a great deal and saw her as a role model, hence her similar dress. Homeworld had expected her to be a tough, no-nonsense soldier, which never felt right, so seeing someone who was seemingly just like her be soft and kind and caring inspired her to want to be the same way.- like in canon, she also looked up to Mami and admired her for her determination to help others.- in battle, she would often fuse with Sayaka or Mami. it helped her feel more confident.- she spent a lot of time collecting gem shards after battles, determined to bring the dead home where they could rest.- when she was corrupted, she turned into a similar monster to the other quartzes, and in her healed form she has the same horns that they do, as well as having her eyes no longer be visible.

more Sayaka headcanons:

- she wanted to learn how to make her own swords, but never got around to it, so she settled for taking really good care of the swords she was gifted instead.- because of her weak hydrokinesis, she mostly uses her water wings to assist in long jumps instead of taking proper flight.- during the war, she spent a lot of time hanging out with humans and at one point fell in love with one of them. however, she never told him, and before she found the courage to, he settled down with another human. she mostly kept away from humanity after that, afraid that it would happen again.- at one point late in the war, she was close to giving up and would frequently wonder if it would be best if the Earth was destroyed so everyone would stop fighting over it. what brought her back from this mentality was Kyoko finally joining the Crystal Gems - Sayaka realized that if even someone as bitter and violent as Kyoko could change for the better because of what she’d been through on Earth, then maybe all the misery was worth it in the end.- when she and Kyoko were corrupted, their fusion turned into an absolutely massive armor fish with a giant mane. after getting uncorrupted, Sayaka retains its armored face and a few of its fins.

more Mami headcanons:

- she keeps a large amount of loaded guns stored in her gem that she crafted herself. she tends to use these instead of her summon weapon.- while teamed up with Madoka, Sayaka and Homura, she was the leader and the others followed her without question. this made her a little uncomfortable at first, since it echoed her experiences in Yellow Diamond’s court, but she soon realized that the others followed her because they genuinely trusted her to be the wisest and most competent person in the group, not because of her strength or previous rank. from then on, she worked hard to live up to their image of her and drew strength from knowing that her friends believed in her.- she’s under the impression that Kyubey doesn’t really care about her and never did, and it’s difficult for her to cope with this feeling. the two of them remain on friendly terms and spend a good amount of time together even after she set him free, but Kyubey is very open about the fact that he mostly spends time with her and the others because he finds the rebellion and the newly formed branch of gem society fascinating, and they’re the gems most willing to talk to him and tell him about their deeper reasons for doing what they do. Mami cares about him a great deal and she genuinely wants to be friends with him, but after having effectively ‘owned’ him during the time they spent on Homeworld, she feels like she has no right to ask anything of him now.- like Madoka, her corrupted form was the same beastly type as the other quartzes, and she retains the same side effects.

more Kyoko headcanons:

- her summon weapon is a giant spear.- while her physical form looks just fine for a carnelian, being made in the beta kindergarten still left a mark on her abilities; she’s unable to successfully shapeshift for more than a few seconds at a time.- she was the one who came up with the plan that ended with her and her squad committing the mistake that got the others shattered. deep down, she blames herself for their fate.- she was especially close to one of the other carnelians in her squad, whose poor creation process left her with severely limited strength. the entire squad treated her like the baby of the group, but Kyoko especially had taken it upon herself to protect her, both from their enemies and from their superiors. Kyoko took this carnelian’s shattering the hardest.- before she joined the Crystal Gems during the last days of the rebellion, she made a cruel habit of stealing gemshards from the battlefields around the world. she used them as power sources for various weaponry, and while she didn’t accumulate many in the grand scheme of things, they did give her a significant advantage when terrorizing other gems one-on-one.- after being healed, she retains the mane from hers and Sayaka’s corrupted fusion.

more Homura headcanons:

- the design she’s drawn with in the art I posted is actually her post-war form; during the war, her hair was braided and she had a visor covering the upper half of her face. while she was allied with Homeworld, she had diamond-patterns on her pants, like she does in canon.- like other pearls, her summon weapon is a spear, but she also carries a massive bow in her gem that she uses to fire her spears like arrows. she also has an artillery of human-made weaponry stored away in her gem that she’s stolen from humans over the centuries. she prefers ranged fighting.- because of her off-color gem, she lacks some of the usual abilities that pearls are programmed with. she can’t sing or dance well, and she used to be somewhat clumsy. training for battle helped her overcome her lack of coordination so she’d stand a better chance while fighting, but she still refuses to dance in front of others, so she has never fused with anyone before. she secretly wants to try it.

more Kyubey headcanons:

- back when she was his superior, Mami never really knew how to act around him or what to do with a pearl of her own, and so he was generally given more freedom than the average pearl. other gems in Yellow Diamond’s court tended to avoid him, as his independence and frank way of speaking made them uncomfortable.- he’s extremely adept at shapeshifting and uses it to sneak around unnoticed, often in the form of a butterfly, cat, or other unremarkable creature. he’s infamous among Crystal Gems for eavesdropping on other gems’ private conversations.- he’s extremely inventive and uses his long lifespan to learn about all sorts of scientific fields. he occasionally references owning a laboratory somewhere, but he never specifies where it is or what he uses it for.- his corrupted form looked somewhat similar to his canon alien design, though he of course couldn’t talk in that state. his passive nature in his original form probably contributed to his lack of aggression in his corrupted form. when he was healed, he kept his tail and his solid-red bug eyes.