CaptainJZH

Gay/Queer. Autistic. He/They. Lover of Steven Universe, Amphibia, Star Trek, and other stuff. Writes fanfiction (AO3: www.archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainJZH) and edits fanvideos (YouTube: www.youtube.com/c/captainjzhproductions)

[captainjzh]

NEW VIDEO! "Spectacular Spider Man but only Black Suit Spidey (S1E10-13)"

[mindareadsoots]

Counter-question: Where is White Diamond?

Seriously. Is this fucking Warhammer 40k? Can she not leave the Golden Throne? What could possibly be keeping her away from the trial of Pink Diamond’s murderer?

[captainjzh]

Her Pearl ran off to join some rebellion 6,000 years ago and now she doesn’t have anyone to open the door for her so she’s just stuck in her room.

[asunderstrike]

(Vomits random Danny Phantom art before scampering off back into the hiatus abyss)

[noodles-and-tea]

Do you see him?

[theavengers]

SPIDER-MAN: BRAND NEW DAY 2026, dir. Destin Daniel Cretton

[fanonical]

i keep seeing criticism of steven universe that is driving me up the wall because it does not address that steven universe is a fucking children's show for children

no, it does not have the moral that you can just cut out shitty family members, because your average eight year old is not afforded the agency to do that

sometimes shows that are for children are for children. adults may love and appreciate them to but we have to understand that we are not the target audience and that is okay

[pansy-picnics]

YES ABSOLUTELY THIS!!! And I think its also important to note that like— with the way the show portrayed the dynamic between the diamonds and steven— I truly don’t feel like it would have mattered whether they redeemed them or not.

Rebecca speaks a lot about how they talked with higher ups for CN’s anti bullying campaign and did their own homework on child psychology and how to solve problems and conflicts, and they wanted to portray conflicts being solved through open communication, and they talk about how they wanted to do this from the start because CN had an audience of mostly young boys, and they had never seen shows aimed at kids in that regard actually portraying problems being solved with anything But violence. they wanted to show problems being solved with communication and to do that they also had to humanize the other party so there was understanding as to Why the bad action was done which is actually sooo important for tweens and teens to see in media, to be able to see nuanced conflict, because not only is it more interesting but it sets them up to understand conflict in the Real World much better— the people who hurt you arent irredeemable evil cartoon villains, but they’re not right. they’re hurting you because they have their own problems to sort out and are taking it out on you and that’s THEIR problem. In the magfest q&a rebecca says that in the early stages of the movie higher ups were just repeatedly insisting to them that steven just HAD to fucking Kill spinel and they were like. NO? LMFAOOOOO

The thing abt this argument and why it falls flat is that the show still blatantly shows that their actions are BAD and shows that they do have to face consequences for those actions, even if they had reasons for doing so. It doesn’t matter if steven “forgave” the diamonds or not (which objectively he Didn’t he’s still visibly uncomfortable around them and LITERALLY TRIES TO KILL WHITE IN A MENTAL BREAK LMFAO) because he still called their asses out on their abuse. The show DIRECTLY tells the audience that this Isn’t normal, people can’t do this and your family cant treat you like this, and you deserve better than that. It tells you that nobody has the right to tell you who you are, even the people who claim to love you.

Like i think often the reason a lot of people stay with their toxic family members is out of guilt, or a feeling of obligation— even feeling like they deserve to be treated that way. But steven… doesn’t. Not only does he NOT forgive the diamonds like objectively (he just doesn’t think anyone deserves to DIE especially if they’re Willing to make the effort to do better and hold themselves accountable) but he just objectively knows he DOESN’T deserve to be treated that way and he Doesn’t let that shit slide. The diamonds were needed for the plot to heal the corrupted gems and it’s just not in character for steven to kill them or whatever, but the narrative was also just Always about family and connection and humanity while also acknowledging that people will do fucked up things and treat you badly and you DON’T DESERVE to be treated that way. Whether you choose to forgive them is Your Choice— The show never said you Have To!! And again, objectively, steven doesn’t forgive the diamonds— he just wanted to give them the chance to change. And frankly i think forcing white to be nice to people was a punishment far worse than death for her /j

Not to mention its also important to show that people CAN take accountability for their actions and do better and become better people but they have to make the effort to do so and still face consequences— that’s what su was about the entire time!!!

I think about the blue diamond scene in cym sooo much bc i think it sums this up perfectly— it doesnt matter whether or not they got redeemed bc steven called them out on their abuse and said, in text, “this isn’t normal. this isn’t what a loving family does”. The message this gives to kids is SO FUCKING IMPORTANT.

Kids don’t have the means to get out of their abusive households yet but su told them that they have every right to not put up with their shit and once we get older and gain more autonomy we realize that does often involve leaving. sooo many people recognized that They were being abused because of su’s narratives around it but because the show objectively told you “You SHOULDN’T have to put up with this, people who love you don’t treat you this way” they DON’T feel like they HAVE to forgive them. Thats all it comes down to— just because steven gave the diamonds the chance to improve doesn’t mean you have to do that to your abusers, or that he forgave them, or that their actions were justified or endorsed by the shows writing. it’s the exact opposite. thats just What Steven Did. what you do is your choice. And if you see a children’s cartoon objectively saying “Abuse Is Bad and you dont deserve to be treated like shit” and think that its telling you you HAVE to forgive your abusers purely bc the main character didn’t like kill them then you’ve got your own issues to work out man idk. 😭😭

[captainjzh]

Aside from the "I want to see abusers to be punished severely" crowd (which the post above touches on) it also comes down to Sugar using the Diamonds as familial abuse story in the first place, and Homeworld's restrictions as an allegory for rigid social norms (particular gender norms) when instead a LOT of fans were reading into them specifically as a depiction of dictatorships/fascism/colonizers/authoritarians/etc. and taking all the familial lessons (depictions of abusers attempting to be better after being called out for their wrongdoing) as being supportive of THAT instead of what they were actually intended to be seen as.

(to the point where fans kinda just...made shit up that wasn't even in the text, like the idea that hundreds of other sapient civilizations had been wiped out by the Diamonds over thousands of years, and then got mad at Ian JQ when he corrected that humans were actually Gems' first time encountering other sentient lifeforms)

And not without merit, since the show *does* include those themes, but it kinda came at exactly the wrong time for a "using the themes of imperialism to educate children about abusive family structures" when a good portion of the queer progressive online space was (rightfully) kinda out for blood against real-world oppressive governments and were hoping that the show would be more of a call to action or at least an extreme catharsis (seeing the evil empire get overthrown and the rebels being victorious), instead of the 'sci-fi empire' archetype being more of a backdrop to tell this story of generational trauma.

Which I can understand to an extent, but for one thing there's countless other works of fiction that would have satisfied that desire easily, and also there's an alternate catharsis from the idea that "what if this WAS how things worked and meaningful change COULD happen completely peacefully, wouldn't that be nice?"

(to which some say "no I want to see my enemies heads on a spike" which is where I think the divide is lol)

[pansy-picnics]

NO THIS IS EXACTLY IT!!! because like truly although there are allegories to real world social issues the show was really just a typical. Aliens taking over the world basic villain plotline. but bc there ARE those allegories, and because marginalized people are constantly faced with being told to basically suck up to their oppressors and be “model minorities” and not rebel in any way, or to rebel “peacefully” and not make a scene so nothing can actually be done. it was COMPLETELY valid for some people to be upset and i’m not gonna say people are Wrong for being upset about it or that it cant be criticized. I’m not gonna be the “its’s not that deep” guy. I’m white and objectively privileged in many ways and there are things i just cant speak on. But i do think it’s also crucial to remember thats Not what it was meant to portray and thats NOT what it portrayed to the target audience. The show was never about fascism. To me its like, “this is valid commentary, i just wish the show could actually be seen for what it really is and is meant to be.”

Rebecca talks a LOT abt the idea for the show in the end of an era artbook and how they came to base it around that idealized fictional world— and i think it touches on this very well.

I feel like people had the wrong expectations for the show, and its completely understandable for people to be disappointed considering the state of the world that it didnt have that stereotypical “overthrowing the oppressors” kind of storyline— but darker twists on that can always be made, through fanfics and aus and the like. but for the show itself, the idea was always that “escapism” of a place where kids can feel loved and accepted. theres a reason why there are so many like, my little pony self insert fics and stuff— people love a world where everyone is accepting and caring towards one another and communication and respect is valued above all else. But the real world allegories SU introduced muddied this, making some people interpret it as watering down fascism or something, when like, it just is barely touched on at all and like you said I think a lot of people do just end up filling the blanks and making false assumptions about the narratives the show is portraying. And a lot of people take that and then just end up being insanely toxic and acting like rebecca is the most evil person alive. The amount of people i see calling the diamonds space hitler is actually so disturbing as if they aren’t talking about a show MADE BY A JEWISH CREATOR!

“For a lot of kids and people that I know, a fantasy can be as simple as ‘I want someone to tell me that it’s OK that I exist,’ or ‘I want to be loved by somebody,’ or ‘I want to be in a family,’ or ‘I just want someone to care about me’. That can be a fantasy also.” Is a line i think about SOOOO FUCKING OFTEN. Also it’s like, it’s not like the show Wasn’t about the gems liberating themselves from their oppressors??? like wasn’t that kind of the second main theme of the show??

It’s made very clear homeworld was a broken and oppressive society and by defeating the diamonds solely by Being Himself, steven liberated gem society as a whole. The rebels won. The oppressors just weren’t “punished” enough in a lot of peoples eyes, and for some reason that seems to lead people to think none of their efforts actually mattered, as if the gems didn’t fight a war for hundreds of years and DID in fact still beat up the diamonds and get them to stand down. Just because the diamonds weren’t shot dead on sight doesn’t mean they Won. Its made very clear that they didn’t. The villain doesn’t have to Die to lose. It is still that story about overcoming oppression— it’s just ALSO a narrative about generational trauma and humanity and a fantasy of simply being loved and understood. And I get why it makes things a little messy when the oppressors Are the representation of that generational trauma, but again, its really just… what you said. a fantasy. an ideal world where we Can solve those problems without violence. No kids who watched su actually grew up to forgive dictators and fascists (or at least if they have i definitely haven’t seen them). Its a narrative that was really important for kids to see and i dont think we needed violence to portray it.

[fanonical]

i keep seeing criticism of steven universe that is driving me up the wall because it does not address that steven universe is a fucking children's show for children

no, it does not have the moral that you can just cut out shitty family members, because your average eight year old is not afforded the agency to do that

sometimes shows that are for children are for children. adults may love and appreciate them to but we have to understand that we are not the target audience and that is okay

[pansy-picnics]

YES ABSOLUTELY THIS!!! And I think its also important to note that like— with the way the show portrayed the dynamic between the diamonds and steven— I truly don’t feel like it would have mattered whether they redeemed them or not.

Rebecca speaks a lot about how they talked with higher ups for CN’s anti bullying campaign and did their own homework on child psychology and how to solve problems and conflicts, and they wanted to portray conflicts being solved through open communication, and they talk about how they wanted to do this from the start because CN had an audience of mostly young boys, and they had never seen shows aimed at kids in that regard actually portraying problems being solved with anything But violence. they wanted to show problems being solved with communication and to do that they also had to humanize the other party so there was understanding as to Why the bad action was done which is actually sooo important for tweens and teens to see in media, to be able to see nuanced conflict, because not only is it more interesting but it sets them up to understand conflict in the Real World much better— the people who hurt you arent irredeemable evil cartoon villains, but they’re not right. they’re hurting you because they have their own problems to sort out and are taking it out on you and that’s THEIR problem. In the magfest q&a rebecca says that in the early stages of the movie higher ups were just repeatedly insisting to them that steven just HAD to fucking Kill spinel and they were like. NO? LMFAOOOOO

The thing abt this argument and why it falls flat is that the show still blatantly shows that their actions are BAD and shows that they do have to face consequences for those actions, even if they had reasons for doing so. It doesn’t matter if steven “forgave” the diamonds or not (which objectively he Didn’t he’s still visibly uncomfortable around them and LITERALLY TRIES TO KILL WHITE IN A MENTAL BREAK LMFAO) because he still called their asses out on their abuse. The show DIRECTLY tells the audience that this Isn’t normal, people can’t do this and your family cant treat you like this, and you deserve better than that. It tells you that nobody has the right to tell you who you are, even the people who claim to love you.

Like i think often the reason a lot of people stay with their toxic family members is out of guilt, or a feeling of obligation— even feeling like they deserve to be treated that way. But steven… doesn’t. Not only does he NOT forgive the diamonds like objectively (he just doesn’t think anyone deserves to DIE especially if they’re Willing to make the effort to do better and hold themselves accountable) but he just objectively knows he DOESN’T deserve to be treated that way and he Doesn’t let that shit slide. The diamonds were needed for the plot to heal the corrupted gems and it’s just not in character for steven to kill them or whatever, but the narrative was also just Always about family and connection and humanity while also acknowledging that people will do fucked up things and treat you badly and you DON’T DESERVE to be treated that way. Whether you choose to forgive them is Your Choice— The show never said you Have To!! And again, objectively, steven doesn’t forgive the diamonds— he just wanted to give them the chance to change. And frankly i think forcing white to be nice to people was a punishment far worse than death for her /j

Not to mention its also important to show that people CAN take accountability for their actions and do better and become better people but they have to make the effort to do so and still face consequences— that’s what su was about the entire time!!!

I think about the blue diamond scene in cym sooo much bc i think it sums this up perfectly— it doesnt matter whether or not they got redeemed bc steven called them out on their abuse and said, in text, “this isn’t normal. this isn’t what a loving family does”. The message this gives to kids is SO FUCKING IMPORTANT.

Kids don’t have the means to get out of their abusive households yet but su told them that they have every right to not put up with their shit and once we get older and gain more autonomy we realize that does often involve leaving. sooo many people recognized that They were being abused because of su’s narratives around it but because the show objectively told you “You SHOULDN’T have to put up with this, people who love you don’t treat you this way” they DON’T feel like they HAVE to forgive them. Thats all it comes down to— just because steven gave the diamonds the chance to improve doesn’t mean you have to do that to your abusers, or that he forgave them, or that their actions were justified or endorsed by the shows writing. it’s the exact opposite. thats just What Steven Did. what you do is your choice. And if you see a children’s cartoon objectively saying “Abuse Is Bad and you dont deserve to be treated like shit” and think that its telling you you HAVE to forgive your abusers purely bc the main character didn’t like kill them then you’ve got your own issues to work out man idk. 😭😭

[captainjzh]

Aside from the "I want to see abusers to be punished severely" crowd (which the post above touches on) it also comes down to Sugar using the Diamonds as familial abuse story in the first place, and Homeworld's restrictions as an allegory for rigid social norms (particular gender norms) when instead a LOT of fans were reading into them specifically as a depiction of dictatorships/fascism/colonizers/authoritarians/etc. and taking all the familial lessons (depictions of abusers attempting to be better after being called out for their wrongdoing) as being supportive of THAT instead of what they were actually intended to be seen as.

(to the point where fans kinda just...made shit up that wasn't even in the text, like the idea that hundreds of other sapient civilizations had been wiped out by the Diamonds over thousands of years, and then got mad at Ian JQ when he corrected that humans were actually Gems' first time encountering other sentient lifeforms)

And not without merit, since the show *does* include those themes, but it kinda came at exactly the wrong time for a "using the themes of imperialism to educate children about abusive family structures" when a good portion of the queer progressive online space was (rightfully) kinda out for blood against real-world oppressive governments and were hoping that the show would be more of a call to action or at least an extreme catharsis (seeing the evil empire get overthrown and the rebels being victorious), instead of the 'sci-fi empire' archetype being more of a backdrop to tell this story of generational trauma.

Which I can understand to an extent, but for one thing there's countless other works of fiction that would have satisfied that desire easily, and also there's an alternate catharsis from the idea that "what if this WAS how things worked and meaningful change COULD happen completely peacefully, wouldn't that be nice?"

(to which some say "no I want to see my enemies heads on a spike" which is where I think the divide is lol)

[pichikui]

I hope its not a bother to ask but do you have any news or updates regarding the novels? Also how r u

Hi, sadly, I don't have any news. Likely won't know more for another few months. Sorry, sometimes publishing is just like this. Lots of hurry up and wait.

I appreciate the interest, though! Keep leaving reviews for the books and @ Abrams to tell them you want more.

[wasted-and-ready]

Coming to Stargate from Star Trek, it's like, 'FUCK your prime directive.' It's so funny.

Like Trek has all these episodes where the prime directive causes the plot. At it's silliest, it's an excuse for our heroes to have to dress up as gangers. At it's grandest, it's the hinge point of an excrutiating moral dilemna. And Stargate just says 'fuck that noise.' There are so many episodes where the team's arrival is actively harmful to the planets' natives. And sometimes our guys go 'whoopsie doopsie' before moving on, but sometimes they don't. It's hilarous and perfect and such an (unintentional?) indictment of the US Military. I love it so much.

[soopermax]

headcanon that peter prefers environments that are dark, quiet, and just a little chilly, partially because of the spider dna and partially because of how it gives his senses a break

[lesbianrey]

idk what young person on the internet needs to hear this but you are not obligated to share any personal details about yourself online. in fact im gonna straight-up circle back to 00s era advice and say being anonymous is good actually

[cyndavilachase]

“Teaser,” done in SBP.

My good friend, @universallywriting, is actually responsible for the last bits of dialogue!

[chiliqilin]

Pete on a good day lookin fresh vs. on a bad day lookin like a mess. I gave him the 1994 fit LOL retro bus seat lookin-

[captainjzh]

NEW VIDEO! "Titanic At Sea, in Film & TV (1912-2025)"

[captainjzh]

NEW VIDEO! "Titanic Tropes: Diving to the Wreck (1980-2020)"

[captainjzh]

NEW VIDEO! "Titanic Tropes: Aftermath on the Carpathia (1958-1997)"

[captainjzh]

NEW VIDEO! "Titanic Tropes: Clinging to Collapsible B (1958-2012)"