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duuhrayliegh · 3 years

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male chivalry

warnings: okay so there is a trigger warning of sexual harassment and attempted sexual assault, language, men being gross, protective!bucky, angst a bit, i think that’s it, if you see anything else let me know

word count: 3230 :)

a/n: idk why it took me so long to finish this, but it’s here now!!! also this is based off this post from @teaboot (just the op bc the rest of it pissed me off :)) i hope y’all like it. i hope it’s what y’all expected idk, i’m proud of it.

i really hope i did the topics justice, if you don’t think i did, please shoot me a message and help me figure out how to do better. <3

p.s.: my requests and tag lists are open! also this is not beta read, so all mistakes are my own.

xoxo ray

ray’s m.list

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It had been about three weeks since Bucky had first met the group of four at the protest. Bucky made sure to check in with Steve and let him know what he was doing. Steve was always worrying about Bucky, which was totally understandable because of everything they had been through.

Bucky’s day was a relaxed one with little to no time to dawdle. Over these three weeks, he had learned more from an eighteen year old than he ever thought he would. It was easier to open up to her, for some reason. Bucky hadn’t fully figured that out yet either, but he wasn’t going to question it.

Bucky had been going to his court mandated therapy with Dr. Raynor, to say they were making progress would be a lie. Honestly, Bucky was making more progress with the new individuals in his life. They knew what he did as the Winter Soldier-- no they know what the Winter Soldier did, Cassie made sure the distinction between the two was crystal clear. Bucky was still a bit cautious around them, not wanting to hurt them or be a burden to them.

It amazed Bucky how open they were with each other. Back in the 40’s, you didn’t express your feelings. Especially if you were a man, for fear of being labeled something unsavory. Even stranger still to Bucky was the encouragement and support that everyone gave to those in hard times. It warmed Bucky’s heart to see Penny comforting Freddie after his recent break up.

“Freddie and Ted had been together a little over six months,” Cassie explained to Bucky one night after the group had dispersed from the dining table. Bucky and Cassie were standing over the sink washing the dinner plates and cutlery. “Freddie was so in love with him. I thought Ted felt the same, but I guess that’s just how it goes, right?”

Bucky shrugged, this was one of his first experiences with modern romance. Dating in the 40’s was very rigid, which was to be expected, but nowadays everything is very fluid. It truly fascinated Bucky.

“I honestly don’t know.” Bucky shrugged as he dried the pristine plates. Just as he began to get lost in thought, Evie pulled him into a subject that he hadn’t thought of in a real long time.

“What was it like with women in the forties, Buck?” Bucky blinked at her and considered his answer carefully. The group had been teaching him how to handle some subjects sensitively.

“To be honest? The last date that I went on was to the World Expo of Tomorrow in 1943, the night before I shipped out to England.” He turned, leaning his weight on the counter behind him and crossing his arms over his chest. “I went with Steve, this was before he was Captain America, so when he was a little ol’ gangly thing. I had hooked us up with two women, one for me and one for Stevie, their names were Dot and Connie, I think.”

“No, no, that’s not what I mean, Buck. What was it like with women?”

Bucky tilted his head in question.“What do you mean?”

“What was it like with them? Like, how were they treated as a whole?”

“Oh, uh I think they were treated well? My Ma always told Steve and I to treat women with respect, so we did.”

“Right, but what about everyone else? How did they treat women?” Bucky was confused by the question and he began to think that he was giving the wrong answers.

“Um, I guess I don’t know. I guess they were treated how they are today?” Both of the girls in front of him released disdained scoffs.

“Well, that’s unfortunate, right Cas?” Cassie nodded at Evie and dropped her head in disappointment.

“Why do you say that?” Bucky asked. He was genuinely curious about what the girls were referring to. “I mean, I get that the treatment of women hasn’t always been good but it’s not that bad right?” The girls shared a knowing look, and then Evie sighed. She hauled herself out of her chair and nodded to Bucky.

“Alright, let’s go take a walk, just you and me.”

“Where are we going?”

“Oh, just a couple blocks away to the Walgreens. Sound okay?” Bucky agreed, grabbing his jacket and waiting for Evie by the doorway. “We’ll be back soon, Cas.”

“Uh, are you sure that’s a good idea, Evelyn?” Bucky had only ever heard Cassie use Evie’s full name when she was getting in trouble.

“Yeah, we’ll be fine, Cas, I swear.” Evie glanced at Bucky, “Besides, I’ve got a Sargent escorting me, so we’ve got nothing to worry about.” She threw a smile to her older sister whose face was just a veil of worry and doubt.

Bucky and Evie exited the apartment building and neither of them had said anything since. Bucky was wondering what this whole exercise was all about, but he wasn’t going to say anything until Evie did. The pair walked up onto a crosswalk, causing them to stop and wait so Evie was able to turn the man beside her.

“So, before we go any further, I just want to set the scene for you.” She took a calming breath and it was now that Bucky realized that this was the first time that she was noticeably scared. His brows furrowed and he nodded as she continued. “It’s ten o’clock on a Wednesday night and you’re in Brooklyn, walking to your local Walgreens because you need tampons.” Bucky huffed out a small laugh as Evie playfully glared at the man.

“Yeah, yeah. The female menstrual cycle is hilarious as is the pink tax that is put on feminine hygiene products. Laugh it up, James.” She shook her head and pulled Bucky closer to the front of a building. “I’m trying to tell you something, ya asshole. So, you see that it’s dark outside because it’s late but you decide to risk it anyway because you have a flight to catch at four the next morning. You leave your apartment and you are greeted with this.” She gestured to the expanse in front of her.

“Alright, let’s go. And just a word of wisdom real quick before we really get going. Women are considered fragile but I’ve never seen anything as easily wounded as a man’s ego.”

“Wow, that’s quite a pearl.” Bucky caught up to Evie as she made her way down the street.

“So being a woman and even more so, being a woman at night, means that you have to constantly be on guard.” As they were walking, a man in a greasy white tank top passed them. The man’s head turned and he scanned Evie’s body.

“Goddamn, that’s a sweet little body there, baby girl.” Bucky’s head snapped around to the man, but Evie kept walking. Bucky looked over to Evie with concern riddling his features.

“Hey, sweetcheeks! Let me talk to you for a while!” The greasy man was now following Evie and Bucky. “I bet I can show you a better time than he can, baby girl. Come on, let me talk to you.” He reached his hand out, gripping Evie’s arm and pulling her to face him.

“Please don’t touch me.” “Get your fucking hands off her, you dick.” The man took a step backwards away from the pair.

“Well, fine you bitch! I didn’t want you anyway, fucking fat ass.”

“Hey, you don’t just get to fucking walk away, you jackass! Apologize to her.”

“Why should I apologize to her? I was giving her a compliment.” Bucky’s eyes widened to the size of saucers. Did this guy just fucking--

“Okay, buddy.” Bucky went to approach the man to settle their disagreement when Evie stopped him.

“James, leave it. Let’s go.” She kept walking and Bucky didn’t want to leave her alone, not after that whole debacle.

“What the fuck was that Evie?” He questioned quickly, she shook her head in response but never verbally responded to him. A few paces later, the pair was about to pass a group of men leaned up against the brick wall behind them. Brown paper bags crunched around bottles were grasped in their hands. Drunken laughter was ringing out through the near empty streets.

“Hey baby! Why don’t you come on over here so we can talk to ya!” One of the men began to step in front of Evie effectively stopping her movement. The eighteen year old took a few steps backwards, coincidentally into Bucky’s chest. His arms came up to meet hers, about to move in front of her in a protective stance.

“Woah, you got a bodyguard baby?” The man tilted his head and stared at Evie. “You know you don’t need him sweetheart.”

“Damn, baby girl. You’re fine as hell.” Another man walked to stand next to the first. “What do I gotta do to get you in my bed?”

“Please leave us alone.”

“No, baby girl I don’t think that’s what’s going to happen.” Bucky stepped in front of Evie protectively.

“I think she told you to leave us alone.” The two men in front of Bucky didn’t waver. Two raised brows and a fit of laughter later, they still maintained their ground.

“Why? You guys going somewhere to fuck? Already got a piece of that ass and don’t want to share it big man?”

“That’s just cold. You gotta share sometime. And it’s just easier to do it now rather than later.” Evie trembled behind Bucky and leaned up so only Bucky could hear her.

“Come on Bucky, let’s just go back to the apartment.” She tugged on his right arm, fingers digging into his soft flesh. Bucky was sure that he would have crescent shaped indentations where her nails laid in because of how much she was gripping him.

Bucky’s eyes flicked up and down the two men in front of him, assessing how much of a threat they were. They were clearly enough of a threat to frighten Evie to the point of wanting to go home. Bucky gave Evie a stiff nod, not taking his eyes off of the men.

“Hey, where do you think you’re going baby? We’re just getting started!” One of them yelled at the pair as he reached out to grab Evie’s forearm. A split second later, Bucky’s left hand balled into a fist and he launched it at the man’s face. A loud crack resounded and a groan left the man’s mouth as he hit the ground. A look of shock fell across the other’s faces as they saw Bucky standing over their fallen comrade. The group took several steps away from the pair, holding their hands up in surrender.

“Don’t you ever touch a woman without her permission, you fucking prick.” Bucky then turned quickly, grabbing Evie’s wrist tightly and hauling her away from the men. Several paces later, Bucky still held a tight grip on the girl's arm.

“Bucky, you’re kind of hurting me.” Evie’s voice broke through Bucky’s barriers. He let up on how fast he was walking and then dropped Evie’s arm.

Worried eyes scanned her body for any bruising, “I’m so sorry, doll. Are you okay?” Evie laughed as she was rubbing her sore wrists.

“Bucky, that’s normal for any woman. Ever.” Shaking her head, she began walking back towards the apartment. “We could’ve kept on going to Walgreens, but I wasn’t sure your fragile heart could take it.” Bucky drew in his brows and a deep frown etched itself into his features.

“What the hell do you mean that’s normal, Evelyn?” He thrust his arm behind them, gesturing to what they just went through. “Nothing about that was normal.” Still shaking her head, the eighteen year old shrugged her shoulders.

“It’s normal for women.” She glanced at Bucky as she continued on her way. “Also, I know that you were probably just defending my honor or protecting me or whatever, but I want you to really think back, Buck. Think about when you were picking up women in the forties, did you ever push when they didn’t want to have that drink with you? Did you continuously ask for them to dance with you?”

“No, I told you. My Ma raised me the right way.” They walked up to the apartment building and Bucky reached for the door handle. Evie began making her up the stairs, Bucky not far behind her. She stopped suddenly, a few flights before Cassie’s apartment.

“What about your friends?” Bucky was taken aback. His memories were still a bit fuzzy about those times, but he could remember clearly enough. Although he wasn’t quite sure what she meant by the questions she was asking.

“What are you getting at Evie?” He huffed while opening the door to Cassie’s apartment. Freddie and Penny were lounged on the couch with an almost empty bottle of wine. Cassie’s head shot up at the sound of the two walking in the doorway. Evie dumped her things off on the granite countertop and turned on her heel to stare at Bucky.

“Did you ever stop your friends when women said no?” The quiet laughter between Penny and Freddie stopped suddenly as Evie’s question hung in the air. All eyes were on Bucky as he gulped and thought back to the times at the bars. Out with Steve and the other Howling Commandos, did they ever do that? He tried to think of a time when they pushed for what they wanted to happen. Of a time when the woman they were pursuing reluctantly gave in because they wouldn’t leave her alone. Evie didn’t wait for an answer, she could see that he was processing everything.

“So why did you stop those guys back there?” Her brows raised and her head tilted in question. Bucky took a deep breath and was about to answer when Evie cut him off. “By punching that guy out there, you’re a hero and we should all thank you and congratulate you for doing the right thing.” She stepped closer to Bucky and the three in the living room understood where Evie was going.

“What do you think would have been said if I would’ve punched him? Sure, you would’ve said something snappy and nice about how I can take care of myself. The general public though? They would say that I overreacted.”

“Easy Evie, he’s still learning.” Cassie said quietly. Bucky was thankful for that, he still did have a lot to learn but it felt like Evie was attacking him. That’s the point, you fucking dumbass. If you had been berating her for putting herself in danger by punching that guy, you would think she was reckless.

“Her point, Bucky, is that the double standard for men and women goes beyond what we expect. Everyone goes crazy for the knight saving the damsel, but everyone hates the damsel for saving herself.” Freddie explained from the comfort of the couch. Bucky nodded, starting to understand the concept. “And her questions about your old buddies. That has to do with the fact that you’re part of the problem.”

“What problem is that?” Bucky was honestly scared to know the answer but he knew to fully learn, he had to get all the facts, both good and bad.

“Stunting the growth of feminism. Being one of the people perpetuating the fact that it’s okay for men to be violent, but not for women.”

“Violence in the form of defending oneself in any capacity.” In Bucky’s line of work, he sees tons of capable and strong women. Natasha, Okoye, Shuri, Sharon, he could think of so many. Then he tried to think of when any of them got the limelight like Steve or himself.

“So it’s like anytime that there would be press releases for the team, and the interviewers would come and ask us questions,” he paused to think how to word what he wanted to say, “they always ask the guys about like super important things like how we’re keeping the city safe and stuff. But when they talk to the girls, they ask about their workout schedule and if they can wear underwear under their suits?”

“Yes, it’s exactly like that Bucky. That’s just a different form of it.” Evie replied quickly. She came up to hug Bucky. “I didn’t mean to attack you or anything, but this is something that we all feel is really important for you to grasp now that you’re back out there.”

“And now that you can recognize when it’s happening, the next important step is to stop it before it happens.” Penny yelled from the living room as she downed the last of the bottle in her hand.

“I’m so sorry, Evie. I didn’t know.”

“I know, I’m sorry too. You’re still figuring stuff out, but I needed you to see what it was really like for women.”

“Okay.” Bucky nodded. “How can I help this situation?” The group exchanged proud looks.

“Well, educate everyone around you. Don’t let it happen when you’re around.” Cassie said as she walked into the kitchen to crack open another bottle of wine. “And just support women. Push our problems into the public’s eye.” Bucky smiled, he could handle that, he was good at that.

Considering he was on his way to becoming a member of the Avengers, he would be able to influence from up high. He could openly support groups that were run by women, for women. He was used to standing in the background for things he didn’t believe in, so standing for something that he did was going to be a cakewalk.

A concern floated into the forefront of Bucky’s mind. He looked down at Evie, who had just recently released him from her death grip of a hug. “You know how to defend yourself right?”

Evie’s brows raised in a challenging manner, “Do I look like I don’t know how to defend myself?” The man shook his head and smiled as the surrounding group laughed. Cassie poured a glass of wine and cracked open a bottle of beer for Bucky.

They all made their way to the comfy couches to snuggle in for a movie night, satisfied with their teachings for the night.

“What are we watching tonight?”

“Well, in the spirit of feminism, we are going to watch Legally Blonde.” Penny commented as she picked up the remote. “And it’s Freddie’s favorite so yeah.”

The lights clicked off as the opening credits ran for the movie. Bucky looked around his group of friends as they giggled at the screen. Evie had her head in Cassie’s lap and she was stretched across the sofa with her feet tucked under Bucky’s thigh. Freddie and Penny were curled up in the loveseat across from where Bucky was. Pieces of popcorn and glasses of red wine were being passed from person to person, with the exception of Evie who was still underage. The energy surrounding the five of them was something Bucky hadn’t experienced in a long time and he wasn’t going to give it up anytime soon either.

A large grin overtook his face, although today was one of the harder lessons for him to learn, he wouldn’t want anyone else to be teaching him.

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@mishaandthebrits

#twenty first century liabilities #bucky x oc #bucky barnes #bucky barnes fanfic #bucky barnes fanfiction #james buchanan barnes #james buchanan barnes fanfic #james buchanan barnes fanfiction #sebastian stan #bucky fanfic #bucky fanfiction #bucky x reader #bucky barnes x reader

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twiniverse · 4 years

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Something fun I did for WDAU by @thechekhov and Bad Prediction AU by @wilted3sunflowers and @jigokuhana! Twiniverse but like, White Diamond Twiniverse and Bad Prediction Twiniverse!

Some notes;

Bad Prediction:

Nora has no voice. She can “talk” in a really weak whisper, but only does so to Steven directly. Otherwise she uses her Gem or hand signals to speak. It’s not ASL, it’s just hand signs she and Steven would have created together.

Nora’s earrings do not have Pearl’s voice on them, only Rose and Greg, because Pearl’s voice was already gone by the time Rose/Pink got pregnant.

Steven and Nora keep up the “this is my Pearl” appearances in public, but in private they’re equals. Nora has been “trained” to be a proper Pearl by Blue Pearl and Yellow Pearl, mostly Blue Pearl, regardless.

She would enjoy spending time with the Zoomans if so allowed, and would feel more comfortable with them than Gems.

WDAU:

The twins were separated very young into different Foster homes, Nora was adopted by one of her Foster families, and they don’t know about each other by the time the story starts. Her adoptive family is rather conservative (non-political definition) and has her wear clothing that hides her Gem.

She’s happy, just extremely tired. Unbeknownst to either of them, Steven sometimes controls Nora at night, leading her family to believe she’s a chronic sleepwalker. This, combined with her Gem not getting any sunlight, leaves her exhausted.

Nora’s family would eventually move to the Beach City area (probably near Connie, so not actually IN Beach City) where she would inevitably meet Steven.

After being fully “released” from White Diamond’s control, her Gem would become Pink and her complexion would also pinken up considerably. Due to being mixed with Greg’s genetics, this gives her a nice lavender-y colour scheme. She also starts wearing outfits that would let her Gem breath more.

#steven universe #nora universe #wdau fanart #bad prediction au #twiniverse #thechekhov #jigokuhana #wilted3sunflowers #my art

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allieblue00 · 5 years

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Steven Universe Development

Ok now that I had a day to process and read other theories on everything. I think Steven is progressing backwards comparatively to his mother.

Growing up Steven had his set of morals from his father, his biggest human influence in his early years. He took sometime before he actually moved in with the gems, he appears to be around 6ish when he does. We meet Steven at age 12 and see him age up to 14 in the original series. This is important time for Steven developmentally, from birth to adolescents are some of the most important years to put impressions on a child. This is when they are building an identity, from what I can tell the gems would compare him (nonchalantly) with his mother. How she was a healer and an amazing person who loved everyone. That she would never shatter a gem, that it would kill them, and the picture painted in his mind was that she was perfect. He also had no information on who pink diamond was until later on, and then to find HIS MOTHER SHATTERED HER is crushing for him. His whole perspective starts to change and he begins to start forming opinions of his own. By making his own opinions he is more developed cognitively because he wont just take what everyone tells him with a grain of salt. Also Steven was already prone to both bottling up his emotions but also letting out certain one, like when he shows great amounts of empathy for others. Steven was raised to only show off his happy side to those he respects (well except Connie but that’s different), he does that because ROSE was always happy and for awhile the gems still compared Steven to her. Later on in his development the gems stop doing this once they figure out their own problems. They stop comparing Steven BUUUUTTT because that’s how he grew up he has this suppressed emotions towards his mother. Still Steven is exactly like his mother from when he knew pearl, a healer and someone who bottles up emotions too well.

Now that Steven is 16 and get not necessarily compared but has to deal with his mothers problems that she left for him ALL THE TIME. Like it gets frustrating, I don’t know anyone who would EnJoY that. Having to deal with something time and time again because of the SAME DAMN REASON gets kinda infuriating. Steven is slowly bottling up all this anger that he doesn’t know how to HEALTHILY express it. Steven has never learned how to properly and healthily express himself except once he is either completely broken or “happy”. Once we meet Volleyball we finally meet pink Steven. Even in change my mind we meet Volleyball and in the finally we get pink Steven having a “tantrum” just like his mother. We no longer see this and bear in mind that the gems were controlled by white at that time so they don’t know about this. Now that he’s fixed a majority of his mother’s problems he’s able to relax a bit but still busy. Then he get’s this blind rage with Jasper and after it was exposed to Steven for (seemingly) the first time, it begins to come out even more and more. His rage has been suppressed for too long and so now that it’s been released once it’s able to come out more and more now.

Like I said Steven has completely mirrored his mother’s development. Rose started as destructive and not able to keep anything to herself to hiding all emotions (too well according to pearl) and becoming a healer. Steven of course is still a healer at heart, but now he is becoming more destructive towards himself and to others now. I hope by the end of Future Steven will be able to express himself properly and get out of his mother’s destructive patterns.

#steven universe #steven universe future #long but not sorry #su #fuuuttttuuurrreeee #SPOILER #pearl #pink pearl #volleyball #character development #get this kid some help #HELP HIM #He's hurting

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lovelucigoosey · 4 years

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We Need to Talk

(requested by @zeto1304 )

(Not sure if I’m gonna continue this yet, until I finish I’m Not Good At All, but I hope you enjoy this!!!)

The phone felt heavy in his hand as Steven hung up.

He swallowed and leaned back a little, shifting to pocket the phone again. His heart was pounding - not fast, but hard enough to make his chest ache; he heaved out a sigh, which quickly turned into a groan, closing his eyes for a second. That had been a disaster; he should have known going to Homeworld would end like that. He should have known something bad was going to happen. And it had! He had… he had almost… he had almost shattered White. He had tried to! It had taken slamming his own head into a pillar - god, it still hurt - for him to even actually realize what he'd just done, but even then, even then, it hadn't completely erased the thoughts. It hadn't made him want to do it any less. Hell, for a split second, while he'd been sitting there, holding his head, it had almost made him want to kill her even more.

He shuddered, staring down at his feet for a moment. His shoe was missing. He needed that- no, wait, what was he thinking now? He couldn't go back to Homeworld for a stupid sandal. Then he'd have to see White again after almost shattering her and- god, no, no, they could keep the sandal. Needed something to remember him by, seeing as he wasn't ever going back there.

Keep it together, Steven, he reprimanded himself, twisting his foot slightly and lifting it from the floor for a second, only to lower it back down again. Did you think of shattering White? Yes. Yes you did. Buuuut you didn't! You didn't actually shatter her so that isssssss good. I mean- yeah Jasper, you still shattered, but that's… you can work with that! One is better than two, right? Right? Right! This is fi- No- wait, what? What?! What am I thinking? This isn't fine!

He put his head in his hands and screwed his eyes shut, trying to force his thoughts into a relatively calm state, but it was far too late now. They had already trailed, wandered, gone so far that he was running double time to catch up and still somehow missing them by several thousand miles at the same time. No, no, no, no, no… this isn't… I didn't mean to… I didn't mean to shatter Jasper…! I didn't mean to think that-! I didn't really want to shatter White- right? Yeah, she did some really, really messed up things and… and… and maybe I'm… mad…?

His head throbbed, and he gripped it harder, screwing his eyes shut and letting out another soft, breathless groan into his hands. The familiar sound of the television turning on didn't register until he suddenly heard White's voice - which was enough to make his head shoot up - and wide eyes fell onto the screen. He nearly stopped breathing, mostly on purpose, every muscle in his body spasming and going completely tense as he scrambled backwards onto his bed and pushed himself as far away from the TV as he possibly could, chest tightening with… panic.

"Time to come out, Pink…"

Steven couldn't keep himself from gasping in time. It was the only gulp of air he was going to get in a while, because he immediately went back to holding his breath the second the sound left his lips, slapping his hand over his mouth and fighting back a gag. He wanted to move, he wanted to turn the TV off, he wanted to look away - but he couldn't do anything.

Just like then.

Just like when she had held him in one hand with her nail digging into his skin as she held his shirt up to reveal his gem. Just like when her other hand had come down toward him, agonizingly slowly but far too fast at the same time. Just like when he had tried to scream, to plead with her to stop so that he could talk to her. Just like when he had looked into her eyes and realized at the last second - the very last second - that he was completely, utterly, one-hundred percent helpless. The gems were being mind-controlled, Connie was being held back by Pearl and he was trapped in White Diamond's cage-like claws as she- as she-

He had felt so weak. So useless. So completely out of control. For the first time in his life, he had finally been terrified about something that was happening to him - because for the first time in his life, it was something he genuinely couldn't stop. He couldn't talk her out of hurting him. He couldn't lay on the old 'Universe charm' and flash her a soft smile and puppy dog eyes and have her fall right for it. He couldn't befriend her so that she wouldn't hurt him or his family, and his planet, and his friends and everything he'd ever known. He wasn't 'Steven' to her. Right then he'd been nothing - nothing to her than his mother. He'd had gems look at him like he was Rose. He'd had the Diamonds look at him like he was Pink. But there was something about her.

Something in her smile.

Something in her eyes.

And for the first time, Steven had been afraid. He had been helpless. He had realized how totally out of control he was and how this gem could crush him in the palm of her hand- and he couldn't do anything about it, because he couldn't talk her out of hurting him. He couldn't get enough words in to open her eyes up, to make her realize what she was doing was wrong. He hadn't had the time. He hadn't had the chance. By the time he managed to, it was too late.

He could still remember sitting alone that night, curled up and sobbing, remembering how much it had hurt. Now, his hand twitched down to his stomach somewhat out of instinct, right when the White Diamond on the screen pinched two fingers around his gemstone and pulled it out. The television cut to static after that, and he actually did gag this time, recalling that that was pretty much how it had actually happened. After that, once the white-hot pain had subsided, everything had suddenly just kind of stopped. Everything had gone dark. It hadn't even stopped hurting, even when the darkness consumed him; no, it had kept hurting. Up to the second he woke up in Connie's arms, it still hurt. Everything had hurt. His stomach. His body. His head.

He had been terrified.

Terrified that he wasn't going to be able to fix it this time. He wasn't gonna be able to befriend this gem. She had hurt him. In a way that nobody had ever hurt him before.

It was, undeniably, the worst thing he had ever experienced… and he had just shoved it down. One snide comment - "I am a child. What's your excuse?" - was the only thing he was able to snap at her. The only thing to release barely a fraction of the anger and hurt that had welled up in his chest. He had wanted to scream and cry - and he had, he had done that a lot later on - but right then, he could only watch as his biggest enemy fell apart on him just like everyone else. And then he had to pick up the pieces and put her back together, brand new again.

And then he had to live with her for two years. He had to see her face. He had to see her smile. He had to look into her eyes. He had to deal with it when she wanted to pick him up. He had to remind himself that things were different now and she wasn't going to do that again. He had to wake up alone after every nightmare, calm himself down from a panic attack after every interaction with her, force himself to keep a straight face and a grin when he was near her instead of lashing out like he wanted to, screaming and crying like he wanted to, instead of showing an ounce of the fear he felt - for even more fear that she would turn against him again.

And she would hurt them. And she would hurt him. And then it would be his fault. Because he couldn't look her in the eyes for the sake of the galaxy after she had ripped his gem out.

With tears steadily brewing in his eyes, Steven couldn't help but wonder, now, why. Why. After everything she had put him through. After everything she had put them through. Why did he have to be the one to put up with her? Why did he have to be the one stuck with her? Why did he have to be the one to help her after she had hurt him like that? After she had managed to do the one thing none of the other gems had ever managed to do - and genuinely scare him?

Even Jasper hadn't scared him like that… and, at first? Yeah. She had scared him.

Malachite had scared him.

But Jasper didn't scare him anymore. It had been a long time since he felt that kind of fear toward her; but he still felt it toward White, despite his best efforts to ignore it. And it wasn't just when he was around her, either. Sometimes it was just the thought of her, the mention of her. Anything about her was enough to make him tense, make him want to shudder and curl up. He never wanted to feel so out of control again. He never wanted to feel so helpless again.

And maybe that was why it was easy to lose himself in the fight with Jasper. Maybe that's why it was easy to think, for just a second, that he wanted to inflict as much pain on her as he could. Because, for once, he was the one in control. He was the one dishing out the blows. He was the one, finally, unafraid, with a steady grip on his powers, one he wished he could say he'd had on his emotions, too. It had been too late when he realized what he'd done; when he realized he'd let all of that anger and pain overpower him, getting high on his powers, on the control he held. And that was what had happened back on Homeworld; realizing White couldn't hurt him. Because he was controlling her.

Just like she had controlled him that day. Just like she had controlled the gems that day.

A new scene unfolded on the screen.

"She's the one who should be afraid…"

Again, more insistently, as he stared at the screen, he wondered why. He had been - what? Fourteen? When it had happened. Fourteen when he made the decision that his own fear, his own discomfort, his own pain, mattered less than everyone else. Who cared if White scared the living crap out of him? Who cared that he still dreamed about what had happened that day? Who cared that he still wanted to cower before her when they were face to face, wanted to curl up and beg her not to hurt him. Like he had. Like he had when he had been controlling her. When he finally let a little bit of that fear slip, finally reverted back into that fourteen year old that had writhed and struggled against her hold, too scared to open his mouth and beg her to stop.

He still remembered - everything he wanted to say - every single pleading word on the tip of his tongue he couldn't spit out. Stop! Stop it! I don't like this! Let me go! Please- you're scaring me!

The scene changed again, and Steven finally decided he'd had enough when he heard those same words being screamed right back at him. A different scenario; a different victim. But still so similar that it made his chest ache. He scrambled off of the bed, hitting his knees on the floor and fumbling for the button to turn the TV off - and breathing out a sigh of relief when he did.

The relief didn't last long.

He recoiled the second he saw his reflection; the second he saw the diamond eyes staring back at him. And that… that was it. That was the second he completely unraveled. At first, he could only gasp, every part of him trembling. His hand rose toward the black screen, toward his reflection, only to pull back again. He couldn't breathe; he was trying his best now, no longer holding his breath and trying to gulp in as much air as he could, but every attempt was shaky, stifled, feeling like his entire body was simply about to shut down and collapse right there.

And then he screamed.

The screen cracked as he pushed himself back, hitting the foot of his bed, and promptly dissolved into hysterics. He felt fourteen again, crying and screaming out for his dad in the spaceship on his way to the human zoo. Sitting alone in his bed night after night after the nightmares that haunted him, sobbing and trying in vain to calm himself down. He hadn't cried like this in three years; he hadn't felt like this in three years. This helpless and hurt.

"No, no, nononono-" He covered his face, struggling to speak through his tears, but that was the only thing he could get out before he just couldn't speak anymore, only able to spit out stuttered, short attempts through his sobs as he only grew more hysterical, more frantic, more desperate.

"This isn't-" His ribs hurt, body spasming and jerking with the force of his sobs as he pressed his hands harder against his face in an attempt to just make himself shut up. "This c- I can't- I don't- I- I- why is this- HA- HAP- PENING TO ME-?!" The entire room shook this time as he screamed, not out of anger, but complete, raw pain, and terror. He continued to sob, doubling over and gripping the sides of his head now instead, fingers burrowing deep into his hair. He pulled, tugging as hard as he could - and even managing to tug several strands loose in the process. "I don't wanna be a Diamond! I don't wanna be a Diamond! I DON'T WANNA BE A DIAMOND!"

He felt like he was falling.

He tugged at his hair again, more desperately now as he cried, shaking his head and trying to rid himself of some of the tears streaking down his face. He felt like he was about to drown in them at this point; a few even went up his nose when he tried to breathe in, but it only brought on another series of choked, body-wracking sobs, loud and filled with pure, unadulterated pain. "I ju- just w- wanna b- wanna- wanna be- be me I just wanna be me I just wanna he- help-"

A few more tears fought their way to freedom, coursing down his cheeks, and he cried a little bit harder. He couldn't stop himself. It was just another thing he had lost complete control over now. "I- I just wanna help," he whimpered, "J- Just wanna help pe- people I do- don- don't w- don't wanna h- hurt th- I- I- I- can't-" He gasped, struggling for air, and covered his face again.

He couldn't say with complete certainty how long he stayed like that, sobbing and gasping. He eventually gave up on speaking through his tears, just letting himself cry in a way he hadn't in a long, long time now. He felt like he was breaking inside, something squeezing his lungs and shattering each one of his bones and internal organs into pieces and there wasn't anything he could do about it, nothing, nothing but sit there and cry and feel as helpless as he did when he was fourteen years old, when he was nothing but a child with the weight of two worlds on his shoulders.

"It hurts…" He whispered shakily as his sobs finally quieted, just a little. Subsiding slowly into sniffles, too tired, too sore for his body to keep working itself the way it had been. "It h- hurts… I'm scared-" He choked out another sob, hiccuping almost immediately after, as if his body was trying to breathe on its own now. It didn't quite work - if anything, it made him hurt even worse. "I want my dad…" He shook his head, his face pressed into his hands. "I w- want my gems…"

They had hurt him, too.

Deep down, he knew that. He knew how much they had put on him - how much they had led him to put on himself. But right then, at that moment, he just didn't want to be alone.

He was still trying to calm himself down, still struggling with himself, still trying to breathe, when he heard the stairs creak. He jumped a little, still in panic-mode, head snapping up at once as he blinked rapidly to try and see through the blur of tears in his eyes. It wasn't much, but - a familiar blob of purple was all he needed to see. That was all it took for his eyes to scrunch up again, for his mouth to twist, for his body to tremble and shudder in protest before he started crying again. This time, it wasn't outright sobbing; it was quieter, but just as messy.

Just as painful.

He heard Amethyst gasp, footsteps rushing over to him, but he couldn't force himself to calm down enough to look up at her again. He only buried his face into his hands again, hiccuping and gasping as he tried to force himself to breathe. "Steven, what- what happened?!"

"Steven?!" Pearl practically shrieked, her voice a little further away - but when she spoke again, accompanied by the sound of more footsteps, she was much closer than Steven had expected. And it was enough to make him flinch and recoil, looking up just in time to see Amethyst pulling her hand back in shock, while Pearl reached out for him without hesitation, either having not seen his reaction or simply not minding it. Regardless, he didn't even fight her, as she only managed to utter, "are you okay-?!" Before she finally seemed to register him completely.

He didn't know what it was. The tears. The pinkness. The hair. The diamond eyes. But she gasped, sucking in a breath that didn't come back out for a long, long time.

Rubbing his eyes, he opened his mouth to speak, but the only thing he could muster now was desperate, completely unintelligible stuttering. He didn't have the strength to put any words together now, much less to form an even slightly coherent sentence. They were here; they were right there in front of him, asking him what happened and if he was okay and, oh, god, he wasn't. He wasn't okay. And he wanted nothing more than to finally let go of all his doubts and fears and just let everything pour out, but he still couldn't form the words to do so.

"Steven…?" Amethyst's voice was softer, a little more panicked.

He choked out another sob and covered his face with one hand, letting the other one drop. Rather than hitting the ground, as he expected it to, it landed in another hand instead; he recognized Pearl's touch with ease, as both of her hands curled around his, and it only made him shake even harder with the sobs he couldn't muster any more than he could speak.

But he squeezed her hand, half to reassure her and half to beg her not to leave him, not to go anywhere until he could finally pull himself together enough to say something. And she squeezed back, a reassurance of her own, and Steven finally let his shoulders droop.

After that, it was a little easier to calm himself down. He rubbed the tears away as they fell, breathing in slowly and steadily - in through his nose, out through his mouth, just like Garnet had taught him - as the gems only watched. He could feel their gazes, confused and concerned, and as much as he wanted to open his mouth to speak, to explain, to talk - he didn't know what would come out when he did, and if it would be words, or if it would just be more sobbing. So he just kept his mouth shut and forced himself to breathe, until, finally, he managed to calm down just enough to get a few good, long deep breaths in, going limp with relief once he had.

"Steven," Garnet spoke softly, and he flicked his gaze up to her, still blinking past the remaining tears. Her hand raised to her visor, poofing it away with the simplest touch; three eyes stared back at him, one red, one blue, and one purple, each one filled with nothing but concern. "We're worried." And he wondered who the 'we' was in this situation - her, Amethyst and Pearl, or Ruby and Sapphire. Regardless, he managed to breathe in again, rubbing his eyes a little harder.

It took several minutes for him to spit out the words, but he'd never felt more relieved than when he finally managed to, breath hitching and stuttering every so often, but managing to speak his request clearly and loudly enough for them all to hear. Because they all needed to hear this.

"We- We need- t- to talk…"

#steven universe #su #steven universe future #steven universe fanfiction #su fic #steven universe fic #su one shot #steven universe one shot #sad steven universe #depressing #aftermath of murder #and attempted murder #steven needs therapy #steven needs help #steven needs a hug #white diamond was kind of a bitch I'm sorry #trauma #steven is traumatized

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coinntoss · 5 years

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Alright so this will be a bit rushed since I’m writing this on my break. Apologies in advance.

Okay so I only got to see bits and pieces of SDCCs SU panel thanks to whoever streamed it (I’m sorry, I don’t remember who it was and I can’t find the link anymore) because I just started my shift at work as it was going on. So a huge thanks to @su-nlt for providing a list of what happened/what was confirmed at the panel.

I’m loving some confirmation of things that were seen and speculated from the CYM and BotHaM specials. While White Pearl was originally Pink’s it wasn’t the other way around for CG Pearl. It’s also more or less confirmed that Bismuth and Lapis have no ill will towards each other over what happened during the war. My favorite thing to be confirmed was that Stevonnie is capable of fusing with other gems thanks to having a gem, and while Rebecca and the cast said there is no reason for them to fuse with another gem, their reactions to the question make it seem like it could actually be a possibility at one point (that, or at least proposed as an option).

So let’s jump into the trailer.

We start off with Steven and Amethyst being pulled in on a crane holding seemingly an injector part to an area that’s possibly where the barn used to be. I’m really curious to know what the symbol in the courtyard is and what this area is actually for. Is it an expansion of Beach City? Is it a civilization for the uncorrupted gems to live comfortably? Either way, they seem to be utilizing a mix of gem and human technology based on the injectior gems and the clock and remaining architecture.

In the time skip, it seems Steven has been spending the last two years visiting other planets, likely thanks to the superior technology of the leg ship. What exactly has he been doing? I’m not sure but it’s hinted that he has been helping a lot of the colonies adjust to a new way of life of not being under direct control of the Diamond Authority. There seems to be an Era 2 Peridot on this planet, along with some aquamarines. I have no way of knowing who the other gems are, but the bigger one may be a fusion? Just based on how much larger she is than the others.

Steven is wrapping up these missions and is ready to be back on earth, relaxing with friends and family.

When she appears. We still don’t have a name drop so exactly what type of gem she is, is still unclear. She has to be awfully powerful to be someone who can suddenly land on Earth after everything that has gone down during CYM to be considered such a serious threat. We do get some insight to her abilities however.

She stretchy.

So is this shapeshifting or an independent ability altogether? I’m going with the latter since there seems to be a theme in her stretching her limbs and being very rubber band-like in her attacks.

I love that she just—

Y E E T

It’s made very clear that this thing she totes along with her in her invasion is an injector drill. It looks more modern and advanced than the drills at the Prime Kindergarten. I love that it’s stylized as an hourglass to go along with the whole dealing with 41 hours until the destruction of all life on Earth.

So who is this new villain, exactly? We didn’t get a name drop. With the release date being just over a month and a half away, I have my doubts we’ll receive another trailer revealing anymore details, much less what her gem stone is. For once, I actually don’t have a theory on who she actually is. Is she a new/forgotten Diamond? She she the Morganite that used to own Rhodonites components? Someone completely different? I can’t say. But I do have a theory on her motive.

She’s here to kill Steven, and kill him specifically. She’s either One: a gem who has recently emerged or never got the memo and still sees Steven, or rather his gem as the face of the rebellion. This seems far less likely to me, though. That horse is long since dead. So the second option is: She’s a high ranking gem who sees the reformation of gem society as a threat to her status. She’s launched a direct, personal attack on the only gem who has ever shaken the entire gem hierarchy to its core and made a permanent change. For a gem of her status, what does it mean when she no longer has lower gems under her boot?

A few other points I want to make about the trailer before I’m done:

I’m not sure if this is lava with a pink hue or drill juice. Either way it’s a nice detail.

Look at Steven desperately trying to yank the drill out of the ground. He seems to be pulling his strength directly from his glowing gem, which may be a good look at just how far he has come with his powers and I’m excited to see what else he’s packing after two years.

Other than Pink Steven this might be the most angry and threatening we have seen Steven. He’s tired, desperate, and scared. Fighting is likely his only option at this point. This new enemy is out to actually end his life and that of all life on Earth. Not even White was seeking to do that. She just wanted to separate Steven from his gem.

On a lighter note: we’ve been shown a reformed Alexandrite AND Connie! She’s grown too of course but I’m happy she’s been keeping her hair short and that she’s still taller than Steven. And that smooch! I don’t know if it’s platonic or romantic but either way doesn’t matter to me I just think it’s great. I wanted to add pictures for that too but I forgot about image limit. Oh well.

Anyway, that’s all I’ve got. I just wanted to get all these thoughts out there before I started reading what everyone else had to say. Sorry this took so long! As I said, I’ve been at work during all of this. Please feel free to add your own thoughts to this! I’m excited to know what you all think.

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bluekayanite · 4 years

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Comments/theories: In Dreams - Homeworld Bound

So I kind of missed the SU:F updates for a bit. ^_^; That said, I'm caught up now, and have some misc. comments that I figured I'd share... before the next eps or two comes out. XD;

...That said, I was actually working on this when I'd heard that Homeworld Bound was out already. -.-; It's on XFinity Stream, at least - and I suspect other streaming services - so I consider it "officially released." I've since adjusted to implement the new info. However, I'm making the comments in an ep-by-ep structure, so if you want to avoid spoilers, you can easily stop once you get here. =3

I'd also like to note that this one's more rambly than usual, so prepare yourself for rambles. XD

EDIT: Some adjustments, mostly additions. EDIT2: Couple more little deets. EDIT3: Few more MAJOR deets. XD;

Just a quick note: my current, primary theory is that, even with everything that seems to be glaringly obvious, White also has the power to alter Gems' memories and such, and Rose was not truly Pink Diamond (or at least, in a sense, not THE Pink Diamond). Lately, I basically think that she may be a sort of a hybrid, or at least that Pink put a lot of herself into Rose... lately I've even suspected that it might be even more literal than I've previously noted... as in, Pink may have prepped some healing tears and broken off a shard of herself... or something. ._.;;;

But yeah, I figured I'd note this in advance because, well... I realize it sounds crazy. It's going to be mentioned, so I ask for a bit of open-mindedness - or at least a willingness to entertain the idea, even if you think it's wrong (and I don't blame you if you do). Frankly, I wouldn't be surprized if a lot of people would have already closed this post before getting to this sentence. (That said, if you're still here, thank you!)

With that out of the way, let's get going!

In Dreams

Okay, so Crewniverse was definitely being self-aware, and using meta-humor. XD

I've commented here before that previous eps had a building feeling of listlessness and whatnot. My sister also has commented (not in a place I can link XD; ) that the opening theme gets more and more jarring with each episode. The both of us think that odds are pretty good that they'll switch to using something the reprise version of the theme. XD; ("Here we are in the future, and it's wrooooong!")

...That said, while things have been getting intense (not to mention REAL!), I do appreciate that we seem to be moving out of "boredom" eps. XD;

The dreams-being-broadcast thing is more-than-likely a bit of setup for later story points. I'm thinking "Emergency broadcast."

On an entirely different note, I like the confirmation that Peridot has green eyes. =3

Been sort of a headcanon of mine for awhile now. ^_^

Also, is it just me, or is Peridot getting taller? 83

Anyway, it's nice to have a bit of lighthearted funtimes in the midst of all the seriousness that has been going on. =3

Bismuth Casual

So... those toilet paper jokes certainly ended up being at an ironic time, right? XD;

Anyway, one of the things that stuck out to me is how increasingly obvious Pearl's obliviousness is.

One of my long-standing theories is that Rose saw Pearl more like a daughter, if anything... and didn't realize - or even have a clue that Pearl had a thing for her.

And I mean, really, if Pearl can't tell whether any human - or Gem - is into her, then how could she know for sure whether or not Rose did (or didn't)? Odds are she's just going by her memories... which I strongly believe to be unreliable, what with how many contradictions they have. ^_^;

Together Forever

(...Does anyone else keep hearing the old Pokémon song by the same name in their head? ^_^; )

...Okay, I'm gonna confess: it actually didn't occur to me that either Steven or Ruby was supposed to be "cute" until it was mentioned in Hit the Diamond and Sadie Killer. (I didn't count Andy saying it in Gem Harvest because I figured he had a family bias. ^_^; I mean, he did make a complete and abrupt 180 about the parts of his plane being recycled, once it was Steven who started using them.)

...Cuteness is in the eye of the beholder, I guess. XD;

I guess I can see how Crewniverse was going for "cute" with Steven... Still, about the only time I've considered "Steven" to be cute - visually or otherwise - was after that last bout of Ultimate Steven tag.

...Yeah, I think that the Gems did the puppy-dog eyes better than Steven did. ^_^; I mean, I would call Steven "sweet," "silly," and a number of other things. Just... "cute" isn't typically one of them for me. ^_^;

That said, there are moments when I think that Ruby is being cute. =3 One of them is when she RAEGING.

Another one is when she's being happy... especially when she's super-excited.

So yeah. =3 For me, it was pretty nice to see Ruby spazzing like that. It's also kind of nice to see Steven eating sweets again... even if it's for unfortunate reasons.

...yeah.

It's also nice to see R+S's new forms. =3

The headband is back! 83

(...Why hasn't there been a mention of Sapphire being cute? She seems like the most obvious choice. XD; )

On another topic... So it’s not just Pearls that can store stuff in their gems? o.O

Anyway, part of my theory is that [Pink is really trapped in the moon base's observation orb], which she can use to see some of what's going on. When Pink is watching, the moon might show up, and/or the sky might turn pink (usually around dawn/dusk) - the more intense either of these things are, the more intensely she's watching.

Looking back at when either of these happen, I've noticed that:

She seems to be a 'shipper

She particularly 'ships Steven + Connie

This ep certainly continues with that pattern. 83 Heck, I think that the extra lights on the horizon might even be from Pink - maybe even intentional on her part.

Even after the turn-down, the moon still showed, BRIGHTLY - at least until Garnet got there.

I also noticed the moon at the end of Little Graduation - in general, I'm getting an impression that Pink has been wanting to help Steven... but obviously, she wouldn't be able to.

However, that said, with the way things are looking, I think that she's going to get her chance, shortly... more on that farther down. =3

Side note: The glowstick-bracelet “ring” is a nice touch. =3

Other side note: JAM BUDS REFERENCE! 83

Also: Strawberry. =3

Also-also: it seems like Garnet actually does tend to give some pretty good love advice.

"Your soulmate is your compliment, not your missing piece. [...] Whatever hole there is in your life, Steven, I want you to understand that Connie - Stevonnie - won't be able to fill it." - Garnet, Together Forever

...Also-also, my suspicions about Garnet sorta being three people keep growing. XD;

...Incidentally, I’ve mentioned before that I think that Connie is probably ace and/or aro (though I didn’t know the latter term at the time).

Growing Pains

On the funny (at least to me) side, I noticed that Dr. Maheswaren checked for Steven’s heartbeat on his right side (which, ironically, would be the wrong side XD).

There actually is a genetic condition that can flip the positioning of the internal organs, though I’m pretty sure that it’s simply an oversight in this case. For one, Dr. Maheswaren shouldn’t think to check there unless she’d checked the usual positioning, first. For another... it’s actually not the only slip up in that shot; Steven’s gem has a hexagonal crown instead of the usual pentagonal one. (This happens a lot, especially on Quartzes.) The biggest thing, however, is that Steven actually does grab the left side of his chest later on.

But yeah, just some stuff that I thought maybe some other people might consider interesting. =3

Anyway...

So it's FINALLY established that Steven has PTSD... and appears to be having panic attacks. Frankly, for a long time, I was under the impression that nothing like this would ever come up. XD;;; Call me crazy, but in a weird way, this is kind of a relief for me. It makes things feel more genuine to me.

...Hmm... I wonder if part of why we haven't seen panic in other characters is because they're hiding their own PTSD? Maybe the reason why so many are just carrying on is as a sort of coping mechanism. Maybe the also don't want anyone to worry.

...Or maybe this is an effect of this being a cartoon. >.>; I mean, as much as I can see that Crewniverse is trying to touch on a lot of hard topics (and I appreciate that), we can only expect it to be so realistic. Plus, a good story needs a bit of balance to it - as nice as it is to see the worrying stuff, it needs a good balance, or else it tends to be overwhelming.

In particular, I've been reminded that SU:F does have a number of much-younger viewers - I think we need to bear in mind that they probably aren't likely to handle this stuff as well as the older audiences. ^_^;

But yeah, I'm definitely glad that at least there's something, and the reaction seems fairly realistic (at least as far as having a half-Gem character goes). Even the fact that there was a delay is fairly realistic... maybe a bit more of a delay than usual, but... I guess Steven is half-Gem?

Also: cartoon. XD;

And of course, it's really fascinating to see the medical aspect of Gems (or a lack thereof).

And of course, the sneaking in of an Amethyst-behavior joke. X3

Also: you can see Steven's chart in two of the transitions. 83

(Assuming Dr. Maheswaren got his height right... I’m actually admittedly jealous that he’s actually taller than me - especially since it looks to me like he should be shorter. XD; )

Also-also: I noticed that a lot of things that had nothing to do with Steven's life being in danger got referenced. ^_^; Granted, I'm sure they're still important to him, but I thought I'd still bring it up.

I also couldn't help but notice there being a direct reference to Adverse Childhood Experiences, which is an actual term. I suppose Steven's are unusual... but whatever the form, ACEs can still be pretty impactful. =/

...I do wonder if Crewniverse knows anything about Childhood Emotional Neglect. It's supposedly an even bigger impact than abuse and whether one recovers from it. That said, AFAIK it's lesser-known - even the term was coined less than a decade ago (2012, if I've got my dates right). It's mentioned on the list of ACEs... I think? But it's not very well defined there, so... it's hard to know.

At any rate, it definitely seems like a thing that could be a factor... more on that farther down.

Mr. Universe

It was nice to see Steven and Greg getting some bonding time in... even if it was short-lived. ^_^;

Can't help but wonder whether or not Steven's eating a veggie burger. XD;

Steven drooling in his sleep... it's been a headcanon/theory of mine that maybe Pink does that. X3

Okay, so maybe this is a cute picture of Steven... now that he's more grown-up. X3

Anyway, It's nice to learn some more about Greg's side of the family. Especially since - aside from the strictness - they really do seem like they're probably nice people.

I mean, for one, they still kept reminders of Greg - his stuff, pictures of the whole fam, and even his letters... even if they never opened them.

(...Is it just me, or does Greg's mom look an awful lot like Connie's?)

And based on their stuff, I think it's pretty likely that they at least have a gentle side... even if maybe they didn't know how to properly use it with Greg. XD; (Or maybe they're simply an appearance-conscious family. ^_^; ...Which is apparently considered a gaslighting type of parenting-style. =/)

In any case, I hope we meet them, later. =3 Maybe they've mellowed out... or maybe they will as soon as they meet Steven. X3

My sis pointed out that Dear Old Dad plays - as in, the song from the last ep Steven and Greg fought in. Only this time, it didn't end out well. ^_^; Quoth her, "That's some next-generation foreshadowing!"

But yeah, I can see why Greg might be so frustrated at his parents that he would want to change his surname. ^_^; ...And I can also see why Steven would be upset at Greg going as far as he did. =/ Pendulum effect: being so upset by one extreme that you go just as far into the other extreme, and it sounds like Steven paid for it. -.-;

This is part of what I mean by Childhood Emotional Neglect potentially being a factor... though in general, Greg's hands-off parenting style could very well fit in as a form of emotional neglect - parents who are just kind of buddies and try to give comfort on everything kind of avoid a lot of the issues, instead of teaching their kids how to deal with them, including on an emotional level. ^_^;

But yeah, the fact that Greg apparently didn't consider whether Steven might still want some of the usual aspects of childhood seems like it could also count. ^_^; At the very least, it's common for Well-Meaning-But-Emotionally-Neglected-Themselves parents to give their kids what they wish they had in childhood, without actually considering whether it's what the children themselves want.

It's also common for emotional neglect to be passed on through families in ways such as this, so... seems like it could be a thing.

Oh, and you know how Steven also had to be "the adult" for the Gems a lot? That also counts as CEN. XD; Heck, that link even mentions the need to care for others that Steven continues to struggle with.

The parts about Steven trying to hide his struggles would also fit in with CEN, though his knowledge of emotions - and vocabulary thereof - does seem to be pretty big. I can't help but wonder if CEN is something that's being inserted in more as a retcon, but wasn't planned at the beginning. I mean... CEN was just being figured out around the time that the original SU series came out, so it seems pretty unlikely that it was the original plan. I could see Crewniverse trying to work it in now, though.

...It's also possible that it's not really what they're going for and that it's sort of included by accident. XD; I mean, there's often more than one way to arrive at the same conclusion, even coming from the same set of information, at times.

But yeah, CEN is important to me, and it's nice to see that it might be a part of the show. =3

Fragments

Okay, so that first convo was chock-full of examples on what NOT to say to someone who’s panicking. ^_^;

And those are just a few of them. ^_^;

I think that this is probably foreshadowing, and/or a setup for something coming shortly. More on this farther down.

Anyway, I'm sure I'm not the only one who was thinking back to Why So Blue? XD;

(Or, belatedly, Strong in the Real Way.)

I do think Jasper has kind of a point about learning to control anger by using it. All-in-all, though, I think she's only about half-right. ^_^; The parts about using it solely in violence... yeah

I see Steven’s eating fish, again. =3

It’s also neat to see him chopping wood with his hands. X3

...Not to mention Jasper’s new helmet. 83

It looks to me like Pink might have noticed some training, or at least may have been looking around the area.

...I suspect that she doesn't know about all the details, though. ^_^;

Homeworld Bound

Okay, first off, I think that Garnet may have said the family thing for Future Vision reasons - probably related to what the Diamonds said, even if she doesn't know that.

And now that that's out of the way, I was really glad to see Spinel again. =3

It does seem a bit weird that she's around as tall as Steven when she was shorter than him in the movie.

And I'm pretty sure that Steven's gotten even taller since the movie. XD; Though maybe Yellow made Spinel taller...?

EDIT: I remembered that she probably wouldn’t be the first. Could be a pattern.

Anyway, I also like the confirmation that Yellow's and Blue's powers seem to be about affecting the forms of Gems, and their emotions, in general - I've made a little spreadsheet (vaguely) touching on stuff like that, before.

Also, Blue getting a full song of her own. Plus, the implications that Blue's powers are probably water-related. =3

(Who wants to try one of Blue's happy clouds? *raises hand* =D)

Not to mention Spinel doing the hammock hair thing. X3

*ahem* However... this is the second time one of the eps has felt like it's been full of Gems that are more-or-less hypnotised (the first one being Familiar). A little too happy and/or nonchalant, and a little too conclusion-jump-ish. =/ (Especially Yellow for that last one. XD; ) Steven's even pointed stuff like this this out.

Which... White acted also that way. If she really does have mind control powers, I think that this might be a sign that she's still using them, even on Blue and Yellow. ^_^;

Another thing that I think is odd is that the Diamonds were all taking initiative in doing good stuff. In the movie, it seemed pretty clearly like they were only doing good things in order to try and please Steven and get him to stay with them.

White in particular was still disgusted at the idea of thinking of others as “equal.” XD;

They were even willing to move to Earth, leaving all those hurt Gems behind, instead of trying to do anything for them. =/

And yet, despite all that, Spinel in particular felt a little too weird to me (somehow XD; ). A little too unconcerned about Steven's feelings, a little too relaxed and... blissful? ^_^; She actually handwaved the "embarrassing" issue of having tried to kill Steven.

This is the second time we've seen something like this. =/

In a way, maybe Spinel's a little too close to her original personality, in general - as in, maybe less "healed" and more "reverted." =/

I mean, it's only been... a few months? If I understand correctly? Difficult thoughts and such do not just evaporate like that - ESPECIALLY if they're more-or-less intrusive ones. =/

And a lot of the time, it seems like her voice and intonation is closer to what she had with her original personality. ...It does seem kind ambiguous, though I suspect that that’s on purpose. XD;

Here's what I think to be the kicker, though: you know the song she started singing when Steven asked how she stopped having vengeful thoughts?

It's the same song that Spinel said had said would NOT make everything better. XD;

"Just can it, won't ya?! You can't just make everything better by singing some STUPID SONG!" - Spinel, SU Movie

(Incidentally, I noticed that the moon actually did show up - rather obviously - during said song. Whoops. ^_^; It looks like Pink has probably seen Spinel’s “evil” form, after all.)

Also... Quite honestly, the way Spinel mentions not getting vengeful thoughts anymore makes her seem... "drugged" to me. ^_^;

Possibly-similarly... this line seems odd to me.

For Spinel to tell Steven that White's powers work in reverse, she'd have to know:

How White's powers worked in the first place

That Steven knows how White's powers worked in the first place

I mean, I guess it's not impossible that White's powers are/were common knowledge, but... I dunno. XD; It would have to mean letting Gems know that White could control them outright... and that White had used her powers on Steven's friends. ^_^; I guess it's also possible that this was told to Spinel as a way of trying to bond over/help with the "tried to kill Steven" thing but... yeah, again, I dunno. ^_^; If that were the case, it's possible that Spinel would mention it, rather than bursting out into song.

At any rate, I'm not ruling out mind-affecting as a possible reason for her knowledge.

So... yeah. I suspected that White acted the way she did when seeing Spinel because Spinel knew (or otherwise had) something that White wanted to be kept hidden. I kind of suspected that poor Spinel would get hit by White's powers pretty much right away, and to me, it looks like she did, and was placated a la mind-control. =(

Speaking of White... I'm guessing that the "pink-colored White" in the intro was actually Steven controlling her, or something. ^_^;

If so, then that's interesting twist on what's considered a "danger"...

...though that said, it looks like White managed to shed the pinkish tinge she had in the movie.

Now it seems to depend on the lighting, and is a fair bit fainter.

(Upper pic: purple. Lower pic: brown.)

So... that said, I wouldn't rule out that maybe she found a way to keep the pink from getting worse - heck, maybe that's even one of the reasons why she's letting Gems control her, briefly. Maybe it somehow keeps the pink from growing more saturated, or something.

So... yeah, while I think there's a good chance that the foreshadowed "Pink White" is already touched on, I'm not entirely ruling out that it might still be coming. I mean, the theory that I was going with was that [Rose's gemstone had a virus in it], that Pink made specifically for White. Possible circumstances to trigger the virus include:

Removing Rose's gemstone from whoever Rose’s child would be

Touching Rose's gemstone, in general

Trying to remove Rose from her gemstone - especially if from her child

Mind- and memory-manipulation on Rose's gemstone, in general

It's also possible that more than one trigger was programmed in.

Possible reasons for a virus include:

Trying to force White to learn empathy

Exposing White

In case the worst more-or-less happened

Prankage

Though yeah, if Rose's/Steven's gemstone really does have a virus in it, or something, I think odds are that White letting Steven control her is going to accelerate it. XD;

Also thought I'd note: while Spinel!White accurately reflects the colors of Spinel, Steven!White seems to better resemble Pink Steven than Pink Diamond, or Rose.

...Don't wanna dig up comparison pics, but I still thought I'd bring it up. XD;

Anyway, I can't help but wonder if there's some sort of deeper meaning to the scene with giant!Steven controlling little!White - like if there's something from Pink slipping in there, and her frustrations with whatever White did to her in the past.

I mean... Steven mentioned "everything" she did to him, and there were only flashbacks of stuff from Change Your Mind. Which... yeah, sure, a lot happened in a short period of time, but... I still wonder. ^_^;

Aaaand it's becoming pretty evident that whatever traces of Pink are in Steven are coming out pretty strongly.

...On another note, the softer "Pink" hairstyle that Steven is getting might be a hint that the more-solid, five-lump "Steven" style that Pink is sometimes shown with is not her actual style. ;3

(My personal belief is that her appearance in Jungle Moon accurately reflects what she looks like - everything else is probably tainted by memory-alteration a la White.)

...anyway...

My guess(es) on what's next

Okay, I was previously assuming that Steven would first fight the worm-thing (which I thought might have been a mutated Jasper, after getting all that essence-of-Diamond in one dose XD; ). I was also speculating about White having turned a much-more-intense shade of pink, accusing Steven of it, and a fight breaking out between the two (with a note that it might be a good thing that Steven's learned to better control his Diamond powers =D; ).

Now it’s looking like the “Pink White” may have already been covered... or maybe it’s still being foreshadowed. Hard to say at this point.

That said, I think there's still a good chance that White will still try to follow Steven for one reason or another, despite his plea not to. I mean, it looks like she may have genuinely been impacted by what happened with Steven controlling her... or at least terrified. XD;

She still asked him to wait, despite that.

Steven did leave his shoe behind, a la Cinderella. This could be a hint about someone following him and returning it to him. Maybe there'll be something about it fitting after he's calmed down? =3

Though... yeah. Maybe letting Steven puppet her will result in her turning pink and coming after him for it. Or maybe White will still try to follow out of more a compassionate reason - or just to “fix him, like she’s apparently done with so many other Gems XD - and Steven will try to keep her away.

In any case, I’m thinking that odds are that Steven will end up getting in a fight with What, and that it will end up being on Earth, at least at some point during the struggle. If so, I tend to imagine something like this happening:

If Pink observes a fight between the two, it might be enough for the moon + sky thing to trigger in broad daylight. If so, then the fact that there's someone on the moon who can turn the sky pink will be impossible to miss. XD Even if it's not a fight that does it, I think odds are good that something like that will be how Pink being up there would be revealed, as well as working as a quick explanation that the moon + sky color are actually important.

If something like that does happen, then I think that White will finally fess up about messing with Gems' memories + thoughts and imprisoning Pink in the orb. I mean... she'd basically be backed into a corner. It also seems like she's getting to a point where she'd consider telling Steven anyway - just maybe she'd freak out and back out first, and/or the sky would beat her to it. XD;

I've also considered that maybe Steven's powers would get strong enough that he could be contacted by Pink in his dreams, anyway - they're not mutually-exclusive, so maybe both will happen?

But yeah. There's plenty of evidence of a moon prisoner, and plenty of that evidence highly suggests that it's Pink. I know I always say this, but I think it's time - maybe even well-past-time XD; - for Pink to be released.

A few possible roles of Pink (plus rambles)

Think about it: just about everyone that Steven knows - or is close to, at least - has been failing him in one way or another. No one seems to know what's the best way to help him, or even fully understand just what exactly he might be going through - even White said that no one would be able to relate to him... but I don't think that's fully true.

Sure, maybe nobody could easily, and/or fully relate to the half-human thing, but I think there's a chance that, say, Lapis, Peridot and Bismuth could at least help with the "vengeful thoughts" thing.

But Pink, Pink could probably help with the powers, and maybe a few other things. I mean, they're probably her powers - or at least a variation of them. Heck, she may be even more powerful than Steven is. XD If anyone could help Steven get things under control, Pink can.

Heck, maybe Pink even knows how to help calm down somebody who’s having a panic attack - or at least knows how to help Steven with his panic. Given that nobody else seems to know about this, it seems pretty likely that it might be what Crewniverse is going for. =3 And hey... if nothing else, maybe it’s something she picked up just from watching the Earth for so long. (I mean... if she’s really been stuck for 5,000 years, odds are that she’s picked up on a few things. Not like she’d have an awful lot else to do, anyway. XD; )

I admit... it’d be a little extra cool to me since I’ve had the idea that it might be something that Pink would do. 83 Sort of a headcanon/fanfic idea that I never really got to or anything. XD;

But yeah, at this point, I think odds are good that Steven will more-or-less beg Pink to stay with him for awhile. XD

I mean... maybe they could ask Pink Pearl (I really don't like the name "Volleyball," sorry XD; ) about Steven’s powers, but I think she might still have too much trauma of her own over Pink's powers to really be able to help. ^_^;

...Though that said, I've suspected that White placated her, too. If her traumas can still show through... I think odds are good that others' traumas will end up resurfacing - and thus being addressed - too. =3

...But yeah, it seems like White's MO involved making everyone just forget about things, and/or suddenly become happy. ^_^; ...Another form of emotional neglect, I suppose.

I also it's possible that part of the reason why Steven is having trouble is because White did something to him. =/ I mean, if White really did remove whatever was left of Rose, then she may have removed an important part of Steven... and if she added something to him, it might be a big part of why he's so... unstable. -.-;

...Heck, maybe the reason why Steven's been getting white Diamond-pupils is because White did something to him. o.O Maybe that why Steven!White has them, too, despite Spinel!White having black pupils.

At any rate, maybe the real Pink could shed some light on that, too. ...And/or maybe White will fess up. XD; I think the latter is much, much more likely in this case, though.

I do think that, once Pink is released, it's likely to result in a lot of chaos, on account of Gems learning that things aren't how they thought they were - just one of many reasons why I think that White has still left her in there. ^_^; However, that said, maybe Pink could end up being a catalyst in bringing those problems to the surface, so that they can be addressed. XD;

But yeah. Overall, I think one of her roles would be in healing... just like with Rose, Steven, and their powers. I think she'd also be good for helping uncover the truth of what really happened, along with other things.

Could be ironic; it's Steven Universe: Future, but there might end up being a lot of looking at the past. Granted, maybe that's the point: look to the past to better understand the future. =3

#su:f #su:f theories #suf theories #rose quartz wasn't pink diamond #white diamond's mind control #theories

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shadowofthelamp · 5 years

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SU Movie Liveblog

I had this open in one tab and the movie in another and wrote down my thoughts, let’s go! so sorry to people on mobile.

DIAMOND SONG, DIAMOND SONG

Yeah, makes sense that two years still isn’t really enough to sway them from thinking he’s still pink in some way- especially considering even the crystal gems had that problem after thirteen years.

ICE COLD, STEVEN

his big grin when connie kisses his cheek.... SO good

FAMILIAR DID NOT PREPARE ME FOR OLDER STEVEN’S SINGING VOICE

steven getting a song about being proud of himself and knowing he’s grown into a good person is also SO GOOD

and pearl! pearl’s part! also so great!

oooh, they’re all getting a piece!

garnet referring to her first fusion with terms like parents talk about a baby is PRECIOUS

AAAAA FIRST GLIMPSE AT BBY AMETHYST.... and she comes out with weird limbs like one of those drawing pose dolls, what a nice touch!

DON’T THINK I DON’T SEE THE BETAS THERE.... but no jasper, hmm....

RECREATING THE THEME SONG, I SEE YOU...

maybe it’s because I know what’s coming but making a song called ‘happily ever after’ is just asking for disaster, honey...

Steven Regrets Tempting Fate

steven looks younger when spinel asks who he is and that HAS to be by design.

hmm... is the gem drill connected to her form somehow, with how she formed her hand and it came out?

oooh boy, I’m gonna guess.... spurned member of pink’s court?

SPINEL GETS A SONG RIGHT AWAY, AND HER ANIMATION IS SO FUN

I LOVE IT

and ‘other friends’? yeah, definitely part of pink’s former court.

HER WEAPON IS A FUCKING SCYTHE HOLY SHIT

oh fuck oh fuck oh fuuuuuuck

‘holy s-he really got everybody!’ the boy is 16 greg, he can hear A Swear

oh shit, THIS THING TAKES YOU BACK TO ‘RESTART’ MODE, THAT’S WHY STEVEN’S POWERS DON’T WORK- THEY DIDN’T UNTIL HE WAS AROUND 13

well, THIS is uncomfortable, but it is always nice to hear pearl sing

the expressions seem... idk, extra cartoony here? pearl’s face is so round and everyone’s eyes look extra big. idk if it fits, but it’s probably meant to be a bit unsettling.

huh. someone smarter than me at analysis will have to talk about amethyst’s mimicking.

damn, they really did try to pacify pink with gifts of gems, didn’t they? I can already see so clearly what happened.

‘it took me MONTHS to stop trying to kill steven!’ peridot is so good

and then bismuth and lapis just build on it, NICE

that pose, with him having a hand on his face and looking back at the injector.... I swear either him or greg have had that EXACT pose in some other episode.

okay, pink was hyper and childish, but even she would have gotten bored and annoyed with spinel. I bet spinel was commissioned specifically by blue, but the pink that blue thought she knew, not the one that actually existed.

wow, about fourteen minutes. pretty short turnaround time for a ‘well shit that went bad fast’ reprise.

spinel’s little squeaky shoes during the reprise is... wow

BISMUTH GETS PART OF A SONG....

‘hijinks will ensue’

ANIME-ASS GARNET REFUSION....

if I was new!garnet I’d be scared and confused too... cmon, steven. she clearly looks really disjointed rn.

the first time I actually said ‘oh my GOD’ out loud in this movie was pearl rolling out the stairs and the red carpet

I OWN A CAR WASH

oh geez. boy do I think I know exactly why pink ditched her.

okay, we are.... about halfway through the movie. I do admit I didn’t think this would take this long.

also sandals as tap shoes?

the comic timing of amethyst opening her eyes and look over made me wheeze with laughter.

‘I’m back, you dip.’

also having amethyst be the first to come back was probably a good call.

holy shit is that ACTUAL BLOOD

‘you’re going to die ANYWAY’ gee thanks peridot

oh hey, rebecca as an extra, I think!

I love seeing how sadie’s letting her hair grow out the dye- it makes such a cool effect. and yeah that was how service jobs felt.

steven is just ‘what did I do to deserve this...’

geez, even years after he’s accepted things, steven’s still got a bit of a tight spot regarding rose. not surprised, though.

GARNET, THEY’RE MISSING GARNET, OOOOH

YES YES YES YES YESSSSSS I’VE WANTED THIS FOR /YEARS/, NOT UNDER THIS CIRCUMSTANCE BUT I’LL TAKE IT

I love how easy it is, same as it was for smoky the first time. steven fuses easiest with his family.

okay who the hell is that voice, I checked on imdb and it’s probably either chance the rapper or gallant since those are the unlisted named ones

WHY IS HE BUFF, THIS IS A RIPOFF, BOTH STEVEN AND GREG ARE SOFT BOYS...

yeah.... I don’t like his design. this is the first fusion I really didn’t like that of. ugh.

d’awww, garnet’s wearing steven’s jacket

they threw in the pilot design again!

OPAL SINGING, and admittedly, I do like the steven and greg fusion’s voice

ooooh boy heading for that ocean of poison ain’t gonna do him any favors

pink.... she recreated that garden, made it her sanctuary on earth. she didn’t have only bad memories of it- she must not have realized how much she mattered to spinel like she didn’t realize she mattered to the other diamonds.

the distorted almost circus-like music....

A SONG FROM PINK HOLY COW. wait... that voice sounds really different. is that the same voice actress?

yiiiiiiiiiiiikes. geez I see the reasoning here, holy COW.

‘actually, I can totally believe it’ yeah, as much as I like pink, boy did she fuck up a few times

okay, we got 24 minutes left, this can’t work, right? although spinel only cracked somewhat recently, it sounds like. so really, she’s not that far gone- and considering what we know, probably didn’t fully understand the consequences of her actions.

greg. greg. gross.

I... dunno really how to feel about the su movie being.... basically what everyone who misinterprets su says it is. spinel was made to be redeemed in twenty minutes. her backstory makes it almost shockingly easy. she’s technically the only villain to actually fall like that- like it’s been pointed out, peridot took months, bismuth was already sympathetic, and the diamonds took multiple episodes and still aren’t fully there yet.

I did kinda call that it wasn’t going to be that easy, but whoof. I don’t blame steven though, kid’s under a lot of pressure and is possibly literally dying.

OH, HERE’S THE THEME SONG FOR THE MOVIE

wait.... we haven’t seen alexandrite yet, wasn’t she in the trailer....? and they’re all hugging...

the little crack in his voice between ‘please’ and ‘hurry’...

I love how spinny and magic fusions and gem reformations are in the movie....

wow, BOY did the song sound different when it was released out of context

HE’S GOT CONTROL OF PINK!STEVEN’S SHIELDS AND CRYSTAL PROJECTION SHIELDS....

he sounds so.... adult. I know it’s just that zach is 21 years old now and his voice has changed, but steven really has grown up.

‘well, I changed white diamond’s mind with a single absolutely raw insult so you can’t blame a guy for trying’

yeah I’D KINDA WORRY ABOUT THE POISON.... LIKE RIGHT NOW....

WHY ARE THEY PLAYING THE HAPPY TUNE THE POISON IS STILL A VERY PRESSING ISSUE

if this is how they fix it I’m gonna be a little annoyed, not gonna lie

I just realized spinel reacted to steg so much because it jumpstarted part of her memories- her friend left to become a ‘fusion’.

white being passive-aggressive, I see. 15000 year old habits die hard.

steven: thanks for insulting my home five minutes after getting here, grandma. bitch.

haha, diamond ex machina

#su spoilers #su blogging

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introvert-celeste · 6 years

Note

could you please do an analysis of the new su poster

I don’t think there’s much to say about the poster that hasn’t already been said, but I’m always game for speculation! Might as well do it before the official trailer drops on the app.

So, Steven in his mom’s clothes…I’ve seen a lot of people guess that White Diamond is forcing him to wear them, but I’ve got a strong feeling he’s wearing them to get White to listen to him. He’s playing the part to appease her.

Since he can’t really shapeshift like other gems, I’d guess he asks for an outfit to be made or something…or maybe White already has an outfit made specially for him, because she seems to have the uncanny ability to know things. Not sure how likely this is, but what if White can, like, interface with all of Homeworld’s technology across the galaxy, and happened to pick up on Steven’s records at the zoo? I don’t know. Like I said, this is all just speculation. Regardless, the description for Familiar (the next episode after LFHTH) states: “With many changes going on in his life, Steven tries to find his place in the world,” meaning that he is trying to play Pink Diamond throughout this arc.

Also, I want to make it clear that we are not getting a never-before-seen episode on December 17th. That is the day that Legs From Here to Homeworld will finally premiere on TV, as it has only been released on the app. Familiar, the next new episode, premieres December 24th, Christmas Eve.

Like I mentioned in a previous post, it’s impossible that Connie received that sword from Bismuth, unless “Steven Universe: Battle of Heart and Mind” brings the big challenge back to Earth. Unlikely.

Given the colors of the sword, it has to belong to Pearl, and it can either be something she creates via gem powers (after all, when it comes down to it, a gem weapon is just another light construct, just like a gem’s clothes), but that seems so unnecessary when she has. SWORDS. IN HER GEM. So it’s more likely that this is a sword Bismuth made for Pearl (it matches Pearl’s color scheme, both now and back during the war) that she has stored in her gem, and that she gives to Connie.

It’s also very similar in size and overall look to Rose’s sword, which Connie is most used to fighting with, which contributes to my assumption that Bismuth made it. Even the metal of the blade appears to be the same. The greatest difference in shape is the fact that Rose’s sword is straight-bladed, and this one is dual-bladed. It’s also clever bc it’s a…double-edged sword, favorable outcome for her, not so much for her opponent.

Another interesting detail is that Yellow and Blue are grouped along with the Crystal Gems, while White Diamond remains in the background. This suggests that they will actively defend Steven against White, despite the fact that she’s the largest and most powerful gem in existence and they’re obviously scared of her.

I don’t, however, think that their motivations are the same as Steven and the CGs. After letting Pink slip through their grasp once, I doubt they’ll let her do that again, certainly not after all of Homeworld was apparently informed she was alive. I feel that their main reasons for helping Steven heal the corrupted gems are: 1) to appease Pink, and 2) to regain some “perfectly adequate gems.” Now they know that Pink doesn’t want to colonize Earth, so there’s no reason to send her back there. Even if they manage to convince White to help Steven heal the corrupted gems, they’ll never let him leave.

#steven universe #asks #su spoilers #pink diamond #yellow diamond #blue diamond #white diamond #connie maheswaren #pearl #bismuth #theories

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love-takes-work · 7 years

Text

Steven Universe Comic #12 (2018) - Outline & Review

The twelfth installment of the ongoing comic series for Steven Universe is about Connie having a sleepover at Steven's to help with pre-test stress. The paper issue I bought has the subscription cover by Natalie Dombois! Released January 24, 2018.

Plot:

Connie is stressing out about a test she has to take on Monday, and Steven wants to help her chill out, so he proposes a sleepover party at his house--with the Gems.

Steven recruits the Gems to help him prepare for the party: Pearl handles the activities, Amethyst handles food and decorations, and Garnet . . . gathers the pillows.

The evening gets off to a great start, but Pearl's obsession with schedules and refusal to allow deviation from the plan makes the party activities a little exhausting for Steven and Connie. They bake cupcakes, play "Twisted," play video games, decorate cupcakes, paint their fingernails, and sing karaoke before Amethyst gets exasperated and confronts her, insisting that Steven and Connie are not enjoying the activities on account of the pace.

Garnet interrupts their shouting match by instigating a pillow fight. Amethyst and Pearl reluctantly join in and end up having fun, attacking each other while Steven and Connie take on Garnet.

Before long, they settle down in the palm of the temple to stargaze, and Steven and Connie drift off. The Gems put them to bed and spend some quality time with each other as well.

In the morning Connie is refreshed and feels more relaxed about her test, with one more day to do a final study before the big day. Pearl acknowledges that balance is important, and they have some time to hang out with Steven now too.

Notable for fans:

1. Good lord this comic is cute. Garnet is smiling in so many frames it's unreal, and the interaction between the Gems is precious!

2. The Gems obviously don't know how to have a proper slumber party, but it's adorable that Steven doesn't really know what goes on at a slumber party either. He has to check his phone for pointers.

3. Garnet takes her pillow duty very seriously. Throughout the comic she's fixated on gathering the pillows, mentioning the pillows, bringing the pillows with her wherever they go, fighting with the pillows, and building forts out of the pillows.

4. Amethyst's wearing two party hats like she was in one of the scenes in "So Many Birthdays." Great callback.

5. Pearl being obsessed with the schedule isn't surprising, but it's cute how it's combined with her obsession with excellence and planning. She's REALLY into the baking even though she doesn't eat, and this explains a bit of why.

6. When Pearl takes over the baking that was supposed to be for THEM, Steven and Connie's faces are hilarious. They're so kind to humor Pearl, but Pearl thinks she's humoring them, and it's just . . . ridiculous.

7. The Twister clone in the game is called "Twisted." (It is very silly to play this game with shapeshifters, guys.) The color-coded spots are all shaped like diamonds, and they're blue, white, pink, and yellow. Hmmmmmmm, said every SU fan.

8. Garnet kind of puts Steven on the spot asking him to say what HE thinks they should do, instead of letting Pearl bogart all the activities. But he's Steven and he just can't hurt her feelings like that. It's so perfect for his character.

9. The video game they play is called Crying Breakfast Racers. Connie mentions one of the game aspects being "The Blue Durian." Hahahaa.

10. One of the activities they have to rush through under Pearl's direction is nail-painting. In the drawing, Connie's painting Steven's nails. It's the only frame where any character has nails. (That's how it is in the show, mostly, too.)

11. Garnet starting the pillow fight is about one of the cutest things I have ever seen in my life. "Less talk, more pillow fighting."

12. Also, Garnet has a nice callback to what she said about stargazing "together" back in the episode "Log Date 7 15 2," when discussing it with Peridot. Stargazing is always better together. And she points out that it's as good as it was 5,000 years ago. (Ruby and Sapphire stargazing in a field together 5,750 years ago comes to mind here!)

13. Whoa, an unexpected bit of lore: Amethyst points out a "really bright star" to show Steven, saying she looked at it a lot from Kindergarten, and Pearl points out it's not a star. It's Homeworld's galaxy. Yiiiikes.

14. Garnet carrying Steven and Connie into the house after they fall asleep is adorable as expected, but the adorable icing on the cuteness cake comes from Amethyst pretending she can't get up and bugging Pearl to carry her! WHOA! Her exasperated "Oh, honestly..." is so Pearl, and yet then she still does it. And then they all kinda cuddle on the couch and it's just so cute.

15. Pearl has a callback to her song "Do It For Her" with the phrase "balance is the key." Perfect conclusion!

[SU Book and Comic Reviews]

#steven universe #steven universe comics #su comics #myblog

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andrewmoocow · 7 years

Text

Clod on the Run chapter 5: Fooled Around and Became Stronger than You (originally posted on August 31, 2017)

Last time, we saw the Guardians of the Galaxy experience fusion for the first time & got their ship rebuilt with help from Steven and the Crystal Gems. Now they return to Beach City where they confront old enemies of both groups.

“I have something to explain.” Holly Blue Agate said as she and Titus face both heroes. “I have recently decided that working for Blue Diamond was getting quite boring so I thought it was time to move to Earth and join you rebels!” she stated with a smile on her face. “What are you saying?” Titus whispered to her. “Quiet you, I have a plan.” she replied.

“You, join us?” Pearl inquired. “We've seen how badly you treat others.” Rocket then shushed her. “Zip it Pearl, I wanna see if she's lying.” he said. “Maybe she's not lying.” Steven replied. “Maybe she really does want to join us.”

“Steven, are you crazy? She makes life a living nightmare for all the Quartzes back at the Zoo.” Amethyst scolded the hybrid. “Oh water under the bridge Amethyst!” Holly Blue exclaimed. “It's not my fault they're so bad at their jobs, they're just naturally incompetent!”

Everyone was still unsure. “C'mon guys, everyone deserves a second chance.” Steven claimed as he began walking to the two. “Try tellin' that to Bismuth kid.” Yondu quipped, which caused everyone to stare at him in confusion. “What, Garnet told me on the way here!”

As Steven stepped forward and extended his hand to Holly Blue as a sign of friendship, he was suddenly grabbed by Titus. “Ha, did you really think I would join you?” she laughed arrogantly.

“Yes, we came here to capture all of your friends.” Titus added. “If you don't comply with our demands, then they will have to pay the price.” He whipped out a tuning fork-like weapon with a yellow oval object held at the tips and pointed it at the Gems. “Now which one shall it be?”

Everybody quivered as they all feared the worst. If they weren't smart enough, they would all die right then and there. Steven had to make a choice between protecting his friends or watching them all be eliminated, but in the end he decided to do it for them.

“Alright, you got me.” he said in defeat. “Very good choice young man.” Titus replied setting him down. “Now what shall we do? Maybe help me restore my honor by turning in those filthy criminals, grant me a Gem soldier of my very own.” He tried to continue on about his deal before being interrupted by Holly Blue. “Don't forget I'm part of this as well.” she proclaimed.

“Well, we do keep corrupted Gems in the Burning Room.” Steven responded much to everyone's shock, especially the Gems. “Are you crazy Steven?!” Amethyst exclaimed. “Who knows what kind of havoc he'd wreak with one of them by his side!” Pearl added.

“I'd rather be shattered than have those running around.” Garnet bluntly said. “I'm sorry guys, I'm doing it for you!” Steven exclaimed with tears in his eyes as he led Titus and Holly Blue away before turning to the others with a solemn “I'm sorry.”

He pulled up his shirt to reveal his Gem and the pink circle on the temple door glowed as it opened. “Steven, wait!” Star-Lord cried out as he held Peridot in a choke hold. “This is partially my fault as well so I'm coming with.” he said. “Let go of me Quill!” Peridot exclaimed.

As everybody walked through the door, they found themselves in a dimension that was nothing but pink clouds all around. “This is my mom's room, where you say anything and it can create it.” Steven explained. “Anything?!” Peter exclaimed in awe. “Hey room, think you can be a pal and make something to kick these two out?” But nothing happened.

“I've had enough of your insolence Star-Lord.” Titus coldly stated before turning to Steven. “Boy, take us to this burning room immediately!” he ordered. The son of Rose complied as he asked the room to lead them to the Burning Room. They all faded from Rose's room and suddenly rematerialized in another room that was filled with bubbled gems littering the ceiling.

“So you harvest Gems? You're even worse than I thought!” Holly Blue exclaimed in disgust looking at the various bubbles. “Wait, you do what?” Peter wondered, but Steven still didn't listen. “Just pick whatever one you want.” he said to Titus. “Very well then child.” the former Supernova thanked as he examined the ceiling until one caught his eye. “I think I'll take the orange one with those hints of green.” he finally stated pointing to that specific gemstone, which Peridot recognized all too well.

“Oh no, are you serious Steven?!” the traitorous Homeworld Gem cried as her Earth friend handed the bubble to Titus. “I'm sorry Peridot.”

Titus popped the bubble with his claws and the gem began to take form, growing into a giant monster with a flowing white mane, various spikes across its body and it's gem on its face where a human nose would be.

“I-it's JASPER!” Peridot screamed as the beast roared at the top of her lungs, popping a few more bubbles in the process and releasing more corrupted Gems. Everybody just stood there in shock except for Titus, who was utterly gleeful at this sight.

“What is even going on in there?” Gamora wondered as the others waited in the beach house. “I don't know Gamora, but we should be on our guard in case something happens.” Garnet ordered as the Guardians and Gems prepared for battle. Just then, an orange beast burst from the door and roared at the top of its lungs before curling up into a ball and charging towards the front door. “I-is that...” Lapis stuttered before Rocket jumped at her and they all got out of the monster's way.

When they all got up, they found Steven, Star-Lord, Peridot, Titus and Holly Blue walking out of the remains of the Burning Room as Connie ran up and hugged her friend. “Ohmigosh Steven, you're all right!” she weeped as she let go. “We were all so worried for you.” Pearl added with a few tears welling up. “What happened in there?” Drax wondered examining the destruction left behind by the orange creature. “That must've been Jasper, I'd know that roll from anywhere.” Amethyst replied.

“Thank you for your time everyone,” the Agate declared before she began to walk outside. “that boy you have there was a great help for us.” It wasn't long before Titus followed behind her. “Yes, that Jasper and all those corrupted Gems that were released can prove to be a worthy army.” he added. “And now we shall bid you goodbye.”

As the duo walked away, the heroes were left staring out into the open shocked at what happened. “Steven, did they say you gave them Jasper?” Garnet demanded. “I'm sorry guys, I just wanted to keep you safe!” the boy cried.

“Keep us safe?” Rocket said with a hint of venom in the tone of his voice. “KEEP US SAFE?! What you just did there was release what was once an incredibly powerful high-ranking Gem Homeworld soldier and hand them to two maniacs that want both of us dead!”

“Rocket, calm down!” Yondu exclaimed. “No, let me finish blue man!” Rocket snarled. “I've met dozens of people like you back in my days as a mercenary that seemed all friendly and welcoming only to stab me in the back! And don't give me that 'it's Steven, he's such a nice guy!' excuse either girls, sometimes being nice can bite you hard in the ass.”

“Rocky...” Steven said. “Don't call me Rocky squirt.” the raccoon snapped one last time. “Now if you'll excuse me, I'm taking the Milano outta here.” As he began walking out of the beach house, he noticed the ship turned upside down on the sand. “OH COME ON!”

“What do we do now guys?” Peridot asked. “Now, we fight.” Star-Lord declared. “Listen, I know we may have started out trying to kill each other and we spent not that much time together, but two jerks and a couple of giant monsters are tearing this place up and we're the only ones that can stop them. Now who's with me?” He stuck his hand to the others. “See, it's kind of like in the old Ocean's Eleven with Frank Sinatra where the crew put their hands together.”

“We all might die here, but we will die as comrades. Count me in.” Garnet said stacking her hand on Quill's. “And me too.” Drax added as he did the same. “Don't forget about me!” Peridot exclaimed struggling to enter the stack until the three of them lowered themselves to her height. “Thanks guys.” Then Yondu joined in. “Say Garnet, you still up for a candlelight dinner?” the Ravager asked the fusion. “No.” she bluntly replied before Amethyst stuck her hand in and Gamora as well.

“Anything to kick that judgmental Agate's ass!” the little quartz exclaimed. “We are Groot.” Groot said putting his hand in as well. “I'm in too.” Connie stated standing next to the giant tree. “Well Rocket?” Peter said to the gun-toting animal, who was moping on the front porch. “Oh fine, I ain't got that long a lifespan anyway.” Rocket groaned as he got up and put his paw in. Lion soon followed, along with Steven and Lapis. “We're in as well!” Steven boldly stated, which Lapis replied by nodding with a confidant grin.

“Alright everyone, let's kick this up a notch and save the world!” Peter shouted as they all charged into battle.

“Isn't it beautiful to see so much wretched organic weaklings run away in fear as these corrupted Gems are about to kill them?” Holly Blue asked Titus as they overlooked the chaos in Beach City. “Indeed my friend, so many lower beings at death's doorstep and those accursed Guardians will be to blame.” he replied. “That's what you think Titus!” a voice cried out. When the two turned around, they found the two groups standing behind them and not one was very happy.

“Leave this planet alone immediately!” Pearl ordered pointing her spear at Holly Blue. “Yeah, get outta town jackass!” Rocket added firing his ion cannon at Holly Blue, who deflected the blast with her whip. “How did you even learn about the corrupted Gems anyway?” Star-Lord questioned as he came face to face with the disposed Nova Corpsman.

“Why it's simple fool,” Titus replied smugly. “during our journey to this planet, we came across an ancient Moon base formerly owned by Pink Diamond that contained important information on her colonization of Earth, such as kindergartens, the Cluster, various Gem structures and of course, corruption.”

“Wait, there was information about corruption in there?” Garnet wondered before turning to Peridot, in which all the little green Gem could say was “What are you looking at me for?”

As the fight continued, the wild corrupted Gems were brought forth by Holly Blue to give them an advantage. “Alright, I have a plan. Pearl and I will try to get all the townspeople outta here, Lapis, Groot, Peridot, Drax and Amethyst will handle these monsters and finally Quill, Steven, Connie, Gamora, Yondu, Lion and Garnet will finish off these maniacs.” Rocket explained his new strategy. “Very good plan Rocket, but I have one question.” Peridot asked. “May I take one of your weapons for a spin?”

“Don't mind if I do!” the raccoon complied as he handed the Gem one of his bazookas. “Sweet, this is just like my old limb enhancers!” she cheered as she raced off with her group, laughing like a madman as she fired into the air. Rocket and Pearl ran to town to help the citizens while Star-Lord, Steven, Connie, Gamora, Garnet, Yondu and Lion stood their ground against the villainous duo. “Now we settle this.” Peter declared loading his laser pistols. “Bring it criminal.” Titus replied preparing to fire his cannon arm while Holly Blue summoned her whip and the two groups charged at each other.

On the beach, Lapis, Groot, Peridot, Drax and Amethyst were taking down corrupted Gems left and right. “So how many are we counting here?” Drax asked. “I don't know, probably six or seven.” Peridot replied tossing a trash can lid at one. “Yo guys, help me out with this slinker!” Amethyst exclaimed wrestling a plant-like Gem monster. “Seriously, how come we can never keep it down?!”

“I am Groot!” Groot said pushing the small Quartz off of the slinker and picking up before tossing it around like a ragdoll until it poofed. “I am Groot.” he proudly declared standing over the monster's gemstone. “Good one Groot!” Peridot thanked him before bubbling the Gem and sending it away. Suddenly, they all turned to see that same Jasper that broke out of the burning room roaring loudly. “Isn't that the Jasper I've heard about from Rocket?” Drax wondered as Lapis and Amethyst stared at it in horror. “Y-you bet it is.” Amethyst stuttered.

“Stand aside everyone, let me handle this!” the destroyer announced charging at Jasper. “You may be a mighty Quartz, but I AM THE DESTROYER!!!” he howled preparing to strike, only to land in its mouth, being shaken like a dog toy and spat out. “Not my boldest achievement, but at least I tried.” Drax said weakly.

“Rocket was right, you are a little bit of both.” Amethyst huffed before turning to Lapis. “Since Drax is out for a bit, what do you say about us taking on Jasper together?” she offered to the terraformer. “A-alright then.” Lapis replied before they both turned to Jasper.

“Alright Lap, here's the plan. I hold her down with my whips while you soak her and then Peridot delivers the final blow!” Amethyst explained her plan. “Wait, since when was I involved in this?” Peridot cried. “You might as well bring in Groot too!”

“I am Groot.” Groot added stretching his arm around Jasper's leg while Amethyst pulled a pair of whips from her gem and held down the rest of her body. “NOW!” she cried before Lapis raised her arm to summon a tidal wave which soaked both Jasper and Drax.

“What just happened?” he wondered looking around before noticing the rest of his group tangling with the corrupted Gem. “Now is my chance for revenge!” He charged at Jasper again clinging onto her face. “I can't believe it, I'm actually winning!”

“Now P-Dot!” Amethyst called. “But I don't have any metal to throw!” Peridot answered. Just then, Groot lost his grip as one of his arms was torn off by Jasper and tossed near the former Kindergartener. “Well, what a coincidence.” she said. Lifting it up as much as her small body can take it, she threw it at the Quartz gem greatly weakening it. “It didn't do anything!” Lapis exclaimed. “Then allow me.” Drax declared whipping out one of his knives. “SCREW YOU ORANGE WOMAN!”

He repeatedly stabbed at the orange gemstone at rapid fire speeds with all his might until it finally poofed. “Wow, we finally did it!” Peridot cheered before she noticed Groot holding his severed arm. “Are you going to be alright?” she asked the plant alien. “I am Groot.” he answered reattaching his wooden limb.

“That felt good, doesn't it?” Amethyst said reveling in their victory as she bubbled Jasper. “Yeah, it actually did.” Lapis replied nervously. “We make a pretty good team don't we?” she asked the shorter Gem. “Yeah we do!”

“Yes, three cheers for the mighty Drax and his companions!” Drax exclaimed raising his fists in joy. “Anyone?” Just then they all turned to notice Rocket in the sky with Pearl on his back. “Wonder how they're doing?” Amethyst wondered.

“We sure are high up Rocket.” Pearl said as she and Rocket hovered over Beach City, watching the citizens try to find ways to hide from the monsters. “Thank you Captain Obvious for your wise words.” Rocket snarkily replied. “Listen, I have a plan to get their attention.” He gently touched down on top of a building and fired another one of his weapons.

“ATTENTION PEOPLE!” he exclaimed, which caught their attention. “Is that a talking raccoon?” a short old woman in the crowd wondered. “Okay first off, I am not whatever you just said.” Rocket said. “Second, my friend and I are here to help you evacuate!”

“We just need you to leave in an orderly fashion without attracting any attention.” Pearl followed up. “That's right!” a man boldly interrupted, and from the looks of it, he appeared to be an important figure. “Oh, hello Mayor Dewey.” she groaned. “Hey Pearl, long time no see, how's it going?” Dewey asked trying to make his move on her. “Friend of yours?” Rocket asked with a cheeky grin, which earned him an angry glare from his taller partner.

“So anyway, as mayor of Beach City I shall accept ideas on where we should hide.” the mayor announced. Just then, all the townspeople started clamoring, with ideas like migrating to another town or another planet entirely.

“Why don't we all just hide at the U-Stor place?” a voice spoke out, which turned out to be Greg. “Hey, aren't you Steven's old man?” Rocket asked pointing at him. “Quill told me he's a big fan of yours.”

“You bet I am!” Greg replied. “Now like I said, why don't we all hide at the U-Stor place?” All of the other people quickly agreed with him. “Well what you waitin' for everyone, get outta here!” Rocket ordered as they all began to move away. “Thank you for the help small furry visitor, we really appreciate it.” Mayor Dewey thanked Rocket as he joined the crowd. “Who you callin' furry visitor, bub?!” the mercenary exclaimed.

“Well that was pretty easy.” Pearl said before a large shadow appeared over her. “Now we just need to help out Peter and the others with...uh Rocket, is something wrong?” Rocket replied by pointing at the source of the shadow, which was actually a green and pink pufferfish-like creature.

“WHAT EVEN IS THAT?!” he screamed pulling out another blaster. “It's another corrupted Gem, and it looks like it's aiming for us!” Pearl exclaimed before she summoned her spear. “Hopefully my spear can keep it down!”

She tossed it at the pufferfish as hard as she could but it failed as the creature knocked it back at her. “Well that did nothing, allow me!” Rocket said preparing to open fire, but he then realized that he was out of ammo. “Dammit, must've ran out when we tried to get the people's attention.” he added turning to Pearl. “Well beaky, been a fun ride.” As he hugged her leg accepting their fate, suddenly the creature's attack was deflected by a large pink shield. “Steven?!”

“Oh thank you for saving us!” Pearl cried as she ran up and hugged the child. “But wait, why are you here? We didn't see you coming!” she wondered. “The others were getting their butts kicked and Yondu told me to come find you guys.” Steven said. “Aw great, as if Quill couldn't screw up enough.” Rocket facepalmed. “But how are we gonna beat this beast?”

“Last time we faced that pufferfish creature, it was poofed by something very sharp.” Pearl explained. “Hm, something sharp.” Rocket said to himself looking around the area. “Something sharp.” When he laid eyes upon the Gem's discarded weapon, he got an idea.

“I think I have a plan, one of your hoist me into the air so that I can stab that thing and end this once and for all!” he explained. “That sounds so crazy it just might work!” Steven cheerfully replied. “Don't get your hopes up kid, it might fail and I'm still testy over what started all of this. Now someone toss me!”

Steven was the one to let the raccoon stand on his hands as he bravely held the spear. “HEY UGLY!” he shouted to the monster. “TRY SOME OF THIS FOR SIZE!” Steven threw his hands up as Rocket soared through the air before turning his jetpack on. Screaming as loudly as he can, he stabbed the creature, going right through it before the monster poofed from behind. Touching down on the ground and triumphantly holding the weapon aloft, it was as if a holy light shined down on him.

“Woo, great job there!” Steven applauded picking up the gem and bubbling it. Rocket just sighed. “Thanks kid. Y'know I'm kinda sorry about getting all fired up about you setting all those monsters free. It's just that like I've said, I've met dozens of people over the years who seemed all hunky-dory before backstabbing me but you, you aren't anything like them. You may have made some bad choices in the past, but that doesn't stop you from being one of the nicest guys I've met.”

Steven was brought to tears by Rocket's speech and hugged him as tight as he could. “I'm sorry too Rocket.” he said. “Okay, you can stop hugging me now.” Rocket replied before grumbling and half-heartedly accepting the hug only for Pearl to join them. “Hey Bert Raccoon, come in!” Peter exclaimed out of nowhere, interrupting the heartfelt moment.

“Hold on a sec guys, come in Quill.” Rocket said speaking into an earpiece. “Yeah, we're getting wrecked by those guys out here. Listen, I need you, Pearl and Steven to find Drax's group and help us out!” the former Ravager stated. “Hurry, I don't know how long we're gonna last!” Then the connection finally fizzled out.

“Well what do you say Steven, wanna go save the planet?” Rocket offered his half-human companion. “You bet I do!” he replied giving a thumbs up. “Great, now where are they?” Pearl asked. “I think I can see them up there near that lighthouse.” Steven said pointing to the others' location. They could barely make out Star-Lord being grabbed in the neck by Titus and a strange puff of smoke. “That smoke must be Garnet, we gotta hurry!”

“Don't you see Ravager, your accomplices have lost and soon you will all be under arrest!” Titus arrogantly declared while grabbing Peter by the neck. Connie was helping Gamora get up, Yondu was up & knocked out, Holly Blue Agate defused Garnet back into Ruby & Sapphire and Lion was just sitting around.

“Don't think you're so lucky now kitty cat, cause I've got backup!” Peter replied before Titus was hit in the back by Amethyst's whip. Turning around, the former Nova Corpsman saw the other heroes behind him, and none of them were happy. “Put Peter down or I swear you'll pay!” Peridot exclaimed aiming the firearm that Rocket gave her. “Oh good, all of you again.” Holly Blue groaned. “Well don't think you can win now because we still have those corrupted-”

“Actually, we took care of those.” Amethyst interrupted smugly holding Jasper's bubbled gem. “Well that's just peachy.” the manager groaned again. “Do not worry my partner. If it's a fight they want, then a fight they'll get.” the snow leopard alien assured as he pushed a few buttons on his cybernetic arm. Just then, a large portal appeared over the ocean with dozens of grey-skinned aliens on flying vehicles followed by whale-like beasts behind them.

“What are those?” Steven cried hiding behind Pearl. “Those are the Chitauri, a race of cybernetically enhanced invaders with only one goal in mind: destruction.” Gamora explained. “There might be too many of them for us to take on.” Sapphire stated. “I guess that means we might need Alexandrite.” Ruby added.

“Finally!” Amethyst cheered as she and Pearl took their places while Ruby & Sapphire did a quick dance to fuse back into Garnet. Then they all danced at once and created Alexandrite. “All of you can take care of them, the Chitauri are mine!” she said jumping into the air with Sardonyx's war hammer in hand. “Well you heard the giant, let us rumble!” Drax shouted charging at Titus only to get blasted back. “It ends here Holly Blue!” Star-Lord declared as they all prepared for the final showdown.

“Director Fury, sir!” a man in a suit called to another man wearing all black and an eyepatch. “We received intel from one of our agents stationed in Beach City that there's an alien invasion taking place!” he explained to his superior. “Another alien invasion?” the agent's superior said.

“That's right, Agent Lee went undercover as a tourist only to be discovered by a strange tree-like creature at that town's donut shop. Later on, he was escorted by a talking raccoon and a tall white-skinned female along with the rest of the townsfolk to a storage facility during said alien invasion. Our spy drones have also picked up a pink giant swatting at Chitauri forces before the drone was destroyed.”

As Fury examined the gathered footage, he noticed a pair of stars on the giant's knees which he immediately recognized. “The Homeworld rebels are still alive?!” he gasped. “Wait, what was that about rebels Director?” the agent wondered. “Never mind that Agent Kirby, I just need you to call in a strike force to take care of it.” Fury ordered. “And what happens if all else fails?” Kirby asked.

“Assemble the Avengers.”

“Are we rolling?” a news reporter asked his cameraman outside of town. “Yep, go time.” the cameraman replied. “Good. This is Lawrence Abrams reporting live from Beach City where an alien invasion is currently taking place that its local defenders the Crystal Gems, and some other weirdos, are trying to repel.” the reporter announced. As he spoke, Alexandrite swat at Chitauri left & right knocking them into the ocean as the rest of the heroes duked it out with Titus and Holly Blue.

“Give it up, we are far more skilled than you will ever be!” Holly Blue shouted as she electrocuted Groot with her whip. “Yeah, well we have some raccoon thing that'll roast your butt!” Amethyst responded whipping back. “Putting an end to your plans will be like eating a piece of cake.” Drax added. “Wait, what did he just say?” Titus asked raising an eyebrow.

“He meant to say that beating you will be a piece of cake.” Peter explained. “Since when was cake involved?” the cyborg answered back. “Can we get back to kicking butt already, this cake talk is making me hungry.” Steven said.

They immediately started tussling again when suddenly a large aircraft hovered over Beach City with a fighter jet descending from it. When the jet landed, out came numerous armored soldiers bearing highly advanced weapons. “Strike Team Beta, move out!” the soldiers' leader ordered as they fired at the Chitauri. “What are these people doing here?” Pearl wondered. “Do not be alarmed m'am, we are here to help.” one of the armored men announced before he was shot down by a Chitauri soldier. “Man down, man down!”

“Don't worry sir, I got this!” Steven exclaimed rushing to the man's side and spitting on his wound, healing it. “Thanks kid, you saved my life.” the soldier thanked. “Wait, did you just spit on me?” he asked. “Healing spit.” Steven replied. “Healing wounds through saliva. Director Fury might like this.” the soldier said getting up and continuing to attack.

“Helping that guy was great and all, but can you get back to helping us out?” Yondu said before Titus punched him in the face knocking him back while a strange object fell out of his coat. “Wait a minute, what is this?” Lapis wondered picking it up. Examining it, she saw what looked like a tracking beacon with a sun-like symbol on it. “Hey Yondu, is this yours?” she asked the Centaurian, who laid eyes upon it in shock. “Oh no, they're coming for me!” he shouted. “Who's coming for you?”

Suddenly another ship that looked more regal in design appeared out of nowhere, shooting at Alexandrite and causing them to defuse before hovering above the beach. A small disc dropped down from the craft, upon it standing a man that looked very much like Star-Lord except he looked like royalty. “Hello there Peter.” the man greeted the space cowboy. “Ugh. Hello dad.” Peter replied, much to the shock of pretty much everyone.

“Wait, you're his dad?” Steven exclaimed in confusion. “You actually do seem pretty similar.” he added. “One is an evil monarch that wants us dead!” Rocket replied. “Yes Rocket, thank you for your analogy.” Peter's father replied. “I am J'son, ruler of the Spartoi Empire and I come here for the Ravager with you.” he declared pointing at Yondu.

“Look pal, I may have stolen something important to your people but that doesn't mean you have the right to try and kill me!” Yondu said. “Silence fool, or else you and your Guardian friends will be executed when I take you back to Spartax!” J'son threatened.

“Yo, what just happened?” Amethyst wondered getting up from being defused. “And why is there two Star-Lords?” Pearl added. “Oh yeah, he's my dad.” Peter answered. “Whoa, what a twist.” Garnet stoically remarked.

“Excuse me Your Grace, but we called dibs on them first!” Holly Blue said. “Yes, we have come to Earth to complete what these criminals failed to do: capture a traitorous Peridot.” Titus added. J'son didn't pay any attention to them as he shoved both of them to the side to confront his son.

“Been quite a while since we last saw each other 'kiddo'?” he said to Peter. “Don't call me stuff that a real father would say to their son!” Star-Lord snapped back. “Oh, am I not the family you dreamed of?” the king of Spartax responded before Yondu shot him in the back with his arrow. “You may be his father, but you sure as hell ain't his daddy you jackass!”

The fight restarted, now with J'son involved. Star-Lord, Steven, Connie, Gamora & Yondu took on the king, Rocket, Groot, Lapis, Peridot & Amethyst fought Holly Blue and finally Garnet, Pearl, Lion & Drax battled Titus.

“He has the same weapon as you Peter!” Connie exclaimed blocking a shot from J'son's energy gun. “And it seems it's themed around the four elements.” she added. “Indeed little one, this weapon can only be wielded by those of the royal bloodline.” J'son explained. “Like so.” He pointed his element gun and fired a blast of lightning at his son, shocking him. “It can also produce lightning.”

“Good one there!” Titus exclaimed while blocking a punch from Garnet. “You know, we could really use something helpful here!” Star-Lord said getting up. “Yeah, I just want to beat these two right now!” Peridot added. “I have an idea, why don't Connie and I bring back Stevonnie?” Steven suggested. “Wait, who is this Stevonnie?” Holly Blue asked. “You'll see.” Connie said before she and Steven broke into a dance and formed the half-Gem half-human swordfighter.

“A human and a Gem?! Impossible!” the disposed Supernova stared in disbelief of the being before him. “Let's dance.” they declared unsheathing their sword and dashing at him, creating a large cut in his armor with Rose's sword.

“But you're just two children standing on top of each other! HOW?!” Titus was still shocked over how strong Stevonnie was compared to him. “Because we're made of love that's stronger than you.” they responded striking some more, this time chipping away at his mechanical arm. “I need more power!” he shouted. “Well maybe you should've picked a better cybernetic limb!” Holly Blue responded, which made Titus turn to her with a devilish grin on his face.

“Or maybe I need to make some modifications.” he boomed grabbing the Agate's whip. “What are you doing?!” she screamed in horror over what her partner was doing. “I'm just upgrading.” he replied tying the electric whip around her neck and strangling her with it as everyone else, even J'son, watched in horror. “I thought we were comrades!” she gagged as she tried to reach out for Steven to save her. “Please......help....me!” Those were the final words she could muster before being poofed entirely.

“Excellent.” Titus beamed examining the finely cut teardrop-shaped gem before inserting it into his mechanical appendage, glowing with Gem power. “Oh my stars, she just up and killed her!” Amethyst exclaimed. “She may have been a jerk, but Titus is an even bigger jerk!”

“That I agree with small purple creature!” J'son responded boldly. “Now I may be a tyrant, but harming those you have called your friends is where I cross the line!” he declared about to fire his element gun. “Which is why I won't need you anymore either.” Titus said firing a bolt of electricity at the Spartaxian royal's weapon, making it explode and scarring him with all four elements.

“That should lighten the load.” the mad space cop said to himself before turning to his Chitauri army. “My Chitauri fleet, heed my words!” he announced. “I command you to search this Earth settlement for its inhabitants and rip them apart like the dogs you are!” The cyborg aliens obeyed as they crashed their vehicles onto the sand and charged toward Beach City.

“Oh no, they're going to hurt all our friends!” Stevonnie cried. “And I have another plan to stop them!” Star-Lord added. “Garnet, Yondu, Lapis, Drax, Amethyst and Gamora will go and stop those Chitauri while the rest of us beat Titus.”

“That sounds crazy enough to work.” Yondu said. “All right everybody, move out!” His group moved out after the Chitauri squadron while Stevonnie mounted on Lion, preparing to fight. “And now, for real, we settle this!” they exclaimed while Lion charged at the other cat creature. The Supernova fired another shock blast at them, but it was deflected by Steven's shield. They threw the shield at Titus' face, making him lose focus on his aim and fired at a bit of the temple statue.

Meanwhile downtown, Garnet, Yondu, Lapis, Drax, Amethyst and Gamora were in hot pursuit of the small group of Chitauri that were headed for the U-Stor. “If we don't hurry up, those people are surely screwed!” Yondu shouted as he fired his arrow at one of them. “Yeah, let's pick up the pace!” Amethyst responded spin-dashing into another few. “They might bring in reinforcements, so I suggest we up our game here.” Garnet suggested. “Amethyst, we need Sugillite.”

“Sweet!” the purple Gem exclaimed before they danced and formed the brutish fusion. “Hey uglies, you want a piece of me?!” she howled as she swung her flail to the ground knocking them off their feet. Two of them started snarling at each other, presumably giving orders, and they sent in one of the giant whales carrying more.

“Damned Leviathans!” Yondu shouted as they started dropping down in front of them. “Hey Lazuli, wanna kick these boys' asses with me?” he offered the ocean Gem. “You bet I want to!” she complied before launching geysers at the Chitauri while Yondu patiently stood in front of a platoon waiting to attack him.

The aliens roared aiming their guns at him but he still didn't budge. That is until he started whistling, summoning his Yaka arrow to his side. He continued whistling, making it zoom around and stab them all. Then he directed his attention to the Leviathan. “Hey, think you could lift me up there?” he asked Lapis. “You got it!” she replied grabbing him by the shoulders and chucking him to the carrier's head. He whistled some more which made his arrow zoom around some more, creating various holes in the Leviathan and causing it to malfunction.

He jumped back down to Earth before it began to explode. Thankfully Lapis was able to contain it by trapping it in a water bubble before tossing it into the air and exploding. The two fist-bumped while the others watched in awe. “They're just like the explosions I saw in my childhood, only there was less remains of our enemies.” Drax said. “Please don't talk about your childhood right now Drax.” Gamora groaned.

Just then, a Chitauri soldier weakly rose from the pavement and charged at the U-Stor door, attempting to break it down. “That one is going for the door, we have to stop it!” Yondu exclaimed. “Step aside everyone, let me handle it.” Sugillite boasted stretching her arms. She looked down on the lone invader and prepared to attack, only for the alien to blast her in the face with its rifle.

“These alien weapons are seriously beyond our comprehension.” Garnet stated as Sugillite disappeared leaving only her and Amethyst. The Chitauri continued bashing at the garage door with its firearm before it was shot at by an unknown assailant. They all turned around to find an old man in sunglasses pointing an average handgun at the creature. “You leave these townsfolk alone you alien menace!”

He fired at the Chitauri some more and actually managed to injure it, but it fought back by blasting its gun at him, also injuring him. “Do you need any help mister?!” Garnet cried rushing to his side. “No thank you, I'm fine m'am.” the old man said getting up and walking back inside the garage before firing one last shot at the Chitauri, ultimately killing it. “Remember, you always save the day! If you think you can't, you'll always find a way! The people of the world believe in you, so fight on Crystal Gems! Excelsior!”

“Well that was a bit anticlimatic.” Lapis stated when the man closed the door. “Yeah I mean, what does 'Excelsior' mean?” Gamora replied. “That isn't important right now, we have to go back and help the others.” Garnet ordered before they all raced back to the beach.

Speaking of the others, Stevonnie, Star-Lord, Groot, Rocket, Lion, Pearl and Peridot continued squaring off against Titus. Rocket & Peridot had repurposed J'son's destroyed element gun and hit him with a large amount of fire while Star-Lord, Groot, Pearl and Stevonnie fought with all of their might.

“Give it up fools, I am far more experienced than you will ever be!” he boasted blasting some more volts at the heroes. “Yeah well, you fight like a cow!” Stevonnie shouted back continuing to damage his cannon limb. “But he's not a cow, he's some tiger thing.” Pearl remarked, clearly confused over what they just said. “It's supposed to like, insult the opponent Pearl. Haven't you tried something like that before?” Rocket replied. “Why certainly not!”

“Yo, you guys need a lift here?” Yondu called as the rest of his group appeared behind him. “What, I thought those Chitauri I sent after the humans would've killed you!” Titus exclaimed in sheer disbelief at the sight before him.

“Well you thought wrong.” Lapis confidently responded high-fiving Yondu. This made Titus very angry as he roared and charged at them like a predator about to slaughter his prey before Garnet punched him in the face, heavily damaging his cybernetic eye.

“That is it!” he finally exploded in rage. “I have had enough of all of you! Forget putting you under arrest, PREPARE TO DIE!” He pounced at his opponents again about to fire his arm cannon, actually knocking a few of them down this time. “Now I will show you the full wrath of a Nova Corpsman!” He signaled the remaining Chitauri to his side and ordered them to attack the heroes. “My minions, slaughter them all!”

The Crystal Gems and the Guardians tried their hardest to fight them off and defeat Titus once and for all, but all started to seem lost. “There's too many of them!” Peridot screamed firing the gun that Rocket gave her at them, only to run out of ammo. “Did you bring any ammo Rocket?” she asked the raccoon-esque creature. “I did, but I think they were lost when we first crashed here.” Rocket replied before a Chitauri grabbed him by the arms. “Hey, let me go!”

“I am Groot!” Groot cried for his friend before dozens more began dog-piling him. “Don't worry Groot, I'm coming!” Garnet exclaimed charging at the aliens to rescue the Flora colossus, only to fall herself. “My friends, it has been an honor protecting Earth with you.” Amethyst declared with a surprisingly solemn look on her face as she turned into a violin and jumped into Pearl's arms.

“Well what're you waitin' for P, pick up the bow and play something!” she shouted. “Are you serious right now Amethyst?” Pearl frowned tossing the purple violin back on the ground before she got shot at by another Chitauri. “Quit it you!” she exclaimed stabbing the extraterrestrial with her spear.

“We're surrounded!” Lapis cried as she, Gamora, Drax and Yondu were, of course, surrounded by Chitauri. “Can't you just wash them away with your water powers?” Drax responded. “That is a good idea, but more will keep coming!” Gamora answered. “Might as well keep fighting til we stop breathing!” Yondu shouted running into battle with one of the Chitauri. “Yondu no!” Lapis shouted as he was knocked out cold.

“You see my friends, your time has come to die!” Titus announced towering over the fallen heroes. “You can call yourselves heroes all you want, but in my eyes you are all filthy rats! Especially you so called Guardians!” Out of all of them, Star-Lord, Stevonnie and Lion were the last ones facing him. “You won't win Titus, we will beat you!” the fusion exclaimed stabbing the former space cop right in his chest, but he didn't feel much pain. “Are you done yet?” he asked without any sort of emotion in his voice while ripping the sword out of his body. “Now then, any last words before I obliterate you?”

“Yes, yes I do.” Peter chimed before breaking into a dance routine while singing a song. “If you're evil and you're on the rise, you can count on the twelve of us taking you down!” he sang. “Cause we're a little bit of both and evil is too stupid to beat us, we'll win the fight and go out for pizza!” Titus was utterly flabbergasted by what he was seeing before him.

“What are you doing?!” he shouted. “Dance off bro, me and you!” the half-human answered. “We're the Crystal Gems and the Guardians, we'll always save the day! C'mon, someone dance with me!” Nobody felt like joining him in his dance except Stevonnie. “You Stevonnie? Okay!” They continued singing. “And if you think we can't, we'll always find a way!”

“That's why the people of this world, believe in!” they harmonized together. “The Guardians of the Galaxy, the Crystal Gems......AND STEVEN!” Suddenly they started glowing and merged together into a new being, which was a mix of Stevonnie's body & clothes with Star-Lord's hair color, jacket, boots and helmet. “Whoa, what just happened?” they said before realizing what just happened. “Wait, did we fuse?!”

“Wow, two half-humans and a full human fusing? That's awesome!” Amethyst exclaimed. “Fusion or not, you are still nothing!” Titus shouted prepared to fire from his cannon, but the new fusion retaliated by firing a laser blast from the blade. “Awesome, a laser sword!” they beamed in pure excitement before turning to their friends and annihilating all the Chitauri. When they all got up, they were utterly astonished at the sight before them.

“Is that you in there Petey?” Yondu asked them. “Of course it's me Yondu, I'm like thirty percent Star-Lord!” they replied. “Maybe we should come up with a new name for this like Stevoter or Pevonnie.” Garnet suggested with a wide grin on her face. “I think Stevoter sounds pretty cool.” the Gem-human-Spartaxian fusion, now named Stevoter, said. “But right now, we got bigger fish to fry.”

They all glared at Titus, who was now growing more insane as the battle went on and was at his breaking point. “JOKE ALL YOU WANT SCUM, BUT I WILL PUT AN END TO YOU AND REGAIN MY HONOR!!!” he screamed at the top of his lungs before launching a giant volt of electricity at the group. Stevoter quickly deflected it by summoning a shield that looked very much like a Walkman and the attack was returned in the form of “The Chain.”

“Aagh, stop it already!” the villain shouted covering his ears. “Oh we'll stop if you leave this planet alone!” Stevoter declared. “Alright a-holes, let's end this!” they rallied both the Gems and the Guardians together to finish Titus once and for all.

Garnet and Gamora dealt the first blow, punching him in the face and stabbing him in his cybernetic eye again. Then came Amethyst and Drax, who tied him up and kicked him around a bit. Groot and Pearl gave him a really big beatdown that he tried to fight back from, but to no avail. Lapis and Rocket beat him next with a righteous combination of firepower and geysers.

“Seriously, stop this!” Titus cried feeling more pain. “Just try and make us big guy!” Rocket arrogantly responded shaking his tail at him. Peridot than tossed the upturned Milano in his face with her metal powers. Yondu came next making his arrow destroy his cybernetic eye. Finally there was Stevoter who mounted on Lion and charged toward him with laser sword and Walkman shield in hand.

Swinging the blade, they sliced off Titus' robot arm and he fell down into the ocean. “So how do you like it now?” they boasted lifting up their mask, revealing a cocky grin on their face. “You may have beaten me now, but there's still the Chitauri to take care of.” Titus stated. They all looked up at the vortex still spewing out aliens over the ocean. “Oh right, we still gotta take care of that.” Amethyst said.

Stevoter suddenly defused back into Star-Lord, Steven and Connie, still reeling from what had just happened. When they all looked at each other, they turned into a big group hug laughing. “That was so cool!” Steven exclaimed. “Yeah, when we blocked that blast with the shield that was fused with your player and then there was the laser sword!” Connie responded. “I thought fusion was pretty cool, but I'd never thought I'd get involved in one!” Peter said. “Yes, it's good that we beat him but we still need to take care of those Chitauri.” Garnet added.

“We're gonna need a cooking pot.” Rocket declared. “That's right, I'm bringin' back the black hole bomb!” Nobody really liked the sound of that idea, especially Peter. “I'm not sure about that. The last time you built one, you nearly killed us all!” he shouted. “Listen guys, I kind of started this by taking all those Quartz gems and I'm gonna end it.”

“I'll go look for that pot!” Amethyst said racing inside the beach house and came back out with the pot and some more bits & bobs. “Thanks Amethyst.” the raccoon thanked her and began work on the black hole bomb. When he finished, he grimly turned to his friends. “Well gang, guess I must be off.” he said. “Groot, you're the best pal a guy like me could have. Quill, you may be annoying but you're still my bro. Lapis & Peridot, thanks for sympathizing with me. Steven, I'm still sorry for being such a jerk earlier. And to everyone else, stay gold.”

“I am Groot?” Groot wondered starting to tear up. “I'm sorry buddy, but it's the only way.” Rocket sighed hugging his big tree friend. Getting on a leftover Chitauri chariot, he flew away toward the vortex. “Good luck buddy.” Star-Lord said with a few tears in his eyes as well.

Finding his way inside the vortex, Rocket saw the Chitauri command center hovering above it. Soaring towards it while shooting down more troops along the way, he stuck the black hole bomb on the top of the vessel and turned it on. “Well, here goes.” he said to himself getting back on the chariot and zooming away from it.

He circled the command center shooting down any Chitauri that tried to attack him until the timer finally reached zero. The ship was already getting sucked in the black hole created by the bomb, and Rocket calmly accepted his demise until he was knocked off his chariot by a random Chitauri and sent flying into the ocean.

Meanwhile back with the others, they had just heard the black hole go off and mourned the loss of the their friend, with Groot taking it the hardest as he sobbed in Garnet's arms. “He died like a true hero.” Star-Lord said. “I'm really sorry about your loss.” Steven replied.

They all took a moment of silence to remember their fallen friend, but suddenly they heard a sound. Everybody looked around to learn where it was coming from until they turned their heads skyward to find a familiar furry figure falling towards them, screaming along the way. “Is that.....Rocket?!”

Rocket continued screaming incredibly loudly until he fell headfirst into the sand. “Whoa, what just happened? Last thing I remember was....” he wondered before getting interrupted by Groot bawling his eyes out while giving him a big hug. “I AM GROOT!” he sobbed in joy.

“Yeah yeah, I'm still alive. Did you really think the most lovable member was going to be offed?” Rocket snarked before everyone else joined in on the hug. “Okay now you're all choking me!” he wheezed. “How did you manage to survive?!” Star-Lord cried as they all let go and let him breathe. “I don't know. I was just flying around shootin' down Chitauri after accepting the fact I was gonna die and then boom, here I am. Speaking of which....”

The command center continued falling apart with its remains getting sucked into the black hole created by Rocket's bomb, which caused all the Chitauri to suddenly fall down dead. Then the portal finally sealed itself shut and all was quiet. “Wow, we actually won!” Steven cheered. “Indeed you did.” a soldier from earlier added. “Thank you all for your help today, we'll have Damage Control over here to clean up.”

After a while, a construction crew headed by an old woman arrived at Beach City to help the citizens rebuild their home. “So you all fused to beat that tiger guy?” Greg asked while rebuilding the beach house with Star-Lord, Steven, Connie and Gamora. “Yeah, we even had got a cool name like Stevoter too!” Steven replied. “And Rocket nearly died saving us all!” Connie added.

Yondu walked over to Titus' unconscious body, still with his metal appendage de-attached from the rest of his body. Picking up the gemstone of Holly Blue Agate from the arm, he handed it to Amethyst to bubble it. “I think she should be taken back to Homeworld so that Titus can get into some real trouble!” she suggested.

“Quit reading my mind squirt!” the Ravager replied before kicking the space cop in the head. “Yo furball, wake up!” he shouted as Titus began to awaken. “W-what just....happened?” he wondered looking around. “We kicked your ass, and now you're comin' with me.” Yondu answered with a cheeky grin.

“Okay, a little bit to the left, no your other left. A little bit more and there!” a construction worker gave orders to Lapis while she lifted a Leviathan out of the water. “Thank you for your help Miss. What was your name again?” he asked. “My name is Lapis Lazuli Mr. Ballinger.” she introduced herself. “Thanks Lapis, but just call me Lenny.”

“I've been searching for J'son for a long time, but thanks to you I can finally bring him in.” a man in a blue suit and golden helmet said as Pearl and Drax brought the king before him. “You're very welcome Nova. Or should I call you Mr. Rider?” the white Gem asked. “Please, Nova will do just fine.” Nova replied. “So what are you going to do to him?” Drax inquired. “Just going to take him back to Xandar so that he can be tried for his crimes.”

Groot meanwhile was helping Peridot, Garnet and Rocket get the Milano back into shape. “For a moment there when I thought I was gonna die, my life flashed before my eyes and it wasn't pretty.” Rocket explained as he re-calibrated the controls. “That must sound pretty terrible.” Peridot snarked. “I am Groot.” Groot added patting his head.

“I get it already, you're glad that I'm still alive yadda yadda yadda.” he groaned. “Whether you died or not, that was very heroic of you.” Garnet commended him. “Aw, thanks Garnet.”

“Well, seems like we gotta go now guys.” Star-Lord said turning to Steven when they all took a break. “It's been awesome being back on Earth and meeting you all, but we can't just guard one part of the galaxy.” He got up to go back to the Milano when Steven and Greg stopped him. “Wait, we still have one more thing for you.” Greg said pulling out a few presents from behind him and handing each one to the heroes for hire. “Go on, open 'em!”

Rocket was the first to unwrap his, which was an attack drone like Peridot's. “Sweet, my own drone!” he exclaimed tossing it into the air. “Is this one of your old swords?” Gamora said to Pearl after unwrapping hers, which was a cutlass. “Yes, since you're so well-versed in swordfighting I figured you might like this one.” Pearl replied before she got hugged by the green woman. “Wait, are we seriously doing this right now?” she wondered. “Don't worry, I'm starting to feel uncomfortable here too.” the swordswoman answered as Pearl returned the hug.

“What is this sweet-looking object?” Drax gasped at his present. “It's a cupcake, since you've mentioned cake a lot.” Connie said. “FINALLY, CAKE!” the destroyer shouted gobbling it down to the last crumb. “I must have more! MORE!”

“I am Groot!” Groot said examining his. “It's a mini version of your meep-morp. Amethyst helped me out with this one.” Lapis explained. “Yeah, it's basically from both of us.” Amethyst added. Finally there was Peter, who was gazing at his present. “Can I unwrap it now?” he asked Steven. “Sure, go for it!” the half-boy replied.

Peter finally unwrapped it, revealing it to be a cassette tape labeled “Awesome Mix: Universe Edition”. “I knew you would love this Peter.” Steven said smiling. Star-Lord briefly glanced between the child and his new tape before hugging him. “Thanks kid, hope we can see each other again.” he thanked him smiling.

“Yo, where's my present?!” Yondu demanded looking quite impatient. “Oh what the heck, bringing these two in is enough of a present.” he said. “Mr. Universe, I'd like to speak with you.” an elderly woman flanked by the same old man from before said approaching Greg. “I am Anne Marie Hoag of Damage Control. Mayor Bill Dewey has told me that your son might have had something to do with these recent events.” she explained. “Yeah, that son is me!” Steven gleefully said shaking Hoag's hand. “My name's Steven Universe madame, and these are the people who helped save Beach City!”

Hoag then looked at both the Crystal Gems and the Guardians, walking towards Garnet. “You must be the leader of this crystalline camaraderie.” she said. “You can say that miss, but Steven's mother Rose Quartz was once our leader and soon Steven will be too.” Garnet said. “Good to know. I thank you for helping with reconstruction. My superior might want to get to know you better soon.” the elder said before turning her attention to Star-Lord.

“So are you like some kind of bandit?” she asked the space cowboy. “Well I was a thief before I met these crazy people that I call my friends.” Peter replied showing her his fellow space-farers. Groot just waved politely at her.

“So you claim be a Crystal Gem like the others yet you don't have a star. What's up with that?” Yondu asked Peridot. “Us Peridots are quite hard to poof.” she replied pointing to her triangular gemstone. “But what about Lapis, what's her deal?” he added up looking at the ocean Gem. “I'm not really a member, I'm just friends with Steven.” Lapis responded. “Well good to know. Oh would you look at the time, I gotta go!” he said looking at his wrist where a watch would be. “Think you could give me a lift back to my ship at the barn?”

“Yondu's right, we should get going.” Peter said about to board the Milano. “Goodbye everyone!” The rest of the Guardians followed suit following him onboard. The ship then lifted itself off the ground and took off as everyone said their goodbyes. “I'm gonna miss him too.” Steven said smiling.

The Milano was gliding through the sky as Rocket piloted it. “Okay gang, we should go into hyperspeed in a few minutes.” he announced. “Better buckle up!” Everybody did as he told them to, except for Star-Lord who continued looking at the cassette tape he was given. “C'mon Quill, get into position!” Rocket ordered. “In a bit, just gonna need to see if this works.” Peter said popping the tape into his Walkman before sitting down and buckling up. It then started to play a new song.

“If I could begin to be Half of what you think of me I could do about anything I could even learn how to love”

Meanwhile back on Beach City, the Gems continued watching as their new friends left the Earth. “Hope we can see them again soon, Drax was an utter riot.” Amethyst said. “You got that right Amethyst, now if you'll excuse us we gotta go back to the barn so that Yondu can leave.” Peridot replied as she, Lapis, Yondu and Titus teleported away on the warp pad.

“When I see the way you act Wondering when I'm coming back I could do about anything I could even learn how to love like you

Love like you”

“Threat has been neutralized Director Fury, no need to call the Avengers. I repeat, no need to call the Avengers.” Agent Lee spoke to Nick Fury on an earpiece. “Good to know Agent Lee, we'll be sending over a Quinjet to bring you back to New York.” Fury replied ending the call. Agent Lee sighed, happy that he accomplished a job well done before he noticed a little boy standing behind him with a creepy stare. “You didn't see nothing true believer.”

“I always thought I might be bad Now I'm sure that it's true 'cause I think you're so good And I'm nothing like you”

“Thanks for the lift girls, farewell.” Yondu thanked Lapis and Peridot as he shoved Titus onboard his ship. The two Gems waved goodbye as he took off. In his ship, Yondu tried to contact the Gem Homeworld looking back at Titus with a sneer. “Welcome to the Diamond Line, what do you want?” Yellow Pearl said when she came into view.

“My name is Yondu Udonta, and I have a little something for you.” Yondu introduced himself pulling Titus next to him. “This guy kidnapped one of Blue Diamond's Gems and attempted to shatter the Gems you assigned some friends of mine to capture.” he explained. “Pearl, who is calling us right now?” a voice belonging to Yellow Diamond asked as she pulled up the communicator to her face. “Oh no.....” Titus weeped, thinking about what fate would befell him.

“Look at you go I just adore you I wish that I knew What makes you think I'm so special”

“Finally, back in space.” Rocket sighed, feeling utterly relaxed while they entered hyperspeed. “So how's your present Pete?” he asked his captain. “Beautiful.” Peter replied. “So where do we go now?” he said to his teammates. “Who knows? You lead the way Star-Lord.” Gamora answered. And thus brings an end to the tale of a meeting and friendship between two worlds.

“If I could begin to do Something that does right by you I would do about anything I would even learn how to love

When I see the way you look Shaken by how long it took I could do about anything I could even learn how to love like you

Love like you Love me like you”

Finally everyone, it's over. This chapter took 9,000 plus words and it may have dragged out a bit, but it's over. Thank you everyone so much for joining me on this journey and I hope we can do it all over again someday. But for now, here's some hints of what's to come.

“Lord Thanos, I wish to speak with you.” Corvus Glaive said to his master. “What is it that you want to confer with me about?” the Mad Titan wondered. “It's about Earth, we have received intel that your daughter was on that planet.” the alien explained bringing up a hologram of recent events.

Thanos carefully examined the happenings until he laid eyes upon a group of people with his daughter. “The Homeworld rebels are still alive?!” he exclaimed recognizing their star symbol. “Very good, perhaps they could be the key to helping me find the Infinity Stones.” Getting up from his throne, he brought forth a golden gauntlet to his hand with six empty spots. “My minions, we are headed for Earth.”

Did you like what you saw? Yeah, I liked doing this too but the next one will blow you away.

We see a laboratory decorated with various suits with armor as a man with a welding mask over his face tinkered with some metal. “Mr. Stark, I have received a call from Nick Fury.” a voice announced. “Excellent J.A.R.V.I.S., bring it up on screen.” the man replied pulling up his mask to reveal a face with a beard as a screen showing Nick Fury appeared before him.

“Tony, I've tried to call you for the past few hours.” he explained. “What for? And make it quick, I'm kinda busy here.” Tony wondered. “An alien invasion took place in the Delmarva town of Beach City, which was put a stop to by the Guardians of the Galaxy.”

“Wait, those guys?” Tony was perplexed at what he just said. “Shouldn't they be like guarding some other part of the galaxy or something?” he asked. “True, but who was with them is what I wanted to speak with you about.” Nick brought up another screen of the aforementioned group, consisting of a woman with a square afro, a purple figure, a thin white lady with a pointy nose and a little boy with puffy hair.

“They call themselves the Crystal Gems and I believe they might be useful to the Avengers at some point.” Fury continued. “Interesting.” Tony said with a certain look on his face stroking his beard. “Jarvis, book a flight to Delmarva.” he ordered the voice. “On the double Mr. Stark, what for?” Jarvis said.

“It's time I had a little talk with them.”

The Crystal Gems will return in “Steven Universe: Secret Wars”

3 notes · View notes

kaikamahine · 8 years

Note

Set-of-thee-things story: Jasper with either 2) or 9) pretty pretty please?

I know it doesn’t seem like there’s much Jasper in this, but it circles back around to her, promise! :D

THANK YOU FOR SENDING A PROMPT, FRIEND.

2: Tiles, clacking of high heels, herbal tea

By the time back-up arrives, Connie’s barricaded herself in the kitchen, crouched on top of an overturned soup pot in the manner of a particularly uncomfortable bird sitting in a nest much too small for it, knobby knees propped up by her armpits. She’s made a helmet out of a colander, and she’s using the Rose Quartz sword to pin the pot handle to the kitchen tile, balancing herself with it. Grim determination makes steel out of her face, her aquiline profile turned to a sharp cleaver’s edge.

“Hurry,” she says to them without preamble, as soon as Steven lets them in, calling, Connie, it’s us, we came as fast - “It hasn’t reformed yet, but I don’t know if my defenses will hold!”

“Never fear,” Peridot shouts in answer. “The Crystal Gems are here!”

She barrels through the door ahead of the others - the effect only slightly spoiled by the fact she’s on the wrong side of the kitchen island, which she isn’t tall enough to see over.

Connie gingerly unfolds herself, keeping her sword point trained on the pot as her weight leaves it.

In one smooth movement, Peridot whips it off the ground, revealing a scaly honey-gold gem underneath, which Steven punts across the tile to Lapis, who claps her hands together and bubbles it.

A pause, and everybody expels the breath they’ve been holding, all at once.

“Well, I was expecting more of a fight,” Peridot says acerbically.

“It was hiding under the shoes in my mom’s closet,” Connie tells them, fetching the sheath from the other room and returning, sliding the sword home and buckling it around her waist. “I mean, okay, they’re mostly my dad’s shoes since he needs to have every pair he’s ever owned in black and brown, it’s a thing with him, and Mom usually keeps hers by the door. But she needed her second-best pair of heels today, so she opened up the closet and started digging - fortunately, I was there, I don’t want to think about what would have happened if I wasn’t - ”

Steven looks alarmed. “Is Dr. Maheswaran all right?”

“Yes, she’s fine - she got it on the snout with a loafer - ”

“- looks like a Topaz,” Lapis comments, studying the gem through the dark membrane of her bubble. Even obscured, it’s obviously encrusted with calcified, bone-white growths. “Or. She was a Topaz.”

“- but then I got her and Dad to leave it to me.”

“Wow, Connie,” Steven goes, round-eyed. “You really vanquished a corrupted gem all by yourself?”

“Oh, no, I called you immediately, so I knew I wasn’t going to be all by myself, it was just…”

She trails off, and then peeks out from under the rim of the colander, suddenly looking uncertain, like she doesn’t know whether to be embarrassed or proud.

“Yeah,” she says, and slowly starts to grin. “I guess I did.”

“- only in Yellow Court, but that didn’t change, I’ve never met a Topaz who’d turn down the chance to poke their nose into other people’s business,” Peridot’s saying dryly, studying the gem in Lapis’s hands. “So if she wasn’t in a closet with the Connie’s human feet-shirts, she would have been in someone else’s trash can.”

She draws breath, revving up to full-blown lecture mode, and then suddenly the line of her mouth snags.

Lapis glances up. “What is it?”

“Steven … ” Peridot calls, cutting through Steven’s rapt preoccupation with Connie’s tale. "Can you take a look at this?“

Obediently, he circles around the kitchen island. Peridot grabs his arm, and the two of them have a hasty whispered discussion behind cupped hands. Lapis waits, looking patient and bemused, as they surface to peer intently at the bubbled corrupted Topaz.

“Yeah,” Steven says, after a long pause. “That’s her.”

“That’s the third one we’ve found, just in this area!” Peridot flings her arms up. “Do you know how far they had to travel to get all the way back here, and what for?”

“We don’t really know why corrupted gems do what they do,” Steven answers. “And the Gems have been trying to figure them out for thousands of years.”

Connie hops up onto the counter, rearranging the sword as it bangs against the cabinets. The colander wobbles on top of her head.

“Where did she come from?” she asks.

Steven and Peridot exchange a look.

“Beta Kindergarten,” Peridot answers, simultaneous with Steven’s, “Arizona.”

Ding! Connie’s eyebrows spring up like toast.

“Oh,” she says, uncomfortably.

“What kind of place is that? Arizona?” Lapis interjects, letting the bubble float over her head and frowning up at it, like she’s trying to imagine why a gem would hike all the way to Delmarva if they didn’t have to.

“I don’t think you can really count Arizona as a place, ma’am,” Connie deadpans.

Lapis nods, like that makes perfect sense. “Like Jersey.”

“OKAY WELL,” comes out of Peridot at sudden top volume, and she edges towards Lapis and the bubble in her best attempt at casual, which lands three degrees off anything remotely resembling such. “We should send her to the temple and then move on with our day! The Connie can tell us all about how she managed to poof her - “

Lapis’s expression changes.

She snatches the bubble and holds it high out of Peridot’s reach.

“No fair!” Peridot complains, hopping on tiptoes.

“What aren’t you telling me?” And before anybody can say anything, a dawning suspicion steals across Lapis’s face, like she’s starting to see the giant, woman-sized shape paper-punched out of the conversation.

Her voice comes out cold. “What was she doing with them?”

Steven, Peridot, and Connie all flinch.

Peridot recovers first, and forces out a deliberate, offhanded laugh.

“Oh, the usual crazy stuff,” she says with a shrug, ignoring Steven’s hissed, Peridot, we don’t say that word! “Collecting them, keeping them trapped in cages, some drivel about prisoners and purging, I wasn’t paying attention - I was busy and my powers were needed,” she buffs her nails on her uniform. “Ehh, I think she mostly she was taking her own inadequacies out on gems who couldn’t fight back, because it felt good.”

Lapis’s face goes very still.

Connie and Steven exchange miserable looks.

“Oh!” Peridot continues with a snap of her fingers, oblivious. She looks over at them. “But she didn’t start in Beta, did she? You said that after the mountains, she tried keeping those corrupted jaspers in the ocean, right? That’s where you fought her?”

Usually happy to recount how Amethyst and Stevonnie rescued one corrupted jasper from imprisonment and drove off Jasper herself, Steven now looks like he’d rather be anywhere but here.

His head turtle-ducks towards his collar. “Peridot …”

Her brows pinch together. “You’re using the ‘Peridot, you’re being insensitive’ voice. Why are you doing that? She’s bubbled - it’s not like she has any feelings in that state - she doesn’t care what we say!”

With an almost crystalline snap of something frozen forced into movement, Lapis releases the bubble and taps the top of it. It vanishes.

She leaves the kitchen without a word.

“What’d I say?” Peridot blinks, and then with dawning concern, “No, wait, doesn’t matter. I’m going to see if she’s all right.”

The door closes behind her, and at last, reluctantly, Connie takes off her colander helmet.

Steven makes a face at her. “Sorry, Connie.”

This should have been your day, is implied. Connie shrugs and says, “You better go after them.”

Peridot was right about one thing, though:

The corrupted Topaz is the third gem recently bubbled that they recognized from Beta Kindergarten, and they didn’t have a clue what could prompt a corrupted gem to trek all the way back to Delmarva from Arizona.

Honestly, without Lapis or Peridot, Steven wouldn’t even know that the gem was a Topaz - and neither would Amethyst, since any gems outside their immediate family are as unfamiliar to her as they are to him. When it comes up, Garnet and Pearl just call them corrupted - but he thinks that has more to do with grief than ignorance; if Garnet and Pearl avoid calling corrupted gems by their names, then they don’t have to confront the likelihood that they’ll look at a monster and see a friend.

Lapis and Peridot, while not as straight-up callous as they used to be, don’t suffer the same sentimentality.

Still, Peridot’s suggestion - put forth some two weeks after the Topaz incident - is met with an immediate icy silence.

“Bait,” Garnet echoes, a single reproving syllable.

Undaunted, Peridot pounds her fist into the palm of her other hand.

“Yeah!” she says. “We unbubble one of the Beta gems we have and see if that’s the common denominator.”

Steven glances back and forth, trying to slurp quietly from the top of his mug to see if his tea’s cooled enough to drink yet. He grimaces at the taste: Connie has a five-minute presentation on why herbal teas are good for you, but do they have to taste like suffering?

“That’s not much to go on,” Pearl points out reasonably.

“Sure it is! If we just - ”

“I can kinda see Perrie’s point,” Amethyst says, and when Garnet and Pearl both turn to look at her, she shrugs. “Nobody likes to be alone, guys. Not permanently. You all remember Centipeedle? If all the Beta gems did used to be part of Jasper’s army thousands of years ago - assuming she wasn’t just crazy - “

“Amethyst,” Steven complains.

“ - then they’re gonna wanna be together. Like soldiers or whatever.” She spreads her hands, like, see? “This is our chance to round them all up.”

It’s a testament, Steven thinks, to how far they’ve all come that where once Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl would have balked at the idea of attracting any kind of attention from corrupted gems, now they’re confident that that between five weaponized gems and one Steven, not to mention Connie and Lion, they’ve got a good chance at handling whatever’s thrown at them. At least from this planet.

Garnet’s mouth makes the faintest upward twitch.

“Let’s try it.”

BAM!

The screen door bangs off its hinges, and Peridot comes barreling in already yelling.

“I’ve made a terrible mistake! You’ve got to come quick!”

With a low vrrrrrBMM, Garnet’s gauntlets crystalize over her hands. This, more than Peridot’s histrionics - which are often caused by other such distresses as an unpaid Netflix bill interrupting her streaming or some unknown species of spider hiding in her paint cans, convincing her it’s an invasion (”the more legs it has, the more likely it is to murder us, Steven!”) - alarm Amethyst and Pearl, who also come to attention.

“What’s wrong?” Garnet says.

“It’s Lapis! She went into the temple, and she - “

The tension in the room ratchets up so suddenly she stumbles, and frowns at them. Behind the counter, Steven sighs.

In his opinion, the civility that exists between the Crystal Gems and Lapis is nothing short of a miracle. It’s one thing to continually tell Lapis that the Gems never meant to keep her imprisoned, and another thing for Lapis to break a 5000-year habit of loathing and obsessing over how the Crystal Gems are cruel, heartless, trophy-hunting monsters. These days, Steven just shrugs off the ocean-theft, near-murder incident - so she had a villain moment, who hasn’t had a villain moment, they’re going to make a catchy musical number about it one day if Dad hasn’t already - but he sees the exact conclusion Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl leap to with that declaration alone.

“Guys - “ he starts reprovingly, but Garnet speaks over him.

“Where is she?”

“Uh.” Wrong-footed, Peridot blinks, then remembers what she was trying to say. “At the Greg-dad’s alternate housing facility?”

Whatever the Gems were expecting to hear, this wasn’t it.

“She’s where?” Pearl says blankly.

It’s easy to tell which storage unit belongs to Mr. Universe’s - even if it wasn’t the only one that’s open, the deep blue light pooling on the asphalt would be a dead giveaway.

At the sight, Peridot starts to dash forward, but Amethyst grabs her shoulder in a restraining hold, shaking her head, and so Peridot settles for cupping her hands around her mouth and calling out, sotto voice, “Lapis! Lapis, it’s okay, I’m here!”

“Shh,” comes the reply, and something in the storage unit makes a distinct whumph!

Pearl tightens her grip on her spear, expression grim.

Unable to stand it, Steven pushes forward until he’s almost at the garage door, wrapping an arm around Garnet’s leg and peering out.

At first, all he can make out is a mass of orange and white. Crouched in front of all that bulk, Lapis seems laughably small. The only light comes from the streetlight several paces back and Lapis’s gem, illuminating the edges of everything in a ominous, midnight glow. Somewhere back in the dark, something breathes.

Peridot speaks first.

“Lapis.” Her tone is tense, her hands fisted at her sides. “We could have used any of the Beta gems, you didn’t - “

“No,” Lapis says mildly.

At the sound of her voice, the monster shifts her chin along the cement, and Steven abruptly realizes what they’re looking at.

The corrupted gem that had once been Jasper lies on her belly in front of Lapis, her head lowered until it’s mere inches away from Lapis’s outstretched palm, the way Steven once saw the Pizza’s old dog behave with Nanefua, sitting poised and obedient as she held a piece of fish in front of its nose and made it wait. Jasper holds so still she’s almost shaking, a ripple of movement under her fur and the sickly, conical growths that encrust her head and shoulders. Steven can’t tell where her eyes are, but he can just make out her nostrils, flaring open and shut under the heel of Lapis’s hand.

She’s so big the sound of her breathing takes up the entire unit, an inhaling-exhaling rush like being trapped inside a seashell.

“You’re right, Peridot,” Lapis says.

The Peridot of a year ago might have brushed that off with a casual, I know, but now she narrows her eyes and says, “about … what?” with trepidation.

“They’ll hunt her down. All the Beta gems - she’s their common denominator. So if you’re right, if she was doing to them exactly what I did to her - “

“Lapis, no - “ Steven tries, loudly.

The next inhale comes as a low, warning growl, and his mouth snaps shut of its own accord.

“- then they’ll come to where she is.” Her calm and carefully moderated tone now drops, and Jasper’s chin inches along the cement like she’s trying to follow it. “They’ve been alone and frightened for thousands of years. They’ll leap at anything that isn’t that, even if it hurts. And then we can help them.”

“You can’t leave her unbubbled, Lapis,” Garnet says firmly.

“She won’t hurt me.”

Whumph! comes again, and Steven has a strange moment when he realizes that it’s Jasper’s tail, thumping against whatever it is his dad’s got back there.

Is she … she’s wagging her tail! he thinks with sudden glee, and clamps down hard on the urge to smile. It’s not appropriate for the situation, Steven.

“Or you,” Lapis adds, like it’s an afterthought.

Garnet, Pearl, and Amethyst all exchange skeptical looks; absolutely nothing in their experience says Jasper’s ever tried to do anything but hurt them.

“You can’t know that,” Garnet insists. “Corrupted gems aren’t something to play around with. They’re a danger to themselves and to the lifeforms on this planet.”

“Not if she stays in here!”

A pause, and then all eyes swivel to Steven.

“Well,” he continues, carefully releasing his hold on Garnet, “it doesn’t have to be here, here, it’s probably not fair to keep her in a doghouse. Especially in the dark! But we’ve got something, don’t we? Like the Centipeedles on their ship!”

“Steven - “ Pearl clicks her tongue. “That’s different. They’re with their crew, that’s - “

Lapis stands and abruptly pivots to face them.

“What do you think I am?” Her voice is so flat you could skate across it.

Garnet’s mouth skews like she tastes something unpleasant.

Lapis meets her gaze and doesn’t flinch. She keeps one hand extended behind her, palm flat - Jasper stays where she is.

Steven wonders if they can tell how much it costs Lapis to confess that - that doing to Jasper what Homeworld had done to her, that Jasper in turn did to other gems, made Jasper hers in an unfortunate kind of way, the kind that takes bravery to admit to - but before he can say anything, Peridot jumps in, her expression apprehensive - this whole thing had been her idea. “And - if Amethyst’s right and the corrupted gems from Beta were part of her army, thousands of years ago, that means she’s their crew, too, right?”

Garnet shakes her head. “You’re asking us to let you release a proven enemy, without - “

“She won’t hurt us,” Lapis says again.

“Why not?”

And the answer, when it comes, surprises them all:

“Because of Steven,” says Amethyst.

Everyone looks at her. She looks at Lapis.

Then she folds her arms, looking grumpy. “Well? Am I wrong?”

A beat, and Lapis turns, once more crouching down in front of Jasper, who whoofs out a breath, thumping her tail in a manner that’s almost contented.

“You’re the Crystal Gems,” she says. “You’ve lived with Steven all his life, so you don’t know what it’s like, being so rock bottom you’ve got nothing else. There’s nowhere to go at that point - except there is, because the one thing you’ve got left is being what Steven sees when he looks at you.”

Steven starts to fidget, uncomfortable, but when he steals a look around, he sees Peridot nodding with perfect understanding, and - to his shock - Amethyst, too.

But how can I see something in you if it’s not already there! he wants to protest. You’re the ones who are so special, not me, and all I want is to show you that!

“The plan will work,” Lapis says confidently.

She sneaks a glance in Steven’s direction, tucking a stray fringe of hair away from her face, and he’s reminded suddenly of the shyness in Connie’s expression the day she vanquished the snooping Topaz without their help: I did good, right?

A hand descends, flattening the hair on top of his head: Garnet, conceding.

“We’ll try it once,” she allows, and Pearl heaves her this is a bad idea and I’m going to say I told you so later sigh. “And then we’ll decide where to go from there.”

The storage unit fills as Jasper draws in a huge breath and releases it gustily.

Then she tips her head forward, just barely, just enough that her nose bumps up under the palm of Lapis’s hand.

Lapis smiles.

#hmrg #fic:mine #THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATIENCE WHILE I FINISHED THIS #and sorry @ everyone else especially if you're on mobile this got kind of lengthy #i was definitely looking for an excuse to write jasdog #jaspupper #whatever #JUST LET HER BE A GOOD DOG BRENT #steven universe for ts

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