#steven corruption theory

[topazillustrates]

Falsification AU || Pages 106

REBLOG ONLY

Steven must confront the gems once again but will it turn out better this time? Mod Note:

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[novantinuum]

losing my fucking MIND someone perceived me in a Patreon blind reaction comments thread of all places *wheeeEEEZE*

[cheeki-tails]

going back to my roots (monster body fun to draw)

[hewkii]

this fucking thing: *is the embodiment of steven's complete mental collapse*

my dumb ass: large friend :) cuddly guy :) absolute goober :)

[space-snake]

Does anyone think corrupted gems are actually how gems evolved naturally and then some unknown alien race messed with them to create soldiers but it backfired and white diamond (or another diamond before her) wiped them out and then propagandad the hell out of everyone so that the original alien race to first create gems was forgotten

[mbat]

sometimes i remember how, back when suf was airing and i was fixating on it, i saw a really good fanart post that was ig a clip from madoka magica but drawn with steven and amethyst, and i loved it so much i was like 'oo i should see what that other show is' so i tried to watch it and i was SO lost and i retained nothing from it. and i got to a point where i was like. wait why am i watching this again? until i got to the part with the quote from that post

anyway i remember that everytime i see any madoka magica stuff

[sethdomain]

straight up man I followed for the cool su art, stayed cause idk but still here lol

oh my god your'e an OLD phraudster

[jemthecrystalgem]

My new theory (yes, in 2024) is that Steven/Pink Diamond has corruption powers. Every Diamond has a power with opposite effects depending on if they use it destructively or constructively. Blue with her emotion control, White with her mind manipulation, and Yellow with her body morphing. My theory is Pink had some form of all three of these, to the point of making her so powerful she could single-handedly corrupt or heal Gems.

Think about it, Pink alone is the one who caused Pink Pearl to crack. Not her gem, her face. Her mind. Steven tells a joke that causes White to turn pink, like how Blue’s emotion manipulation turns everything blue. Steven and Rose could heal a Gem’s gem. Their body.

And despite being the cause for Earth’s widespread corruption, even when all three Diamonds were trying to heal Centipeedle, they failed. Only when Steven joins in does she stay healed. “But wait, Steven never corrupts anybody, and the Pink Pearl crack could have been trauma!” Well for one, look at how many Gems are clearly deeply traumatized and never crack once (their gem not included). For two, Steven does corrupt someone. Himself.

At the end of Steven Universe Future he corrupts himself when he finally has a breakdown and his Pink powers go haywire (like Pink’s when she hurt Pink Pearl’s form). And what heals him? His own tears. Yes, as far as we know from the show it’s all the Diamonds’ essences that heal corruption, but we also know it takes Blue, White, and Yellow to corrupt, while just those 3 can’t heal it. But Steven? He’s the only one who can corrupt single-handedly, and he’s the only one who can permanently fix corruption.

TL;DR: Pink Diamond’s powers were healing and corruption. When she used her powers for good it brought life and healing. But if used for bad it became harmful and corruptive.

Long Corruption theory time

Ok so one of the main arguments I've seen against the corrupted steven theory is that corruption was from the diamond attack and can't be self inflicted. The only self corruption case we've seen was with jasper but that was because she fused with an already corrupted gem.

So from this we can assume that only the diamonds have the power to corrupt. The thing is, they didn't even know that corruption was a thing.

Both Yellow and Blue had assumed that their attack had wiped out all gems on earth and when shown an actual corrupt gem Yellow says "What am I looking at?" as if shes never seen a corrupt gem before.

So where am I going with this? Well first let's take a look at Blue's ability to make other gems feel her emotions and cry. Let's also assume that in terms of power that Blue and Yellow are equal. So if Blue can superimpose her sadness on other gems why can't Yellow impose her rage? All gems are made from concentrated diamond essences so it would make sense that they would be able to manipulate their emotions.

The same goes for White, who we have seen to be much more powerful than Yellow and Blue and can quite literally take control of other gems. We can assume that pre pink diamond shattering White actually showed emotions and spent time with the other diamonds and Steven's actions in CYM brought that back out of her (her anger from steven's gem not being Pink and her embarrassment from Steven's comment).

From this information we can assume that 1. Corruption can only be caused by the Diamonds and 2. The Diamonds in one way or another have the ability to impose themselves onto other gems.

Now what exactly is corruption? It's only been described as 'Damage from the Diamonds' but that's pretty vague. Pearl and Garnet's explanation is the closest we've gotten to what corruption is specifically.

Pearl: "... remember shes not cracked, shes corrupted and that's something different. Something nearly impossible to describe!"

Garnet: "It's sort of like if MC bear bear didnt tear the fabric of his arm, but the fabric of his mind."

So corruption is psychological and the result of a broken mind (not to be confused with pink pearl's psychological trauma manifesting as the crack on her face, but that's a story for another day).

So what exactly was the diamond attack? Their intention was to destroy gems but instead they were corrupted, so what did they hit them with exactly?

Emotions.

And not just any emotions. Intense feelings of rage, despair, and sadness from the loss of Pink. They superimposed their intense feelings of that loss onto all those gems; overloading their psyches and breaking their minds causing them to lose control of their minds and bodies (sort of like overloading a computer to the point where it crashes and the data gets corrupted).

Now to wrap it all up lets bring in the steven self corruption theory. We know that 1. Steven is a diamond and only diamonds have the power to corrupt. 2. Steven has been bottling up his emotions for years and it's just been getting worse with the pink mode outbursts and all his human friends leaving. So what happens when a half diamond half human teenager bottles up his intense emotions? His diamond powers will turn on himself and it's going to manifest one way or another; and so far we have no evidence on who else this big guy could be other than an emotionally broken, super powerful gem human hybrid.

[oatmealaddiction]

Rant time, but like, people who complain about the diamonds in Steven Universe getting "redeemed" and "facing no consequences" like, why did you ever think the diamonds getting destroyed was on the table as an option? Why did everyone think the show was going to end with Steven fighting and killing the diamonds, or the universe dolling out some Hayes Code Karma Violence like a giant rock falling on them at the last second? Like I guess I understand the criticism in theory that Steven Universe's metaphor for the diamonds as toxic family members falls apart when you consider they're crimes as space monarchs doing a colonialism, but Steven isn't The Avatar. At no point in the show does he even have the power to doll out the punishment you guys want.

Steven *does* try to fight the diamonds, and he gets his ass kicked. He gets smashed under his own shield and knocked out. His mom forms an entire army to fight them and LOSES and has almost all of her friends corrupted by them. The Diamonds are bigger, badder and stronger than The Crystal Gems (kind of like how adults are bigger and stronger than children.) So instead, he reveals his identity as Pink and the Diamonds immediately stop trying to kill him and the show instead pivots to be about political diplomacy. He doesn't like the diamonds, by the time Future rolls around we find out that he hates them and has private thoughts about killing them even now that that they don't pose any threat. But during the show he's powerless and so instead, talking to them and trying to change their mind is just a practical option because fighting hasn't worked. Because in the real world, there are times you will be outmatched and violence won't be the answer—even if the people hurting you probably do deserve violence.

And the diamonds aren't "redeemed," they just change their mind. They just decide that they want to keep Pink in their lives, so they begin to take accountability and undo the damage that they caused with their war, and presumably will spend the next thousands of years of their lives dismantling their own empire. And again, Steven Universe Future discusses the discomfort and the downside of this approach, that even if it's better and harm is actively being undone, the diamonds can't resolve all the harm they've done and Steven largely doesn't feel like he's gotten justice for what they did to him and his mother—much less the universe. So I don't get where anyone gets off saying this story is irresponsible or saying you should just forgive bad people. I don't see that anywhere in the story. The theme of Universe has always been the necessity of change, and so it makes sense that the villains aren't forgiven or revealed to be good people—but that they just change.

[then-be-a-warrior]

Corrupted Staff Theory!

TikTok: @cabone0827

When you realize "Take the staff back" was the first thing Wukong ever told Mk to do.

.

Now what if the corrupted staff starts communicating with Mk at some point?

Like in Steven Universe when Lapis was still in the mirror and she was talking to him. But 100x worse.

Imagine Wukong and everyone successfully get the staff away from Mk but now he starts hearing THIS☝️ when he's not even holding it.

I would actually SHIT my pants.

I want the staff to be scary. I want season 6 to be unsettling. Analogue horror type of unsettling.

@alilcherrysramblings @madmandude @autism-autobot @marokra @captainnemis @imjusthereforthecake @electricpirateduck @sweetsugarcoffee @will-of-the-wisps @galacticspud23 @doggodonut12

[topazillustrates]

Falsification AU || Pages 104

REBLOG ONLY

Steven realizes through his sleep, he had a traumatic event happen...again...he's becoming more aware he keeps having body failures and the corruption. Is it mutating though?

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[novantinuum]

Most Specialest Boy Ever Has Arrived! !!!

After years and years of Craving a Lorge Plush Lad, my dreams have come true and he is now home! ;www;;;;;

This truly just felt like the natural conclusion of my life after kickstarting Worm Theory™ on this webbed site back in the day.

He is very large and Distinguished- here is my Rose Quartz sword WIP as a size comparison, the guy's shockingly long! Perfect for lounging across a bed or a couch as my cartoon watching buddy.

This plush is a lovingly made one-of-a-kind from Elkkuvelkku (link leads to their Insta post about this boyo) on Instagram/Etsy- this seller doesn't currently have any other handmade plushies on their storefront, but they have a ton of cute Pokémon patterns if you're into that.

[pink-onyx-au]

I had asked if Steven was corrupted a while ago, since he fused with jasper. Your response was that hi human suit was in the way, from what I remember. But, your recent comic shows corruption on his shoulder, is this a sign of his skin "letting go"? Like, tearing apart? And then having light (like full gems) cover that part of his body?

Sorry for all this, my inner theorist came out

That might be the case! I love theories and ideas so I'm happy to listen to all of them. (Sometimes my answers might be spoiler- friendly, with clues) but the boy is looking a little tattered. When he corrupted the first time, he did kinda... open right up.

[pureshadough]

crk reread - crispia 9

Wife came home

[shadow milk voice] WAKE UP POOKIE

yup that sure is dark side of the moon imagery! sure has been there the entire time! yup! Yup!! Okay!!!!

dark enchantress' fuckin steven universe ass lair

these two are yuriful as hell in like every cutscene

what Are the soul jam really though. are they an actual crystaline physical embodiment of the virtues or just life powder soup given consciousness? were they sentient back when the beasts had them? does that consciousness still exist in some capacity for the corrupted halves, or did that guidance leave them? what other ways can I keep making every cutscene about shadow milk cookie

custard going straight for the throat by calling DE a grandma is so fucking funny

MY GOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT. black raisin really does have such a top notch design (one of few if not The Only amputee in the game?) and a great introduction too. rugged wasteland scout birdgirl with a heart of gold. she is SO slept on in current content and it hurts my bones

the notion that wafflebot technology is widespread enough to be Known at least by someone of a decent academic background is so fucking interesting to me. i have Many thoughts on wafflebots in general but we'll get there later. i love you history buff wizard cookie

Buddy. Your hat is fucking soft serve

lol

[twirling my hair] heeheheeeheehehehehe hiiiiiiiiii babygirl

healer cookie (presumably?) pinching people when he needs them to calm down is just. So Good. i have plenty of headcanons about his need for physical tactility with other people (also secondarily as a love language) so shit like This being the natural evolution of that makes me giggle

those "shmilk has been stalking pv all game via the vanilla beholder" theories make this exchange INCREDIBLY funny

sorry for the 7 morbillion screenshots JUST of these two talking to each other but god i really do adore their dynamic. healer has this playful edge to him that pure vanilla tends to set aside in favor of being diplomatic so to see him openly poke fun when bereft of that responsibility is both really sweet and kind of sad. i think he should be allowed to bully his friends more often

we STILL haven't seen it explained anywhere whether or not the vanilla kingdom's levitation is wafflebot tech or magic + whether or not it predates the DF war and it makes me want to pull my hair out. did black/dark moon magic CAUSE that to happen or is this an INTENTIONAL design? if it happened AFTER why the FUCK is there a teleporter on the ground up to the kingdom? did crepe just implement that for funsies? NEVERMIND ALL THAT WHAT THE FUCK IS A CRIMSON MOON AND HOW OFTEN DO THEY HAPPEN

how Many raisin villagers are there actually because these cutscenes talk like there's a couple dozen but we see like. Six tops. across the entire chapter

really really interesting phrasing here

makes me wonder if the wafflebots had some kind of latent detection of like Oh Shit That's Our Boss per his magic's "signature" or something and just they stopped running their attack protocols cuz of it. funny to think about

He doesn't know, chat

i only just realized pv's forehead symbol eventually changes to Almost this same shape. huh!

[stares at shadow milk cookie] [tears start spewing out of my eyes like a faucet]

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUUGRGGRHGHGHRH

I love you awesome as fuck and ill-elaborated upon vanilla kingdom technology and architecture

okay it CANT be crepes doing if its specific to his magic in some capacity so when the FUCK was this MADE? THE KINGDOM IS NOT IN THE ORIGINAL LOCATION OF ITS RUINS IN THE DARK FLOUR WAR PER THE WORDS OF THE PILGRIM VILLAGERS. WHEN WOULD THEY HAVE HAD THE TIME TO DEVELOP THIS. unless it moved regularly? old evacuation plans that never got utilized during the DF war? NEVERMIND THE APPARENT CRYOGENIC TECHNOLOGY THAT LEAD TO CREPE'S WHOLE ORDEAL HAPPENING TO START WITH? BY THE WAY???? WHAT THE FUCK WAS PURE VANILLA UP TO DURING THE WAR MAN

hey sure thing how does The entire fucking kingdom sound

why did they Let chili come with them for literally fucking any of this. she is SO fucking unpleasant the ENTIRE TIME she's in crispia but ESPECIALLY in this chapter. literally nothing she's said for the past like 5 cutscenes has been a warranted or thoughtful contribution and its getting insanely aggravating

welcome back everybody to another episode of "what the fuck is the post-flour war timeline, actually" wherein the game contradicts itself every fifteen seconds from this point onward. Glares at the living vanillians of the creme republic

case in point of chili being insanely unhelpful: upset the mippy :(

INCREDIBLY despondent energy to this introduction on the whole also. God. Crepe the abandoned and era-displaced child that you are.

goes to show how much chili acts like a fucking Child. Girl. Get it together

[checks image limit] Oh Fuck. Um. Okay. continuing on in the next post then i guess

[doodler16]

Same anon who brought up the idea that the rosie is lilith plot twist might have been inspired by steven universe.

Something else i want to point out is that with rose quartz character her constantly changing her appereance is an integral part of her character and i don't just mean she changes all the time but also the reason as to why she does it.

Rose hates keeping the same form because she finds it limiting because the other diamonds have always imposed on her a perfection she can't reach. Most important of all, as she said herself, she hates how gems are born with everything already figured out and that is why she decides to change form and why she decides to have steven. She loves humans because unlike her they aren't born knowing what they want and that is also the way she feels about herself, she doesn't feel like she knows what she wants, whenever she seems to have figured it out things she almost always changes her mind.

At first she wants to have her own planet because that is what the other diamonds have, then she realizes it's not only boring but damaging the life on earth and that is when she becomes rose quartz and starts the rebellion then she decides to fake her death because she is convinced the other diamonds will leave her alone which ends up being untrue.

At the end it's only when she meets greg that she understands more about herself and decides what she truly wants, which is having steven, so that he can experience the joy of being human.

While yes rose is pink diamond they are both different from the other pink represents her "younger" self while rose is the more mature part that starts to question the things imposed to her by the diamonds. It's why, even tough rose didn't exist, i find it hard to not consider her as her own character because rose and pink are a lot different from one another. In theory they represent the same character but they are also said character in different stages of her life making it difficult to not separate the two. With rosie/lilith it doesn't feel the same way.

Yes pink decides to become rose because she needs to disguise herself, but the first time she ever does this is so that she can talk with the amethysts without alarming anyone because one of the many things pink/rose craves are connections with others; she doesn't do it once but multiple times after which she realizes how important earth is and the damage she is doing. Maybe i'm gonna be proven wrong but so far it feels like the only reason lilith decided to become rosie is because it's the only way for her plan to work without heaven trying to stop her, something that happens anyway. We also haven't been shown enough of rosie as her own separate character for her to stand on her own without being in some way reminded of lilith.

Also after the gems were corrupted rose stayed the same, in part because she had no other option and in part because she prefers this new identity to pink. Lilith is probably gonna go back to being herself after the series ended. Something rose couldn't do because she was gone when steven was born. By having steven, in a way, you could say rose decided to die, because unlike other gems that are corrupted or shattered, she is the only one who doesn't come back.

It's probably way to early to judge but I don't trust viv so far everytime there was an interesting plot point or character it has been ruined.

Letting this speak for itself.

[iitf]

Sooo I went a little crazy and started thinking about SU au. Its not very well thought out, mostly I’m just having fun with thinking about which gem everyone would be, why, and how it all would work in such conditions.

There is Jon as jacinth - variety of zircon. In many ways, I chose this stone for him because John is very similar in his behavior and thinking to zircons, especially blue. Love for building theories and getting to the truth. If you remember the episode with the trial, where the blue zircon justified Steven(Rose Quartz), she looked for contradictions in the already existing data, realizing that the deal was far from so obvious, and built a theory about who could be the real killer of the pink diamond, until she reached to blaming the yellow and blue diamonds themselves. Very similar to John's behavior in Season 2 when he was investigating Gertrude's murder. Both John and blue Zircon became very carried away with their investigation, which is why John blamed his colleagues and zircon blamed the diamonds. But John also shows factitious skepticism and impartiality with statements in Season 1 in order to feel more secure. This behaviour reminds a bit of yellow zircon. Speaking about the Rose Quartz’s guilt, she tried not to look into the depths of the deal, speaking about it superficially, in order to quickly do her work and finish the trial. When Blue Diamond made everyone cry, Yellow Zircon didn't show much emotion, suggesting that she had dealt with a lot of very emotionally difficult cases before, which caused her to become more resistant to such things, and adopted a distant attitude. She behaves more impartially, for her own safety, just like John.

Of course, in the case of yellow zircon, things may not be as complicated as I think, but I like to stick with this theory. (I can talk about zircons for hours) In general, this is why John is a jacinth - a type of zircon.

He working in the archives, of course. But the Magnus institute working in the Homeworld, like, for gems. So he is solving mystery’s that happened in gems’ world. Incidents with corrupted gems and such.

And there is Elias - eye Agate. His personality reminds me of blue agate + his working position

I don't have much to say about him, actually…I just don’t have a lot of information about him from the canon right now, except for some spoilers. But it was intresting to play with his design.