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nonbinarysharks

hexprinx

monzterzack

you know what, i am right and im tired of pretending i am not

I wanted to reserve my judgement until I finished watching Steven Universe but now that I have. Why the fuck is there so much discourse. This is literally just a normal kids show. With an insane amount of good queer rep AND erasing gender roles in a way thats still groundbreaking today. Even with the complaint of the series finale being rushed, if you go into it with the knowledge that it got cut short so they had to cram it, that satisfies most of my Media Critique. You are all being insane about this for no good reason.

Everytime i think about Steven Universe and the concept of Teshuvah I become something else.

witch-apologist

Rebecca Sugar, creator of SU is jewish and that cultural perspective is woven into the very fiber of Steven Universe

Teshuvah is how Judaism approaches redemption/reconciliation/forgiveness

So these two images should give you a barebones idea of what Teshuvah is.

The Steven Universe Redemption formula IS Teshuvah.

To demonstrate, I will be using the most controversial example of redemption in Steven Universe: The Diamonds.

Before I start we should establish that Judaism does not acknowledge the concept of a "point of no return" there is always a way back, there is always a way to improve and a way to make things right as much as can be done.

Rigorous self examination:

When confronted with the fact that they were genuinely hurting Pink/Steven/The Gems in a way they couldn't ignore they all go through this process.

"I always thought you were failing this world, but if you were happier on Earth maybe this world was failing you."

Blues is the most plainly laid out, here she confronts that it was in fact their treatment of Pink thay drove her away and that their current treatment of Steven was perpetuating that same cycle.

Yellow doesn't do it verbally but here she is forced to confront the fact that she is feeling guilt and that she is also unhappy with they way Homeworld is run.

White diamond has to confront the fact that she's not infallible and that her worldview is based on things that arent true.

Engage the victim by confessing, expressing regret and making every effort possible to right the wrong.

The diamonds admit to the faults of their reign, and they express regret as seen above. As for making every effort possible:

They dismantle the entire empire, allowing Steven and the gems to install democracy instead, reducing their role in society to little more than super-powered tv celebrities. They heal the corrupted gems and literally PUT THE SHATTERED GEMS BACK TOGETHER, including those that had been "clustered" they work hard to have a positive relationship with Steven and honor Pinks memory. And they work to help with mood stabilization and giving a voice to those who were previously voiceless in society.

This is from the scene where they go to heal the corrupted gems:

That archway sure is strangely shaoed hmm i wonder what it-

Its no coincidence that the Diamonds are shown in their Quintessential Scene Of Making Amends in a garden with a Magen David archway.

And finally, Being presented with same oppurtunity to sin and abstaining:

"I've disbanded my armies, I've liberated my colonies" Yellow Diamond could have at any point went back on her word and went right back on to colonizing the stars. She doesn't. When we see what she is up to post SU most of what she is doing is studying how to help people instead.

"I never shatter, I never make anyone cry."

Blue could also have gone back to her old ways at any time, she could get overwhelmed in her greif and torment people with her powrrs but she doesnt.

"I've been saying please and thank you even to lower life forms." Even if White's delivery leaves some to be desired shes making an effort to treat everyone with baseline respect.

And yes these things are brought up by them to exclaim how good theyve been in hopes of comvincing steven to stay but they dont trap him there when he says no anyways like they might have done in the past. They look for another solution and eventually let it go when its made clear their alternate solution also doesnt work.

There's also Spinel, spinel would be a prime opportunity to once again abuse a much smaller and less powerful person into being their personal clown but only under their rules but when we see spinel living on homeworld she is free and and unbothered.

Even if the Diamonds still aren't the most likable people by the end of the entire series they still fulfilled Teshuvah.

And ftr Jewish law forbids killing someone even to ssve anothers life.

Steven Universe is a JEWISH story of reconciliation and redemption. Remember that next time you see someone call it "nazi propoganda" because imo demonizing a jewish person for writing their story with a fundamentally jewish take and calling it facist apologia is far closer to "nazi propoganda" than the show ever could be.

steven is a really funny character actually. he never went to school. one of his powers is astral projection for no real reason. hes a musical prodigy. he was so traumatized by the end of the show they had to make an entire epilogue series about it. he spent seven years looking like a 3rd grader. he was even bisexual

he went to the center of the earth. he saved the world in flip flops. he broke his bones every day and didnt even notice. he killed someone

just-watch-me-hachiko

he didn’t have a bellybutton. he actively chose to eat super crispy bits of potato that got left in the deep fryer. he lived in a house but his dad lived in a car within walking distance of his house. he could revive people from the dead. all of his clothes were concert merchandise. he had an outdoor washing machine. he was put on trial for murder. he broke both federal and state child labor laws

imhereformysciencefriends

The murder he was on trial for was different than the murder he committed

hedronalignment

The murder he went on trial for was a murder his mom committed. The victim of the murder was also his mom.

he plead guilty

mas-arte

He plead guilty because he was technically his mom, and therefore technically guilty.

guys stop this is my own post and even im having an aneurysm

I’m not over how he delivers a more nuanced take about Pink Diamond than at least 50% of the discourse surrounding Steven Universe in just one sentence

#he really gets it #su

nonbinarysharks

ashestoashesjc

chicinlicin

Everyone together~⭐⭐⭐

Thanks everyone for all the lovely comments on these :D this was such a fun set to do, hoping to add a few more when more eps of Future are out! Oh and I’ve still got preorders for holo-foil cards up until the end of the year, over here!!

#su

nonbinarysharks

bloodsbane

No spoilers but these are actual lessons taught in the actual Steven Universe movie.

Your romantic/platonic partner leaving you or treating you cruelly does not make you incapable of being loved or loving.
Don’t let your fear, shame, or past pain cloud from people who genuinely care about you.
If someone is genuinely putting in effort to be honest with you then you should not view their feelings as fake.
Don’t take your pain out on others
Don’t assume you or someone else’s past mistakes make you incapable of change.
There are people who can love you you and what you do. Even if you can’t find them immediately, you probably already know them.
Happily ever after doesn’t exist, and there is always work to be done, but that should not stop you from enjoying good opportunities and good people.
Don’t try to make or interpret yourself or someone else as somebody that they are not.
And most importantly:
Hydration is important when smooching.

I got to see Rebecca Sugar speak at Barnes & Noble yesterday!

I recorded her entire Q&A session and will be posting it in a reblog - but here’s the highlights:

She does get nervous during pitch meetings still, but she’s doing pitches on behalf of the characters so she can protect them and continue their story. Pitching the movie was hard, but she loves Spinel and wanted to pitch her accurately.
She learned guitar 2 years ago specifically due to the movie! She couldn’t play songs that she’d composed until she learned it. (She sang “Drift Away” and played it on guitar for us at the event!)
It isn’t true that she was willing to quit Cartoon Network if she didn’t get the Ruby/Sapphire wedding - she would never quit the show like that. They get a lot of international funding but often from very conservative countries who were sending notes to remove the wedding. The threat of them pulling funding and the show having to be cancelled was there, but she chose that risk over continuing the show without the wedding - “chose to tell the truth”.
She stays true to her vision and plans for the series with a bunch of charts, which will be in an ARTBOOK in the future about the arc up through Change Your Mind and including Steven Universe Future! And it will have some charts!!
It didn’t take Spinel long at all to get to Steven - there’s ships that travel across galaxies in the blink of an eye. The only reason Spinel stayed was because she didn’t know what had happened. Once she knew, she had no reason to stay and immediately left.
Gems are technology - they are made. There are no gems that occur “naturally”.
Even if there’s no more TV show, she is not done with the Steven Universe characters!
Inspiration for Spinel was rubber-hose cartoons like Betty Boop, but also a stuffed rabbit she’d left in a garden as a kid and found later. Because of what Pink did, Spinel didn’t get to grow or evolve from the old cartoon styles.
What are the Rose Quartz gems and Zoomans up to? “Please watch Steven Universe Future!”
The crew expected fans to be upset at what Pink Diamond did to Spinel. “This is a thing she does.” They’re happy that people can see her through this lens.
What’s White Diamond’s Pink Pearl up to? “Please watch Steven Universe Future!”
What’s the most important lesson in Steven Universe? “Marginalized children exist, they deserve to exist, and they deserve to express themselves. They deserve to experience funny and wonderful cartoons, to make funny and wonderful cartoons. They deserve to be kids.”

…the highlights I just wrote turned out to be most of her Q&A I guess but I will post the audio and full transcript soon if people want!

i feel like a lot of people are unaware of how they conflate forgiveness with complacency. like. i’ve seen so many su memes and whatnot where what they’re parodying isn’t really forgiveness, but a sense of complacency that doesn’t actually exist in the show. so they have to pretend it exists, in order to have a point about forgiveness being bad.

like. the consequences of allowing white diamond to help you are… good, within the show. it makes good things happen. it’s healing the corrupted gems, and dismantling the caste system in a way the gems beneath them will accept.

GIF by chickenwraith

but within the minds of people insisting forgiveness is bad… these things are not considered. there are only negative consequences - the diamonds just “get away with it”, to them. they don’t address how the caste system is dismantled, or how corrupted gems are healed. to them, it’s as if everything is still how it was. it doesn’t matter that the diamonds lose their empire, their purpose, or that their actions led to losing pink… all that matters is that they’re not dead. so they can’t possibly have faced narrative consequences.

it also doesn’t matter how sincere the motivations of these characters are. instead, it’s played like (insert character) is deliberately using steven’s personality to “get away” with it - they beg for forgiveness after committing some atrocity, and then steven just “gives it to them”, and that’s that. that’s all they see.

steven saying stuff like “this is your fault, so you have to fix it”? that doesn’t matter. steven first and foremost striving for a way to heal the corrupted victims, rather than befriending the diamonds? doesn’t matter. the gems in question genuinely changing, so keeping them around is useful? doesn’t matter.

GIF by themysteryoftheunknownuniverse

in short… it doesn’t matter that steven isn’t complacent, but strives towards helping as many people as possible. nor how shrewd he is in forging alliances - he doesn’t kill, so he must be a naive simpleton with no idea what he’s doing.

so… how do we talk to those people? because i’m stumped. and i’m tired.

The jacket

Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about what’s possible for characters vs. what the audience sees. (This might feel really obvious or redundant to talk about, but I just need to get the words out of my system)

In Steven Universe, when a character can’t do something, it’s a bit of a big deal. They struggle with it, they fixate on it, entire episodes may be dedicated to this thing they’re unable to do. When a character can do something, but doesn’t, it’s never focused on or called out. But when it does finally happen, it underscores a huge moment for that character.

As early as episode 10, it’s confirmed that Amethyst is able to bubble Gems. The action itself is not a big deal for her. Maybe she’s done it lots of times offscreen, where the audience hasn’t seen it. But since it’s our first time seeing her do this, it underscores her growth in this character arc, as she sends her tormentor and kindred spirit away.

On the other end of things, Garnet’s refusal to ask questions in the present ends up being a highlight for her backstory–she’s only shown asking questions in the far, far past, to highlight her very first moments of being in comparison to how firm and completely certain she is of herself now.

One can assume that Greg has always had some manner of social life outside of Steven and the Gems, but it has never once been mentioned who his friends are or what he does when he’s not working or hanging out with Steven. To wait until after he’s reconciled with Pearl to mention any sort of social action underscores how much he was letting the past get in the way of his friendships before this point. Considering this same episode is about Pearl doing the same for her social life highlights that further.

No one ever calls out these actions, or lackthereof, within the show. Things that aren’t happening lay in wait, to emphasize important moments in a character’s development.

All this is to say…

boy howdy they must be saving up Pearl shapeshifting for an absolute doozy.

Now THIS is a post that aged well

power of class

I now pronounce you, Garnet 💙❤️

Blue “Pink and I were very close” Diamond, everybody.

i present to you…pearl’s face when she says the word “reinvention”. she was smiling at “war and glory” but then her face shifted

she’s looking at the rose

Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about what’s possible for characters vs. what the audience sees. (This might feel really obvious or redundant to talk about, but I just need to get the words out of my system)

In Steven Universe, when a character can’t do something, it’s a bit of a big deal. They struggle with it, they fixate on it, entire episodes may be dedicated to this thing they’re unable to do. When a character can do something, but doesn’t, it’s never focused on or called out. But when it does finally happen, it underscores a huge moment for that character.

As early as episode 10, it’s confirmed that Amethyst is able to bubble Gems. The action itself is not a big deal for her. Maybe she’s done it lots of times offscreen, where the audience hasn’t seen it. But since it’s our first time seeing her do this, it underscores her growth in this character arc, as she sends her tormentor and kindred spirit away.

On the other end of things, Garnet’s refusal to ask questions in the present ends up being a highlight for her backstory–she’s only shown asking questions in the far, far past, to highlight her very first moments of being in comparison to how firm and completely certain she is of herself now.

One can assume that Greg has always had some manner of social life outside of Steven and the Gems, but it has never once been mentioned who his friends are or what he does when he’s not working or hanging out with Steven. To wait until after he’s reconciled with Pearl to mention any sort of social action underscores how much he was letting the past get in the way of his friendships before this point. Considering this same episode is about Pearl doing the same for her social life highlights that further.

No one ever calls out these actions, or lackthereof, within the show. Things that aren’t happening lay in wait, to emphasize important moments in a character’s development.

All this is to say…

boy howdy they must be saving up Pearl shapeshifting for an absolute doozy.