#steven universe future build

[koko-heads]

i pray that everyone who hates steven quartz cutiepie demayo diamond universe dies and goes to hell no matter what

[imminent-danger-came]

It's just me and the 2 different season 4s that destroyed me

[klysmanncyangomes]

obsidian temple

[novantinuum]

Steven's Breakdown Was Inevitable From the Very Beginning

I feel like the thing that fucks me up the most about Steven Q. Universe and how well conceived he is as a character is that the fundamental building blocks of why he reached his breaking point in SU: Future were laid out as clear as day in the span of legit only the first four episodes of the original show. The writing was literally always on the wall that future him would struggle with matters of self worth and identity in relationship to the others around him.

Let's take a look:

Gem Glow

"Awesome! What are these things?"

Foundational Trauma #1: Steven's home is always either under threat or actively being wrecked by antagonistic forces/beings, and he constantly copes with this by pushing down his fear in favor of a curiosity and silver linings based mindset.

Look at his initial shock when he opens the door and gets tackled by one of these things, and then his response when one of them spits acid:

The kid's freaked the hell out about all this, and while I do think there's a part of Steven that genuinely IS curious about what these lil critters are, I think he's subconsciously using that curiosity as a way to distract himself from his own fears and anxieties. This is Steven actively learning how to ignore the deeper problems in favor of emoting a facade to the others in his life that he can totally handle himself in scary situations like these.

The underlying reason why is incredibly apparent, when you look at the example from the next episode-

Laser Light Canon

"I don't know what a magic lady like her ever saw in a plain old dope like me..."

Genuinely- from the bottom of my heart- I think the above quote from Greg is a moment where his own insecurities around the Gems actually rubbed off on Steven.

At this point in time, Steven may be living with the Gems... but he hasn't started to harness any of his powers at all, so in his own head he might as well be the same as his dad- another human, just one who happens to have a gem! But the way Greg talks about himself... given Steven was living with him in the van for years before moving in to the beach house, he had to have heard negative self-talk from his dad like this before.

And then there's the rest of the Crystal Gems... always speaking of Rose with such reverence as if she were an all-powerful goddess... and Steven can't help but look back at himself, and his gem that won't work... the gem that the others still identify as Rose's...

"Your gem-! You have Rose's gem!"

And maybe he starts to wonder if- without any working powers- he's just a plain ol' dope like his Dad, too.

"Please work... Unlock! Activate! Go! Please-!! Everyone's counting on you, you can't just be useless!"

Foundational Trauma #2: Steven has Rose's gem, and as such, is constantly living under the silent expectation to live up to a standard that he simply cannot ever hope to achieve, because he doesn't KNOW her and he never will.

I want to highlight one of Steven's expressions while his dad is talking about Rose- look at that sad look. My god, I just wanna hug him. This is the expression of a child who has already come to terms with the fact that his only relationship with his mom is through the rose tinted stories that other people tell him about her.

Cheeseburger Backpack

So. Steven has learned so far that he needs to push down his feelings and emote a false veneer of cheer and bravery even when he's afraid, because the rest of the people in his life have expectations and hopes for him due to the legacy of his parentage and he can't bear the thought of letting them down. (And in a sad way, at this point "letting them down" literally just means... being an ordinary human boy. I believe Steven at this stage of the show is flat out scared to be human, because to be human is to fail at being a Gem, and no amount of love and sacrifice in the name of humanity in the seasons to come could've ever saved him from the fundamental fact that the wedge between him and this whole half of his being was already drawn long before the events of season 1 even started. But I digress.)

Let's see where we go from there. Let's check out Steven's first "mission." Or as Pearl puts it about 35 episodes later, his first "test."

"Yeah... they can't all be winners."

This episode is tinted with a little bit of tragedy for me on rewatch, because I genuinely do think the Gems handled the situation as well as they could've. They were supportive of Steven's successful ploys, and (for the most part) responded with grace when he majorly blundered and left the Goddess Statue at home. The main problem, however, is that Steven has already developed a bit of a complex about impressing the three of them-

Foundational Trauma #3: Even when they claim otherwise, Steven has convinced himself that affection from the Gems is transactional, and that when he messes up he's not truly a part of the Crystal Gems.

Of course we the audience know this isn't true- I mean, hell, Amethyst even said as much in episode one after her slip-up ("and you're fun to have around, even if your gem IS useless!")... that the Crystal Gems wouldn't be the same without him. But Steven... the poor kid is a complicated little guy living a complicated life, and whether they intended it or not, the language used they've used around him thus far has not backed up their attempts at fully embracing him, human parentage and all.

Thus, Steven just spends the entire episode wracked with anxiety trying to find creative non-power using ways to make the mission easier so he can convince them he's useful to have around.

Look how nervous he gets even when all three of them are visibly and vocally supportive of his presence here:

This is the face of a boy who feels like he's under constant judgement and scrutiny from those around him.

Blessedly, viewing this episode in isolation, he experiences a brief moment of mental respite where he finally accepts the Gems' encouragement and agrees that his ideas 'can't all be winners,' but this lesson does not stick for him moving forward. A shame, really.

Together Breakfast

"What's the matter, Steven?" "I wanted us all to have breakfast together, so I made Together Breakfast! But everyone keeps leaving..." "Oh, that's nice..."

Taken in context with what we've learned already in the last three episodes, Steven's desperation to spend quality time with the Gems here and his sadness that they keep leaving him alone doesn't just exist within a vacuum. He spends the whole morning watching them shuffle in and out of the temple, or come back from missions he wasn't invited on, and with the disastrous result of the LAST mission he went on probably fresh in his mind it's not hard to understand why this bothers him.

Foundational Trauma #4: Steven internalizes that the price of "not being useful" is that the Gems actively ignore him, meaning that the only way to guarantee their attention is to work as hard as he can to become a stronger member of the team.

I know this screenshot is usually used as a lighthearted meme, but I wanted to include it because I think it's a good example of how Steven's intense desire to impress permeates every facet of his personality at times. Just LOOK at how desperate he is to make Garnet laugh at his joke, to be the one that's at very least "fun to have around," as Amethyst put it in episode one.

The Gems do eventually drop what they're doing to spend time with Steven by the conclusion of this episode, but this only comes after Steven shows his growing strength and "proves" himself by saving their butts from the breakfast monster.

If he successfully gained their attention in literally any other way he might've come away from this episode with a different lesson, but no. Instead, his fears were proven true- the Gems value strength and utility, and if he's not exhibiting that, then what use is he to them?

These fears of his can be seen weaving throughout the foundational fabric of the entire show, but I think Steven lays out what he sees as his "stakes" in the clearest way possible in the episode 'An Indirect Kiss.'

"But- if I don't have powers, then I can't hang out with Amethyst, or Garnet, o-or Pearl, and- I-I can't go on missions!"

And these same insecurities even rear their ugly head as late as the movie.

"I can't believe this... for the first time in years, everyone's in danger, everybody needs me, and- I'm useless!"

Powers = Utility = Worth = Other's love, for Steven. Everything is transactional to the end, which is a hilarious double standard he's set for himself when he's made his reputation as the kid who always listens and encourages and gives others a chance to change, no matter their messy history with him.

__

So let's recap and restate those foundational traumas from Steven's perspective.

One: The only way to cope when your life is constantly under threat is to bury the damage and pretend to be fine.

Two: Everyone expects you to live up to the standards of someone you're not.

Three: The Gems only love you when you're of use to them.

Four: If you ever stop being useful, the Gems won't want anything more to do with you.

In sum, Steven's habit of burying his feelings for the benefit of others was there from the very beginning, not just since 'The Test.'

Those unreachable standards he felt so daunted and intimidated by all his life were the ones set by Rose, at first... but over the course of the series, the dynamic of this shifted. As Rose's influence fell into the background, Steven's rose into the front. And so it's with great irony that- by the time of Steven Universe: Future, the expectations this exhausted, worn down teenager is fighting to once again achieve are the ones HE set for himself. Many of young Steven's selfless actions during the war are quite admirable when analyzed in isolation, but almost none of them are sustainable. He set himself on fire just to save the world, but teen Steven is genuinely unable to see this for what it is yet- as a tragic sacrifice of his own childhood. You can't burn your own ends for others forever, not at all. His breakdown was simply inevitable.

When it comes to the interconnected beliefs three and four, these are exactly why the ultimate confrontation at the end of I Am My Monster HAD to be one fueled by selfless love. Steven is at his absolute lowest at this point- he's everything he fears he's become, trapped in a form that's nearly incapable of reason. He's big and angry and spiky because that's a part of the facade- because a part of him WANTS to scare the Gems away, wants to be left alone forever, believing this the fate he deserves as price for his misdeeds.

In this form, by his own definitions he is NOT useful to the Crystal Gems at all.

But they don't care.

Because it never WAS about Steven's 'usefulness' to them, they simply love him for being Steven.

With this in mind, the conclusion of Steven Universe: Future wasn't just a salve to teen Steven's immediate struggles, it was a salve to the foundational insecurities that have been plaguing him his entire life.

And hopefully... from this point on... his family's shows of love and encouragement will be enough to finally convince Steven that he's more than worth their time...

No matter what path the future leads him on, and no matter what form he takes.

[8-0mph]

Drawovers and future AU.

Some lore under the cut:

Five years have passed in Fair City, Word Girl and friends are now in high school. The villains are up to their usual shenanigans, new ones arriving to fill in any crime slowdowns.

Dr. Two Brains, however, has slowly felt his mind slip from his control as the years pass, realizing that not only has he lost control of his mind but his body as well. He has undergone some unforeseen changes, slowly transforming into the body of a mouse. His claws poke through his gloves due to this, and he desperately tries to conceal his physical changes.

Professor Snakescrew, once known as Professor Seren Ramos, was once Steven Boxlietners colleague at the police station. She once graduated from the same university Steven came from, and once teached in. Her goal has always been to surpass him in terms of inventions and bettering the city.

Dr. Two Brains (Steven Boxleitner) was a forensic scientist that also doubled as a hero researcher for Fair City. This often included studying Amazo-Guy, and publishing the famed Superhero Guide that Word Girl often refers to. Seren looked to succeed Dr. Boxleitner at his position, creating bigger and “better” gadgets and inventions to blow away the public and government.

Professor Seren caught wind of Stevens plans to build a mind reading device using a lab mouse as his test subject, so she decided to take a different approach. Using Snake venom, she studied for a way to harness its hallucinogenic properties to alter criminal minds. When bringing her findings to Steven, hoping to impress him, he was horrified by the implications of it. Telling her that it was better off locked away and that it could only be used for evil. Even colleagues at the laboratory found her inventions to be increasingly “evil” often involving painful experiments on people and animals.

Disheartened by this revelation, and the shunning from other scientists, she locked herself away for five years in a remote lab. Holing up and festering in her anger towards Steven and the other scientists.

Current day, Seren emerged from her lab, perfecting her venom and hoping to attack her ex-colleagues as revenge, only to find that Steven is not only absent but an infamous villain in Fair City. His own invention turned against him. Reinvigorated by the success of her plans, she changed course to further ruin his life and prove she can be a powerful force in Fair City.

Information:

31 years old, Female. Feisty, short. Hatred for Two Brains and Word Girl. Love for snakes and reptiles. Friendless loser.

Abilities: High-intelligence, her and her snakes venom have hallucinogenic properties, causing the bite victim to experience pain and visual illusions. Often this can involve hallucinating an injury that isnt actually there or a nightmarish scenario.

She calls herself professor because she thinks its cooler than “doctor”, another jab at Steven.

-

Steven Boxleitner (Dr. Two-Brains)

Information:

45 years old, Male. Scatterbrained, mad. Depressed alcoholic. Filling his time with drinking and eating stolen cheese. Also a friendless loser.

Abilities: High-intelligence, able to chew through steel, incredible hearing and sense of smell, sharp claws.

[kittenscookie]

Okay I've been thinking about Owl House a lot lately and...Guys I'm just so damn angry. Because I rewatched the first episode of the finale and realized something. That first episode is a season finale—That whole episode is one season's worth of content crammed into a single episode. That's at LEAST 12 episodes in 60 minutes—five minutes for each damn episode. But remember the first season of toh was nineteen, the second was twenty-one. If we assume the team would have continued with around that many episodes the average is around twenty. Twenty fucking episodes is sixty minutes—THREE MINUTES AN EPISODE.

This then led me to thinking about my other cancelled show with LGBTQ+ representation—Steven Universe. It's basically the same shit, except somehow fucking worst. The diamond arc should have been it's own fucking season, curing the corrupted gems and them having to get reintroduced to gem/human society should have been a damn season too! The two year time skip makes sense when you really think about it—that's the least amount of time it would have taken to get all that shit done in universe! A year to get the gems readjusted, a year to dismantle the diamond empire—plus episodes filling in gaps/unanswered questions. No wonder Rebecca fought so damn hard for SU Future and the movie! It was a desperate attempt to give herself and the fans some kind of closure! And don't forget! Steven universe seasons were LONG—the median amount of episodes was twenty-four.

This shit wasn't bad writing, it was rushed writing. Desperate attempts to cram what should have been at LEAST two seasons into a few short episodes. Can you imagine this? Sitting with your coworkers and trying to figure out how to make at least forty episodes only 3–6? What can be kept and what has to be left to the imagination? Think of what we fucking lost at those tables—Spinel could have been teased and had a better build up, we could have gotten a Wittebane Brothers flashback, we could have explored the characters in both shows trauma. I'm not just mad—I'm livid and not even for us. For Dana Terrace, for Rebecca Sugar. To have something you created thrown away without a care. I'd be in fucking tears.

Fuck Disney, fuck Warner Brothers.

[budbuddnbuddy]

Little obey me headcanons (pt 5)

A/n: God it’s been a while since I put out one of these things. Apologies yall, finals are terrifying but thankfully I passed all my classes, so yay! Anyways same thing as usual, though this one is mostly world building, so enjoy!

MC has an entire kitchen in their room. Bit weird to think of yes, but I just saw the dinning table in their room and the stuff behind it and it was the first thing that came to mind, the whole room is basically like an apartment but it’s no where near as big as the other brothers rooms. Also did you know that they had an entire kettle in their room???

Okay maybes it’s not a kettle more like a tea pot but you get the point, MC kitchen in room canon./hj

Mammon is infact not above stealing your stuff, has he sold any of it? No. Will you ever be getting it back? Also no. It’s been 4 years Mammon, MC wants their hoodie back.

RAD is basically the Harvard of the Devildom, of course there are other Ivy League schools throughout the realm, all ranked high in various categories and filled with various species, but if you really want to be a high ranking deadly demon then going to RAD is practically an requirement.

If you ever watched Steven Universe, you’d know that Garnet can give kisses that let you see into the future for a brief period of time. Barbatos can basically do the same thing, and can choose the amount of time that it lasts for, ranging from 3 hours to 4 days.

However it’s been MILLIONS upon MILLIONS of years since he’s done this and he’s never told anyone about it besides Diavolo, well until you of course. Just keep it a secret between the 3 of you all, will you?

Demon possession is in fact real, it’s sort of like a fucked up version of fusion, all the abilities and talents that you have can be accessed by your possessor, the strength that the two of you have is combined since like 93% of humans have no magic and it’s deadly wether you’re a human or a demon them punches are going to hit hard. Sloth demons are mainly the ones who have this ability.

If you ever get so lucky to the point where you get to me any of the Royals you MUST kiss their hand, it’s considered extremely rude and informal not to do so, doesn’t matter if it’s a woman, man, or a being with no hands at all and just a bunch of tentacles. You better find a way to kiss that damn hand. MC finds out about this by pure accident.

“Ah- Lord Diavolo, I’m sorry I didn’t even realize you were there.”

“Haha, no worries! It’s not common for most to not recognize me when I’m in the room!”

“Here, allow me to make it up to you…” *Smooch*

“…”

Typically Diavolo is very neutral when it comes to formal greetings since he technically gets them like every week but there was something about it being you giving him kisses on his hand that make him feel “butterflies in his stomach” as humans say.

Ever since then he’s demanded that you give him hand kisses every time you swag by the the Demon King’s castle, with a blush on his face of course.

There’s a three headed version of almost everything in the Devildom, it’s not just Cerberus, there’s three headed butterflies, cats, raccoons, rats (much to Barbatos dismay), and of course demons. No one knows exactly why, but most speculate it probably has something to do with the air.

No one is letting you die, there’s too many things that they want from you, too many things they want to give you, yet so little time to do so. You can scream at them, hate them forever, never talk to them again, but please for the love of god. Just don’t die.

[mr-styles]

Harry Styles Invests in British Brand S.S. Daley

FLORENCE, Italy – As Steven Stokey-Daley’s fall show in Florence during Pitti Uomo wrapped, the British designer, the 2022 recipient of the LVMH Prize for Young Designers, revealed longtime fan Harry Styles is acquiring a minority stake in the company.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“Harry and I have a shared vision for the future of S.S. Daley and we look forward to this new chapter together as we focus on brand longevity and scaling the business into a modern British heritage house,” the designer, 26, said.

The pair was introduced by Styles’ stylist Harry Lambert, who masterminded the wardrobe for the artist’s “Golden” music video, outfitting him in Stokey-Daley’s graduate collection.

The investment is geared at building S.S. Daley’s direct-to-consumer business and forge ahead with plans for a “sustainable and long-term expansion,” the company said in a statement.

After graduating from the University of Westminster, Stokey-Daley made his London Fashion Week debut in September 2021 supported by the National Youth Theatre artistic director Paul Roseby, staging a four-part performance by members of the theater, riffing on British tailoring and tackling such topics as social class, inequality, school life, sexual awakening and homosexuality.

That same year, the S.S. Daley designer was among the recipients of the British Fashion Council’s Newgen initiative and was awarded again by the British fashion governing body the following year, with the BFC Foundation Awards.

read the full article on WWD.

[becausegoodheroesdeservekidneys]

Alternate Doctor Who Companion Endings

The Hartnell Years

Barbara: becomes an Aztec queen

Ian: Stabbed by a TARDIS-possessed Susan running with scissors

Susan: Eaten by a normal-sized Earth woodlouse while shrunk

Vicky: Conscripted into a civil war between large-sized non-Earth moths and ants

Steven: arrested for mugging a man for his Rolex in 1066

Katerina: journeys with the Doctor for eight multi-part serials before falling in love with a Samurai and staying in Edo period Japan

Sara Kingdom: becomes a Golden Era Hollywood stunt actor

---

The Troughton Years

Polly: Becomes a fish person

Ben: Conscripted into being a Highlander

Jamie: New face new man

Victoria: Killed by a Cybermat

Zoe: vanishes in Foam

-----

The Pertwee Years

Liz Shaw: falls in love with a Silurian

Jo: accidentally drops the Doctor's tupperware box of anti-matter

------

The Baker Years v1

Sarah-Jane: stays on Peladon to pioneer feminism

Harry Sullivan: accidentally replaced by a Zygon

Leela: steamed

Romana 1: a Mishap with a giant squid on a methane refinery. Regenerates.

Romana 2: becomes a vampire

------

The Davison Years

Nyssa: stays on Earth to become a paleontologist

Tegan: goes home with the wrong Doctor (it was a choice of 5, whoops)

Adric: gets lost in an Escher building. Left behind.

Turlough: succeeds in killing the Doctor. Sent home by the Black Guardian with an extremely silly hat

------

The Baker Years v2

Peri: turned into a bird by a slug

------

The McCoy Years

Mel: stays and joins a rebel punk roller derby team and takes on alien!Thatcherite non-Britain

Ace: becomes a Time Lord (with a baseball bat)

------

The McGann Years

Grace: stays dead

Chang Lee: stays dead

------

The Eccleston Years

Adam: promoted and eaten by a gelatinous ceiling

Captain Jack: is so successful on Trinny and Suzannah that he gets and stars in his own future!TV show, How to Look Good Naked. Becomes a celebrity. Stays.

------

The Tennant Years

Rose: possessed by Cassandra

Martha: blows up Earth with the Oster Haagen key

Donna: refinds her real life husband from Silence in the Library after being downloaded

Mickey: becomes parts in a clockwork spaceship

------

The Smith Years

Amy: becomes an Angel

Rory: finds out his fiance sexually assaulted another man the night before their wedding and leaves to build a better life

------

The Capaldi Years

Clara: genuinely leaves and never comes back after that moon bullshit because she's fed up with his abuse

Bill: stays on the Cyber-infested spaceship to lead the colonists as they start a new society

Nardole: Cyber-converted, but is the quirky comic relief robot. The Doctor leaves him with Bill, in case he's useful.

------

The Whittaker Years

Yaz: joins Zheng Yi Sao, is now starring in Our Flag Means Death s3

Graham: stays in the frog universe with his dead frog wife

Ryan: seduced by King James VI and I, becomes prince consort

Dan: goes to space with his grumpy dog friend on new adventures

[folatefangirl]

On The Darkest Corner of the Heart

A comment on how Booktwt, Booklr, and Booktok media reactivity has lost the plot

Or, I think y'all need to log off and touch some grass and think about your actions for a hot minute. Note: This rant is a tad long, because I'm fucking pissed.

Disclaimer 1: I don't personally know the author of this book or anyone screenshotted in the drama. We aren't friends. I have no reason to either defend nor criticize these people, except for the fact that I've been a primary reader of self-pub and indie books for almost a decade now, and yes, including romances that some people don't consider worthy of civility. I'm also a queer healthcare worker.

Disclaimer 2: I don't want anyone mentioned/screenshotted here to be spammed with hate. Please do NOT contact them, including any authors mentioned. I included the primary actors for the current drama primarily so people don't claim I'm talking out of my ass.

Book blurb:

Forbidden. That's what they are to each other. Maddie Stevens has never felt good enough. Not good enough to keep her parents’ love. Not good enough to be independent and stop being her brother’s problem. Not good enough to build the future she wants. When she injures her ankle before a ballet audition that could change her career forever, she’s convinced her life is over at twenty-one. What’s the point of having dreams when they can go down the drain at any moment? And because the universe has a cruel sense of humor, her physical therapist turns out to be a tank-shaped grouch who doesn’t even seem to like her that much. It’s totally unfair that, for six weeks, she’s forced to look at that handsome beard and listen to that deep voice that makes her head all dizzy. Top that with the fact that he’s ten years her senior, and falling for James Simmons is a recipe for disaster. But when their forced proximity makes the lines start blurring, the forbidden temptation becomes impossible to resist.

The Timeline:

Events preceding 2023: Lisina Coney, author of The Darkest Corner of the Heart, was born in 1999 in northern Spain. She worked as a translator prior to publishing books.

Initially I thought these books were only self-published, but in fact are published under the formerly indie publisher Page & Vine, founded by romance novelist Meredith Wild.

January 27th, 2023: The Brightest Light of Sunshine is published by nearly 24-year-old Lisina Coney. On Goodreads, it currently sits at 3.87 stars as of today, February 10th, 2024, with 27,727 ratings and 3,592 reviews. Note: For a small-time author, especially for a debut novel, these numbers are huge.

May 2023, Page & Vine announced that Big 5 publisher Simon & Schuster would distribute their books as an imprint beginning in summer 2023.

In mid-to-late 2023, Lisina's website and socials announced The Darkest Corner of the Heart, her second novel to be published with Page & Vine on February 20th, 2024. Note: This means the events below occurred BEFORE the book's publication.

February 5th, 2024: anaborbareads on Twitter/X posts the cover and other art of Darkest Corner with the text, "a forbidden romance between ballerina and physical therapist???? pls i need this book now 🥺✨💗🫶🏻"

February 6th, 2024: h0mmelette on Twitter/X responds to anaborareads with "the booktok genre of forbidden romance is hilarious. theyre straight… whats forbidden"

February 6th, 2024: a tumblr user reposts the twitter thread from above to tumblr. Other tumblr users reblog and add on, and it quickly goes viral.

February 7th, 2024: From what I can tell via reverse image searching, the first iteration of the fake ARC page that's going around appears to be from Twitter/X user queef1ng. About 4 hours later, the same fake ARC page was reposted on the tumblr post mentioned above. And from here, this story takes a turn from people wanting to feel like they're above a romance novel writer to potential legal territory.

Of the 122 ratings on Goodreads for Darkest Corner to date, 9 appear to be 1-star reviews and from what I can tell, most/all of them were only published since the events began on 06Feb2024. 71 are 5-stars and while some of those are ARC readers, many newer ones appear to be trying to counteract the review bombing from the fake ARC page.

As of today, February 10th, 2024, it looks like the book will still be published on February 20th as planned, but we'll see.

Wait, so how do you know the page is fake?

I can't believe people have been so gullible but fine, here's my analysis:

Lisina's real ARC readers have stated that it isn't from the book (not gonna document all of them in the screenshots but you can easily go to the book's GR page and see the ARC reviews there).

As other folks pointed out on the tumblr repost, no real ARC page does a weird review watermark like that. Speaking from my own experience in reviewing ARCs or beta-reading, I agree.

The font tipped me off because it looked like it had literally been written on a Fanfiction.Net page. Not that Verdana, font size 10, is unique to FFN, but it looks like fanfiction typed font. Which brings me to:

Literally how could you believe this author writes like this? You can read her website or preview her first book or just have the bare minimum common sense to understand what satire looks like. If you don't believe me (because I know framing a post like this will put a lot of people on the defensive), I've also included screenshots below. The prose and dialogue are COMPLETELY different from the alleged screenshot. The only thing that is similar is that both characters are ballerinas.

But wait, all of this doesn't explain why YOU, Cinnia, are so pissed about this?

You're completely right! It really doesn't. All of the above is mostly documentation so the naysayers can't say I'm just some silly fangirl of the author.

The initial premise of the drama is that you can't have "forbidden love" in an m/f relationship. First of all, William Shakespeare would like to have a word with you regarding Romeo and Juliet. Second of all, yes you fucking can. See also: Religious and cultural differences and human history for a starting point. I know it may be hard to touch grass and look at media that is not tumblr queer media-centric and understand that people who are NOT you might enjoy it very much. Note that I'm a queer person saying this and I do read or watch m/f media at times because I don't like limiting myself. Go watch Bajirao Mastani and enjoy one of the most beautiful movies about forbidden love ever produced.

The book itself falls into the medical romance subgenre. For those not familiar, these are romances (usually m/f) that often involve a healthcare worker and their patient. In the real world, where people touch grass, a healthcare worker like me having a relationship with their patient is such a huge ethical violation that it will get you fired. In Darkest Corner, James is Maddie's physical therapist because she's a ballerina with a sports injury and he is treating her. Ergo, it is forbidden for them to get together and the initial premise for mocking this book is on very shaky ground.

In fact, I'd go as far as to say that the folks mocking it seem to very likely not be familiar with romance novels and their subgenres at all, or else they'd be well aware of the concept of straight romances marketed as a "forbidden romance" because they're fucking everywhere on any place that sells romance books. I have a personal collection of over 14,500 kindle ebooks. While not all of those are romances, a good chunk of them are, so I think I can count myself as a bit of a source here, you know?

The fake screenshot and social media drama has spread to at least Twitter, Tumblr, and BookTok, which all have huge reader hobbyists. For a small-time author barely past her debut novel's publication, allegations of this sort tied to your author name and book titles can last on the internet and in web searches for a long, long time, hurting an author's career. Maybe you're like "boohoo, who cares about their careers, I pirate all my fiction books anyway" and well, a post like this was probably never going to convince you of anything. I'm talking to the folks who might still have a sense of shame and self-reflection. Authors, even authors tied to a Big 5's imprint, earn peanuts. This sort of manufactured "scandal" is not ideal when the book is weeks away from being published. In fact, if the book has fewer sales than the first book in the series, Simon & Schuster may have legal grounds to go after the person who made the fake screenshot. A smarter person would have kept that to the groupchat or posted it as a clearly marked fanfic on AO3.

As a reader, this also sucks because when shit like this happens, the reviews of a book are permanently biased by both the bombers and the fans of the author, no matter how good or bad the book ends up being. Do I know if this book will be a 1-star or 5-star now, based on the reviews? Nope. Will I read it? No, because I don't read medical romances as it's a squick for me. But I may read her first book, which has mercifully escaped most of the social media nonsense.

This isn't the first time booktwt/booktok/booklr has engaged in a similar mob mentality towards books they don't like and I doubt it'll be the last. See Blood Heir by Amélie Wen Zhao and the allegations that turned out to be false then, too. However, I would like to ask y'all to please check your sources and not blindly accept what someone says on social media as truth. Get used to doing the research because manufactured misinformation is everywhere, and it's not gonna get better. (And for fuck's sake, not everyone is gonna like the same books and fandoms you like! It's not illegal to enjoy reading different things!)

Screenshots/Evidence (click for better resolution):

[stylesnews]

FLORENCE, Italy – As Steven Stokey-Daley’s fall show in Florence during Pitti Uomo wrapped, the British designer, the 2022 recipient of the LVMH Prize for Young Designers, revealed longtime fan Harry Styles is acquiring a minority stake in the company.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“Harry and I have a shared vision for the future of S.S. Daley and we look forward to this new chapter together as we focus on brand longevity and scaling the business into a modern British heritage house,” the designer, 26, said.

The pair was introduced by Styles’ stylist Harry Lambert, who masterminded the wardrobe for the artist’s “Golden” music video, outfitting him in Stokey-Daley’s graduate collection.

The investment is geared at building S.S. Daley’s direct-to-consumer business and forge ahead with plans for a “sustainable and long-term expansion,” the company said in a statement.

After graduating from the University of Westminster, Stokey-Daley made his London Fashion Week debut in September 2021 supported by the National Youth Theatre artistic director Paul Roseby, staging a four-part performance by members of the theater, riffing on British tailoring and tackling such topics as social class, inequality, school life, sexual awakening and homosexuality.

That same year, the S.S. Daley designer was among the recipients of the British Fashion Council’s Newgen initiative and was awarded again by the British fashion governing body the following year, with the BFC Foundation Awards.

The designer’s gender-fluid take on the uniforms of the British upper classes, such as wide-leg trousers, argyle-knit wool vests and embroidered shirts, appeals to a Gen-Z sensibility, and a growing female customer base. The brand is currently stocked in a handful of retailers, including Saks Fifth Avenue, Dover Street Market, Matchesfashion, Bergdorf Goodman, 10 Corso Como Seoul and I.T Store.

Attending the S.S. Daley show in Florence, Sir Paul Smith praised Stokey-Daley and said: “I think that the ideal thing [for him] would be to try and work in parallel with a commercial company that help him develop as a commercial designer, as well as creative designer. And of course, that’s what everybody dreams of. He has the balance between commerciality and creativity.”

“I think [his designs] might have had similarities in my earlier [career]… We are in 60-something countries now. So you have to be a lot more aware of commerciality and things that work for the shops especially right now because the business and around the world is so difficult for people,” Smith added.

Styles’ investment falls in line with a growing number of celebrities becoming brand shareholders. They include, among others, Oprah Winfrey and Reese Witherspoon who invested in Spanx; Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas in skiwear maker Perfect Moment; Beyoncé, Jessica Alba and Rihanna in French accessories firm Destree; Mila Kunis, Cameron Diaz and Gabrielle Union in Autumn Adeigbo, and Mark Wahlberg in Italian sneaker brand P448.

[yanderestevenuniverse]

I seen the Corrupted Steven mod for FNF how about some Corrupted Steven Headcanons? his mind is completely corrupted by he still wants Y/N.

oooooooooooooo i like the sound of that

SPOILERS IF YOU HAVNT WATED STEVEN UNIVERSE FUTURE

Stevens gone all thats left of him is an anxiety ridden traumatised animal... but your still there.

.You would scream and shout but he would not hear... stevens not their anymore.

.He would be a protective and an obssesive yandere. he now never lets you down your always in his giant clawed hand or shoved into his chest. He would be physicly and emotionaly incapable of leting you go even in his sleep he would hold you tight ageinst himself like a stress ball he would squeez you and hold you tight. If you ever maneged to somehow escape his grasp he would have a panic attack and probebly tear entire citys to pices trying to look for you.

.Kidnaps you right away on sight no questions asked do not go do not collect two hunderd dollars its over. You would probebly be someone you knew before he became corrupted and so as the angst ridden beast he has now become he deperatly clingson to anything fimilier that offers.

.He wouldnt mean to kill people if he does he would just kind of... walk over them its like a giant walking over ants he wouldnt even notice it. He would probebly do it while looking for you i you ever escaped him he would run around the country side tearing apart building trying to find you and when he does he would snatch you back up immeadiatly and run somewhere far away.

. Their would be no punishments any attempt for you to escape would just resault in him squeezing you loser to his chest and he would completly ignore all of your screams and crys

. I guess he would give you a ton of phisical comfort becuse he would literally never let you go

thats all for now stay tuned

[boba-t-butch]

happy pride! this is my second summer without tits, third on testosterone. sometimes the enormity of the international, intergenerational, interconnected, intersecting systems of privilege, power, marginalization, and oppression that shape who i am feels overwhelming and incomprehensible. gender-affirming care saves lives, as in i was unable to do the work of figuring out who i want to be until i could exist in a body that felt like my own. gender-affirming care saves lives as in i could not imagine a way to continue forward in the body i was in.

i grew up in a world that fundamentally failed queer kids like me, where the main comfort organizations could offer was the idea that "it gets better". i've spent most of my life dissociated, a messy combination of gender and neurodiversity and cPTSD, trying to make it to the "better". and now i'm here! in adulthood, learning to feel my feelings, trying to imagine a way forward. and it's still hard and it still sucks and sometimes i want to throw up hands up say this is it!? "it gets better" and this is all there is?

i believe all people should have access to the care that i've been lucky enough to access. i recognize it's an enormous privilege that i'm able to exist comfortably as myself now, but it really shouldn't be. it's so frustrating how obvious it feels that things don't need to be this way. but im also realizing that guilt and shame and self-flagellation won't actually contribute to the systemic change necessary to extend this privilege to more people.

i am committed to building towards a world where self-determination isn't a privilege at all but the baseline. and im still learning how to do that work in a way that's sustainable and realistic.

for today, i'll let myself take pride and joy and comfort in asserting. i am queer. and i am still here.

(she/they butch lesbian)

1. selfie, moss is outside with greenery in the background. they're wearing a black tank top that says stonewall in white font. she has long wavy black hair, an undercut, and faintly visible facial hair

2. selfie, moss is wearing denim overalls and her top surgery scars are visible.

3. mirror selfie in a dirty round pink mirror. moss is wearing jeans and a brown leather bulldog chest harness, visible top surgery scars and body hair. moss is also wearing over the ear headphones and is holding a blue journal. calico cat naomi is sitting on the corner of their bed. her room has strong autistic vibes, including a stuffed dragon on a shelf and posters of garnet from steven universe, superknova the korean trans girl musician, and ones that read "mutual aid is the future", "queer til death", and "rest is productive".

[klysmanncyangomes]

Uma homenagem ao desenho animado Steven universe future parodia ao mashup mojang

continuação do criador kayokayonunes20 espero que gostem desse trabalho

[blueikeproductions]

Y’know the more I think about it, if EarthSpark has such an infatuation with the Decepticons, why aren’t they using Decepticons better suited to the story it’s trying to tell.

To me the Decepticons’ role really should’ve been a mix of IDW and RiD15. Most are left rudderless, cranky and confused, still willing to continue the cause and hurt people in an attempt to conquer. Some meanwhile are willing to work with humans in some capacity, good or bad.

Like where’s Sky-Byte, Knock Out, Clobber and Drift?

Never mind Drift’s Husbando thing with Ratchet, shouldn’t Megatron, as a GHOST operative, have his own little group of turn coat Decepticons who willingly followed him to the Autobots (and that it’s specifically ones who willingly became Autobots in past series helps this make sense). I get the intended idea was to make Megatron something of a fish out of water among the Autobots, but technically speaking, shouldn’t a few reasonable Decepticons have tagged along with him?

For that matter, where’s guys like Lugnut and Demolisher having an existential crisis over their leader abandoning them?

That’s gotta be fertile ground for shenanigans and character work with Megatron and the Terrans. I know they kinda toyed with it with the ‘Waves, but boy did they not commit to the bit.

I can also buy that there’s a few Decepticons that are trying to make due on Earth and even work jobs with humans, we’ve seen that before.

Not to mention Decepticons working with the human criminal element (or at least morally dubious types).

And of course there’s my personal favorite, the Decepticons doing whatever it takes to get off Earth.

Like really, the RiD15 Decepticons were able to build/repair ships using comparable human hardware, what in the ever loving skrud was preventing the ES Decepticons from doing the same. And don’t say GHOST, they’re too stupid to be a problem on their own without the Autobots. Maybe the Arachnamechs, but even so what’s stopping an opportunistic Decepticon from capturing and reprogramming them for their own ends?

The writers have such a fixation on the Decepticons, why NOT have this more nuanced take on them that ISN’T just purely making them into giant teddy bears. Fun aside, but they actually had those via Brickbear.

Hey ES writers, I know some of you are reading this, on the off chance you guys continue to write for TF in the future, I triple dog dare you to make a Brickbear Decepticon canon in-show. I don’t care what you have to t’do, you want teddy bear Decepticons? Make this work. The blue print is right here. Basically make him or her the Peter Puppy (Earthworm Jim) of the Decepticons: cutesy in beast mode, a monstrous Hibernation Sandy Cheeks in robot mode. You’re welcome.

The point remains that modern writers NEED to stop sympathizing with the Decepticons and stop writing them as misunderstood Millennials and Zoomers who need a hug. I’M a bi-slagging-sexual Millennial from the 90’s and I’m among those telling you to knock it off, most of us want fun villains who revel in being murderous gearshafts, stealing Energon from refineries and drop kicking cassettes cats. Not everyone needs to reform like it’s Dragonball or Steven Universe, and I say that liking Vegeta and Beerus.

[mindareadsoots]

Great embodiment of Chaos, hear me! For ages untold, I studied your ways, devoting my existence to you. I strove to be your vassal on a physical plane, to build mountains of bodies in your honor, to extinguish all life, and in my universe, this I achieved! But it gave me no satisfaction. In succeeding, I lost all purpose.

Well, the Lich certainly wouldn't be the first acolyte who misunderstood the teachings of their god. Just look at how many different splits there are in Judeo-Chrstianity. They can't all be right.

There's something I didn't pick up on until after I finished the last episode, but Jerry is probably the original Lich from the beginning of the series. Cuz if you remember back to the Season 4 finale, Jerry made it to Prismo, made his wish, and disappeared. Then Finn wished that the Lich had never existed and got transported to Farmworld. Then Jake used his wish to retcon those last two wishes out of existence, but Farmworld still persisted.

So I think we have a Steven and the Steven's situation going where the Lich we ended with is not the same Lich we started with. The original Lich was wearing Billy's skin when he had his wish granted, just like Jerry is, so the continuity fits together nicely.

Post-retcon Lich went on to become Sweet Pea, who is alive and well a thousand years into Ooo's future, based on the glimpses we've gotten into that time period. Whereas Pre-retcon Lich became Jerry.