Steven Universe!

[Fortune86]

Spoiler

Technically, PD is a Crystal Gem o3o

 

I think PD's problem is that while she loves everyone, it's hard for her to love people as individuals. She loves humans, but it was difficult for her to think of Greg as a separate person rather than as a member of his race. The same might hold true for how she views Gems. 

 

This also sheds new light on why she bubbled and hid Bismuth. Bismuth wanted to shatter the Diamonds, herself included. She probably felt she couldn't trust Bismuth not to go behind her back and attack either herself or her sisters. 

 

It also explains a lot about this image.

 

Spoiler

 

'Rose' is no where to be seen and PD is wielding Gem Destabilizers rather than a weapon that could cause actual harm.   

 

[normalGuy]

I'M vErY SHOOK 

Spoiler

I am in love with PD's design. Tbh, I had kind of predicted that Rode was PD. Rose had way too many/powerful powers for some lowly quartz soldier. I still think it's such a beautiful twist. The storytelling, the animation, the dialogue. It all flows so well together. Pink Diamond was so in love with this planet and its people that she gave up total control over it. She was under such pressure from the other diamonds that the only way out she could see was to fake her own death. 

 

Cheesy analysis stuff:

Spoiler

I love how the crewniverse pulled this off.

If you look back, it's pretty clear how Earth really became important and changed the gems. Beings who were designed for a specific purpose, breaking free of their molds and becoming their own person. 

In Jungle Moon, Steven's vision of Pink Diamond showed that she was selfish and arrogant.

In The Answer, when Garnet first fuses, she is scared, uncertain, and doesn't know what she is.

Pearl was fearful and submissive.

Amethyst was just wrong.

Steven shouldn't have even existed in the first place.

Earth is/was a place for them to be who they wanted to be, not who they were made to be, and that's why it is/was so precious to them. 

 

Edited May 9, 2018 by Chatdweeb

[Cyberr]

I agree with you all.

Spoiler

But how it would be possible to Bismuth to make weapon that would fit the Diamond making it especially for Rose Quartz? I'm sure PD bubbled her for wanting to shatter anyone, not just diamonds. She was against shattering at all.

Chatdweeb, your "cheesy" analysis is very lovely and true

I'm very curious what season 6 will bring to us.

[Fortune86]

Spoiler

I know PD was against shattering full stop, but from what I can recall Bismuth wanted to shatter the Diamonds specifically, in order to free all Gems from their rule.

 

[Cyberr]

Spoiler

So that's maybe why PD hid bubbled Bismuth before the others. 

I thought Bismuth wanted to shatter all gems on the Diamonds side, so sorry.

But also think about this- PD in "Jungle Moon" maybe seemed to be arrogant or selfish....but I see her behavior rather more like she was under the influence and pressure from the other diamonds. Simple comparison- you have a older siblings and all of them have a doll. These dolls seem to be really cool but your siblings doesn't allow you to even play a little with this. You feel you should have your own doll and you get more and more angry and frustrated as you don't get what you want. You want to be like your siblings, you don't want to stand out and have that doll, that everyone says it's so cool. You don't know that that doll might be bad. Everyone says you should have this and nothing is bad in this.

 

Maybe that was this. But as we can see, PD saw what is like to have a colony and felt that it's bad.  So bad that she rather wanted to become a rebelliant and "murder" her past self to become Rose.

 

 

 

[Fortune86]

Welp. Just seen the first new episode.

 

The feels. 

[SheridanCharon]

Just caught up on all the episodes I missed, from "Can't Go Back" up to "Reunited", and there's pretty much only one way I can react to the entire arc...

Spoiler

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA - *Stops. Breathes in, breathes out* .......AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

 

This was....one smoking hot rollercoaster ride of a feels trip. Just....woah. Gonna give my thoughts on each episode below, because boy, do I have a LOT of thoughts.

 

"Can't Go Back"

Spoiler

Okay, so. Not the best episode, imo, but at least we got to see Lapis sing and she had a bit of character development....still would've liked some more, though. Also nice to get confirmation of something that I'll go into in more detail in the next section, because let's face it, the next episode was the biggest thing everyone was waiting for.

 

"A Single Pale Rose"

Spoiler

OH BOY OH BOY OH BOY, was THIS episode a bombshell! I won't lie, when I first joined the fandom, which was during Peri's redemption arc, I was firmly against the two biggest theories that were thrown about - "That Rose was Pink Diamond" and, later on when it was revealed Rose shattered Pink, "Rose didn't shatter Pink, it was Pearl!". But when "Jungle Moon" happened and we finally got to see Pink herself, I started to believe the first theory for a number of reasons, though I was still iffy on the second.

But not did for a minute did I actually truly believe that BOTH were true, and wooooooooooooah, was it good. We were told more in this episode than the last season, but at the same time, so many questions! But now for the fallout of this huge revelation...

 

"Now we're only falling apart"

Spoiler

🎶 A total eclipse of the heeeeeaaaaaaaaaart....🎶
Jokes aside, this was...both painful (In a good way) and beautiful. Seeing just why Pink decided to rebel against the other Diamonds, going from the bored selfish teenager to a kind compassionate leader and her growing love for everything, from just loving Earth to wanting to protect Gems too, was just....so touching. It's also good to see that Pink DID try to stop the colony in other ways BEFORE resorting to rebellion, but the failure of those attempts just pushed her further and further into fighting. Especially with the revelation that Pink wasn't the one who made the Human Zoo, Blue and Yellow did to effectively shut her up about stopping the colony.
And seeing Pearl, the strong gem we know and love, when she was.....just a Pearl, that was....I'm not gonna lie, it was kinda unsettling...

 

"What's Your Problem?"

Spoiler

Of the 5/6 episodes this week, this was probably my second-to-last of them. It was nice seeing Amethyst and Steven having a heart to heart talk about their feelings over the revelation of Rose's real identity, but overall it was a meh episode to me. Though, I DID seriously like how far Amethyst has come as a person, which this episode showed.

 

"The Question"

Spoiler

Okay, this was, imo, the worst of the episodes. That's not to say it was a BAD episode, not at all (We got a Ruby song, for crying out loud!), but of this week, was probably my least favourite. I like that we got to explore Ruby as a solo character a bit more, instead of just a part of Garnet, but the overarching "Cowboy" theme kinda ruined it for me.
Still, the ending with the titular question? BEST. ENDING. EVER.

 

"Made of Honor"

Spoiler

There is one reason why this episode was my favourite, and that is a big buff rainbow-haired gem.
No, but seriously, seeing Bismuth back just makes me so happy, you have no idea! I am so glad they gave her a second chance, especially after how her debut ended. What I also like is how she gave us confirmation of some of the gems in the bubble room, and specifically that the brown corrupted gem we saw with Jasper was indeed Biggs (Jasper), which further confirms that the blue/pink one was also most likely a form of Jasper.
What I like most was her realisation of just how bad her plan to shatter a Diamond turned out to be: if she had shattered Pink, not only would the rebellion have lost their beloved leader, but it wouldn't have driven the Diamonds away and EVERYONE would've been corrupted. I admit, I think her acceptance was a bit quick, but still, if it means more Bismuth, I'll take it.
Also, the scene where she dunks her head into the lava to scream? Yeah, that pretty much summed up the fandom during this arc, I think

 

"Reunited"

Spoiler

The first half of the episode, the wedding, was just....perfect. The ideal blend of sweet sentiment in Ruby and Sapphire's vows, the touch of sadness from absent friends, and of course the humour (Peridot's flower girl part and Bismuth's face when she "catches" the bouquet were priceless). It was just the sweetest episode....And of course it couldn't last before the Diamonds had to come in and ruin everything.

This is the part I have so much to say about, it was just so GOOD. But the highlights for me were the Cluster effectively waving the middle finger at the Diamonds and showing that Steven's empathy and bubbling it have given it (them? Her?) enough time to form some sense of self, and to decide that self is Crystal Gem through-and-through. (Also, as much as I dislike Ronaldo, I love that his first instinct wasn't to run from the scary thing but to instead apparently think "Imma stab this !").
And the diamonds. Finally getting to see them in action properly and not just sit there being menacing was some good stuff, especially Yellow's entrance making her look like a villain straight from an anime. But also seeing that, they're just as complex in character as the others, and blame themselves so much for what they thought happened to Pink. The coming episodes (whenever they are) are gonna have so much to look at.

Also, Lapis went up several steps on my favourite list just for dropping the barn on Blue. And Peridot had some of the best lines yet again ("FIGHT ME!"), though Bismuth had some good ones, too.

 

Final thoughts: the preview for the next episode....is it just me, or did it make it look like the Diamonds didn't know about what exactly their powers did to the gems on Earth? That they don't know about corruption? And with Peri and Lapis getting poofed, think they'll come back with their Crystal Gem stars?

 

[Cyberr]

I must say something about last episode.

Spoiler

White Diamond is really scary. I love her 20's stylization, but as she appears to not be a good character obviously it gives me a much pain. I don't say I ever wanted White Diamond to be a good character, but her design is just too glorious.... But her behavior, artificial expressions makes the other Diamonds more human than ever.

Her pearl is scarier. She behaves like a computer program/being manipulated by WD. Weird thing is that she has her gem in the same place that Pink Diamond has. Pearls of other diamonds have their gems in the same place that their "owner" has. Good to note is that crystal gems Pearl has her gem on the forehead, just like White.

And why she stays in a thing that appears to be her ship? Why she doesn't want to get out? Maybe she is scared by or wants to hide something? She glows that much that's impossible to see her gem. And her Pearl seems to be weirdly broken (not her gem but her form)

Everything happened so fast. Woah. Excited for the movie and next season!

 

[wingedcat]

Have any of you guys been listening to the podcast? I just caught up on the show after the latest bomb and hoo boy. It's one thing to experience the carefully-planned plot twists and careful design work but hearing Rebecca talk about the giant penny in Rose's "batcave" or how Smoky combines Amethyst's self-destructiveness with Steven's inconfidence is just [keysmash]. I love this show. I legitimately suspect the people who hate on it for its politics of having been exposed to way higher-quality entertainment than I have, because how else could you brush off something so approachable with this much coordinated care put into it? I'm usually really picky about design and the bobblehead squishing does bother me, but barely enough to affect my enjoyment of the show.

 

Also Space Stubble Stevonnie and Space Zombie Lars are perfect. So is WD. I want to see the Ship Mech, now. Ahhhhhhhhhhh.

[Fortune86]

Anyone else freaking out over the new episodes? 

[Cyberr]

I'm really dissapointed about last episodes honestly. Everything is so sped up just because of some nonsense townie episode which not had to be necessarily...logical errors here and here...out of character behaviors, shifting morality, I could write more and more but I just don't want to...theres so much things. I'm watching it now only because I want to see how it ends. That's all. Just last hiatus gave me time to think about everything....and it lose all its charm. But that's just my opinion, if you like it then I have nothing against it.

But the majority of fandom had so high expectations for last episode....huuuh.

Spoiler

At least I like White Diamond and White Pearl designs. So monochrome.

 

[Fortune86]

Just seen 'Change Your Mind'.

 

Holy fudge.

 

Spoiler

While I'm pleased it's finally been sorted over whether Steven was Pink/Rose in a new form or not and is in fact entirely himself, I'm also a little sad that it's been confirmed that Pink is gone. Pink and Steven will never get to interact. 

 

[Kyleedj]

Change your mind was indeed a real doozy...

 

Spoiler

I am also very sad to learn that Pink/Rose is gone, because she's  just SO PRETTY. I love every second of her screen time.

 

[Tentacles]

Ooooh what fun, we’re talking about stuff so Imma just gonna go ahead and randomly blurt out...

OH MY DEAR ZEUS PERIDOT IS AWESOME

 

oh dear. I’m acting like a fan girl. dear Zeus please help me.

[SheridanCharon]

Soooo....that movie, huh?

[Dirtytabs]

Awww yeah.

 

Spoiler

"We were abandoned by Pink Diamond for thousands of years"

"Really? Me, too! I really missed her..."

"We have so much in common. Come, let us adore you bond over our similarities"

 

[Aqub]

Right! The movie was really something. Because of all the hiatuses I had kind of forgotten everything that was going on, and after watching the movie I remembered how heartwarming the show is and have been binge watching it on hulu, which reminded me how much I love Steven Universe.  I was also under the impression that the movie was the official end of the show, but I read on the internet somewhere that there's more to come? 

Here's my favorite meme about the movie: 

Spoiler

 

[Fortune86]

Finally caught up on the new episodes (Future) and I'm getting worried about Steven. It's seems his Inner Pinkness is getting the better of him. 

 

Also I am getting so fed up with all of the hate towards Pink the internet has at the moment. Especially jarring is when they claim to love the other Diamonds but treat Pink like the spawn of Satan. 

[Aqub]

10 hours ago, Fortune86 said:

Finally caught up on the new episodes (Future) and I'm getting worried about Steven. It's seems his Inner Pinkness is getting the better of him. 

 

Also I am getting so fed up with all of the hate towards Pink the internet has at the moment. Especially jarring is when they claim to love the other Diamonds but treat Pink like the spawn of Satan. 

 

Just going to put a spoiler, in case anyone isn't caught up... 

 

 

Spoiler

 

Steven is an angsty teen now... 

I'm worried too, especially since these new powers seem to tie in with corruption. These powers (when they were Pink's) are what caused pink pearl's eye to crack, a psychological injury, similar to how corruption is described as the fabric of the mind being torn. The difference is that full corruption took three angry diamonds, but Steven might end up hurting one of his friends or even himself... There are theories that the big "Worm" monster in the opening is corrupted Steven...

 

I totally agree, though. The backwards development that Pink is getting lately is really bad for her image, but later on Rose saved the earth and as we saw in flashbacks of Rose, she was a sweetie... she had flaws, but everyone does- we're seeing some of Steven's flaws this season. As the Pearl fusion in Volleyball says, Pink was desperate to change who she was.

The other diamonds definitely did worse things than Pink, and as far as I'm concerned Change Your Mind was not a really redemption for them, even though Blue and Yellow made some progress, I feel like they'd all still have a ways to go before being considered redeemed. Then again they probably did improve a lot in the 2 year time skip and I'm just being picky. 

 

 

[Fortune86]

Spoiler

 

The more I look at the monster, the more I can see it being Steven. Poor boy 😧

 

Also since Steven is usually the one to talk the monster down, who's going to be the one to cure him?

 

 

[Fortune86]

Just caught up.

 

Holy cookie cats. Like what the actual together breakfast. 

 

Our poor boy. 😧

[Aqub]

I can see an ending where everyone Steven has ever helped will now come together to help him.  I guess we'll find out next week with the series finale. 

[Fortune86]

I think the person Steven really, really needs to talk to is his mom. I don't know how, but I don't want the show to end with either of them still deep in self-loathing. Plus Pink is the only one who may really understand what he's going through.