•Arya•

21 August 1997 - Female - Bi/Pan - Monogamous{This is an old account, so you'll probably find some very childish things here ahah ; might keep it, might change it, we'll see}

[katy-keepthefiregoing]

Off Colors Get Shattered

[katy-keepthefiregoing]

Just wanted to refresh my old Pink D. headcanon, before the whole Rose Quartz reveal.

Kinda shocked at how close I got in terms of design ahahah

[little-miss-phuckup]

It makes me so sad,

to see people say that they hate Pink Diamond because she abandoned Spinel in the garden for 6000+ years.

I get it, yeah, that’s p fucked up. But y’all need to remember something about the show Steven Universe—

It is a show about well-rounded and deeply personal characters.

What’s that mean? A lot of them are gonna do some horrible things. Look at The Diamonds, for example. White was so obsessed with perfection, that she not only repressed her own feelings, individuality, and happiness, she forced everyone else to repress theirs as well. And Blue and Yellow just rolled with it because they believed she was right in her ways of doing things, no matter how it made them feel.

But not Pink. Oh no, she hated it! She tried so hard to be herself and every time she was, she and the gems closest to her got hurt. She was seen as childish, arrogant, and maybe even lesser and more pathetic than the other Diamonds.

Pink lived in an abusive, manipulative, emotionally destructive environment for EONS! That was all she knew. Over time, that was the personality she adopted. She never truly knew what love was, and every time she would get so close to understanding it, she would have it taken away from her. She would be punished for it.

They would lock her in a cell, deprived of light, basically the equivalent of starving a human being. This is what she experienced, y’all! So it’s no surprise to me that she would eventually pass this awful behavior onto the way she would treat other gems— like Spinel!!

It is assumed that Spinel was a replacement friend after Pink got her OG Pearl taken away from her, so already Pink is going to see Spinel in a negative light. And as time went on, she must have began to resent Spinel.

“You’re not supposed to be here.” “I should be doing this with my Pearl, not you.” “This is wrong, I shouldn’t be doing this with you”

And then later, she could’ve seen herself in Spinel.

“So childish!” “Be more serious!” “You’re so annoying!”

She resented and reflected upon Spinel so much so, that as soon as she had the chance to leave her, she took it. No, it wasn’t right, but after all Pink went through, this type of behavior can be expected. Because, again, it’s all she knew.

After the war on Earth with The Diamonds and Homeworld ended, I strongly believe that Pink as Rose began to regret what she did to Spinel. I believe she began to regret so many things she had done while trapped on Homeworld. I believe she wanted to take those actions back, including leaving Spinel behind. But doing so would be too risky. It would alert The Diamonds and start up so much more drama that Pink just wouldn’t be able to withstand.

I’m sure that if she could have, Pink would have gone back for Spinel. She would apologize and bring Spinel to Earth, do her best to free Spinel from her warped belief of friendship drilled into her by The Diamonds. I believe Pink would have done this because, on Earth, Pink learned to love. She learned what love was. What it meant. How to love. The different types of love.

Steven Universe is so personal and so real, that these kinds of behaviors shouldn’t be that much of a surprise. Every. One. Will. Do. Bad. Shit.

Greg manipulated Steven into believing his leg was broken for longer than it was, causing Steven to think his powers were gone, because he just wanted to spend more time with his only child. His only son.

Pearl manipulated Garent to fuse with her so she could feel more powerful, so she wouldn’t feel as weak as she thought she was.

The Diamonds enforced harmful and repressive laws unto their people for the image of a “perfect empire.” They destroyed worlds!

HELL!! We even see Steven make awful, damaging decisions!! Through out the majority of Steven Universe: The Movie, we witness Steven WILLFULLY ignore and do everything he can to avoid and escape from Spinel versus being his usual kind hearted, gentle, “We-Can-Talk-About-This” self. And that hurts Spinel, it throws her into panic, reliving the same thing Pink had done to her.

So please, stop hatin’ on Pink Diamond. She made some horrible decisions, yes, but she is no villain. No one on this show is a villain.

Just a whole lotta people with a whole lotta problems to figure out and fix.

Together.

Thank you for coming to my TEDTalk.

[dana-chan325]

Warning: MAJOR SPOILERS FOR THE SU MOVIE

Why Pink Diamond Abandoning Spinel is So important. 

(i wanted more screenshots for this post but like… I was really lazy about getting them) 

I wanted to get this off my chest. Because since this movie, I’ve seen lots of things coming up about Pink Diamond. (As always when something awful about her is brought up) Like she’s the villain, a terrible person, and that she never knew a Gem’s value during the whole rebellion, etc, etc… 

I have seen people talking about theories and timeline of events of how this happened and why Pink would do such a thing. That this happened shortly after she was given a “new” pearl (or pearl) and after Pink Pearl got taken away from her and corrupted and repurposed into White’s.  

And that she was worried about what would happen if Spinel was broken or something. But I want to say right now, her worrying about Spinel being hurt is NOT a possibility. She was JUST issued Earth as a colony. She did never think that it was worth protecting or fighting for or rebelling against her family until Pearl was the trigger to show her that “whole new world” so to speak. Realizing that each gem has its own individual value and complex thoughts and feelings were things she was discovering slowly throughout the course of her time on Earth. Garnet and Amythest were the catalysts for showing her that Gems can do things outside her function. (moreso garnet since amythest was all post-war)  

Well, what was it then… Was it just because she thought that Spinel was immature and she had to leave childish things behind if she needed to grow as a person. 

……While I do think that was definitely a huge part of it, I feel people are really missing the big picture here and why this is SO important for me to be in a children’s television show. (The only other animation I see cover this situation in a mature way is like.. Toystory but I feel the subtext can be missed cause they’re toys. at least for me when I was younger.) 

While the White/Pink Pearl is also a factor, (judging from those shallow smiles she gives) I feel this is what is really happening from a meta-narrative perspective. 

I’m going to ask you something for the adults who watch Steven Universe. Because as it is with animated show fandoms I know the fandom can have a variety of ages… from very young and very old alike. I’m just calling on the adults because I feel either most children, teenagers or maybe very young adults have not had these experiences yet to fully understand what is happening between these two.

Have you ever had a best friend? A dear friend from your childhood? Someone who you spent all your time with? That you would never go anywhere without? You would hang out all the time, play games and joke around, all the normal friend stuff that people do. 

But then something happens as time goes on.

You stop hanging out as much. You don’t talk to each other anymore. You don’t have things in common anymore. People change, people move on, people move away. 

“is this how it works, am I doing this right?” 

“I just want to be your friend” 

And have you ever BEEN that person? That person who still clings to friendship. Who desperately clings to any scrap hoping to salvage what they had. Wants everything to go back to how it used to be. But the sad truth is, you can’t have what you had before. This consumes and feeds and develops into severe trauma and abandonment issues. Think that everything is your fault and that you tend to ruin other friendships you try to make because you come off as clingy and intense. 

It can be many years before you can realize the value of yourself as a person and what you have to offer in friendship. To see your self-worth after people just toss you aside is a hard thing. 

Friendships usually don’t end with a dramatic breakup drama that is shown in movies and television and other media.

Just sometimes… people………… stop talking.

And also WAY MORE IMPORTANTLY: 

Have you ever BEEN the OTHER person?!

You sometimes even realize what you’re doing and what you’re putting the other person through.  You realize you stop talking to them, stop associating with them. Just you have different goals in life and there’s not much that you can have in common to connect to. At first, you try to really prevent it from happening.. but the few times you try to keep things to how they are, those meetings are uncomfortable and awkward because you’re changing into a different person. There’s nothing for you to talk about anymore. Nother to connect to. Even sometimes you wonder if there was something you could have been better or handled that differently.  You sometimes wonder to what extent they care. Will they be fine, or am I destroying them?

But here’s the important thing, It is NOT your fault either. People sometimes grow apart and grow and change into different people and there’s nothing that can be done about it.

And you shouldn’t blame yourself for just breaking off contact with people. You need to stop thinking that you are a horrible person for just not talking to people who used to be a big part of your life in the past.

Because Pink has had SO many people that she has broken contact off with entirely. Not including Spinel. Her family, her soldiers, people who loved and cared about her. She left them all behind. You are really insane if you don’t think this has weighed on her shoulders a lot. That she STILL thinks about these people from time to time. That she still feels guilty about leaving them. 

It can really take a lifetime of years to just be okay with the people that you have left behind. To think that you just hurt people. 

But Steven Universe is here to tell you, that is not your fault either. 

It happens. There is absolutely no way to handle a friendship breakup. They are silent, long and painful. Even more so than a romantic relationship breakup. Because in romantic breakups you know when it’s over. It might take years after the fact for you to realize “I don’t think I’m friends with this person anymore.” 

That is just a part of life and growing up. It is hard and it is messy, but the sad fact is, sometimes people do not stay friends forever. 

In fact, what is the song used for explaining Spinel’s backstory? Something in a minor key or a spiteful reprise of other friends with new lyrics? About how much she hates Pink?

No.

It’s.

D R I F T  A W A Y 

AND EVEN MORE IMPORTANTLY, when Friends drift away, that’s not the end either.

You can recover from your trauma, make new friends, have a new life. Things did get better for Spinel and Pink. And I want you guys to remember that.

That’s why I really think Pink abandoning Spinel was so important. Because it really showcases what it’s like to be in either situation. Pink makes a lot of mistakes. But because you make a lot of mistakes, doesn’t mean you’re a bad person. Because you were abandoned like Spinel does not make you a bad person either. 

[katy-keepthefiregoing]

A concept to reflect on

- Pink came from a world where lesser gems were often seen as objects. Walls and sidewalks of Homeworld are made of gems, instruments are made of gems and the shattering of a gem was not a big deal. - Pink herself was treated as a lesser gem than the other Diamonds. - Pink was pretty much always alone and she craved her sisters/mothers attention and respect. - Pink was only considered when she could entertain the other Diamonds and was never taken seriously. - Pink’s playful and childish nature is what kept the other Diamonds from considering her an equal and giving her her due respect as a leader. - Pink always had to fight and shout to be heard by her sisters/mothers. - Pink was (quite surely) mentally, physically and emotionally abused, even if the Diamonds didn’t directly intend to (in fact, I believe White is coded as a mental abuser, Blue as emotional and Yellow as physical). Pink was grabbed and hurt by Yellow, closed off in isolation and starved of light by White, and manipulated into crying and feeling guilt by Blue. - Pink Pearl was taken away due to Pink’s “excessive fun-time” and abused by White.

And you’d think that with all these premises, she was gonna bring Spinel along with her on Earth? Spinel, the gem purposely manufactured to be her “best friend” either she wanted it or not, and was therefore absurdly attached to her to the point of never letting her have any personal space (she had Spinel on a garden for a reason, I guess)? The gem that had an EXTREME childish behavior, just like the one the other Diamonds were always judging and punish Pink for? The gem that did all the things the other Diamonds expected NOT to do to be taken seriously? And Pink should have taken her on her very first colony, the first and only chance she had to prove herself worthy to be a Diamond? Nah-ah. She wanted to be recognized as capable as the others, no way she was going to risk messing things up. And Spinel would have probably messed things up, let’s be real. Keep in mind Pink never expected to fall in love with Earth and do what she did; she departed from Homeworld with the idea of building a great and thriving colony. She wasn’t gonna have time to play silly games anymore. Was Pink selfish? Of course. But her not wanting Spinel around is understandable.  Did she think Spinel would have waited for her 6000 years? No. She probably told her to stand still only to get to the wrap without Spinel following her, like when you trick a little child to deviate their attention; she evidently didn’t think it through. Could have Pink managed the situation better? Again, of course. She could have talked with Spinel and try to reason with her, maybe finding a new solution for her. maybe getting back to her and resolve thing somehow. Same goes with the whole Bismuth episode. But Pink simply doesn’t do that ever; Steven does. Why? Well... Where could Pink had learned that from, the art of resolving conflict through talking and recognizing everyone as a feeling being? The understanding that one’s actions, even the smallest ones, can truly affect another mind and behavior?  From White? Blue, Yellow? The gem crushers, tyrants and abusers? I don’t think so. Pink tried. She tried to be better ad she wanted to be free. She was the only gem to notice all the life her kind was destroyed, to see that it was “wrong”, the only one to be open-minded about fusion and unicity of others, and the only one to take the first stance against the oppressive system. Many of the concepts that are the cores of Steven’s character, she didn’t learn the existence of until Greg came into the picture. And even after that, I have no idea how much she actually grasped them, as we never truly got a chance to see her growing arch. She knew there was “something more” there, something a gem that was built and born to fit into a hierarchical system was never gonna truly understand. So she found that only a being that was able to grow and change like a human could learn these things...She wanted Steven to be born because she wanted him to have the best of both worlds, something she couldn’t have. The most powerful kind of gem, with the power to change for the better. Am I excusing Pink for her actions? No. But I’m understanding them to a certain extent. She didn’t know any better and she couldn’t be better than she was back then. She saved humans and the Earth, she let fusions like Garnet be themselves, she tried to free the gems, she refused to ever crush any gem. She made Steven and that, whatever her intentions were, was truly the best choice she ever made. Overall, she did both good and bad things. She was never malicious, though, so we should give her that. In fact, I believe she is a pretty tragic character. The community have accepted the redemption of many “bad guys” through Steven’s intervention, but will never accept Pink as a good-hearted being simply because she never got a chance to have her own “arch” under everyone’s eyes, and I believe that’s a too simplified and one-sided way to look at her character..

[customskeletons]

broke: pink diamond is perfect and never meant to hurt spinel!!

woke: pink diamond is flawed and absolutely traumatized spinel, possibly making her never be able to have a deep complex relationship with someone ever again

galaxy brain: pink diamond was fundamentally flawed but her tendency to manipulate other came from the fact that she was also abused by the other diamonds by being locked away, deprived of light and made to think she was at fault and this whole story revolves around a cycle of abuse

[faelapis]

fun fact: what pink did to spinel is still bad, but the warp pads were destroyed after the war. she had no way to go back. so please don’t turn this into a black-white situation where rose never regretted this or wanted to go back.

[katy-keepthefiregoing]

Pink was not Pink anymore. She probably left Spinel because she didn't want to bring her along to her colony. The diamonds were giving her the chance to prove herself and she didn't want to look childish; it's kinda like leaving a very immature friend or toy behind. Did that never happen to any of the people who are shitstorming about this? I remember being a kid and having little patience towards the littler ones. I always hated when I got stuck with my very younger cousins and would rather spend time with adults to prove I was a “grown-up”. I kinda see Pink doing the same. Also, she belonged in a system that didn’t recognize individuality and treated the lower gems as slaves or objects. She didn’t feel like she was doing anything wrong other than discarding a childish toy because she wanted to grow up. When she actually started her development, she became Rose and had to stay on Earth. Why she didn’t go and get back Spinel than (IF she even remembered about her; there’s a chance she simply forgot Spinel was literally waiting still for her) was probably the same reason she didn't go and rescue the humans in the zoo: she would have blown up her cover. She also probably thought everything was destroyed/lost after her “shattering”, as Pink/Rose believed the other Diamonds never cared for her or her interests. We can’t forget she was indeed psychologically abused by the other diamonds, although involuntarily. I don’t know if that ever happened to you, but the circle of violence it’s something that goes on for at least 3 generations. To give you a real-life example, my grandfather was very abusive towards my biological dad, both physically and mentally. My dad is a good person, at heart, and I know he cares about me and my siblings, he always wrote beautiful letters to us, taught us a lot of things and he always refused to lift even a hand towards us. But he’s completely aloof, incoherent, inconsistent, psychologically and emotionally draining; he was a very missing parent, sometimes completely forgetting about me for months or years, never showing up to school events, forgetting about important parts of my life and always late when it came to pick me up; he always had troubles keeping up emotional relationships; he is kinda abrasive and always heating discussions up, while also he’s very good at emotional manipulation when it comes down to defending his own interests. A very difficult person to deal with, even if extremely likeable most of the time.  I had to learn some very hard lessons and grow up fast in order to be okay with him, because I didn’t feel it was right to completely cut off the relationship. I still have to deal with the emotional scarring derived from his repeated neglect during my childhood and adolescence. But I never forget that he was scarred first, and even for worst. He tries to be better than his own father, somehow, and this is oviously the best he managed to be. We have to accept that and just try to be better as well, but I’m sure I’ll bring onward some of it.. These things change and shape you profoundly, it takes time, even generations, to get rid of the baggage. The same goes for Rose/Pink. She grew up in an abusive environment (the three diamonds are reminiscent of the three types of abuse: physical, emotional and psychological), with a serious lack of morals or concernment for other life forms. She tried to be better over the years, and I’m sure Greg played a HUGE part on that, but there is a limit for it when you lived most of your life with zero support and no direction.

[jewelblooms]

[wee-chlo]

The thoughts I have on Pink Diamond that no one asked for. Spoilers for the movie.

So like… Pink Diamond was a casually, thoughtlessly cruel person early on. We been knew. We knew that Pink was an Immature Immortal who took literal millennia to see humans as equals and individuals (like, literally Greg was the one who got her there) and who didn’t really… GET the power she had over other gems, like Bismuth and Garnet and Pearl. In this, she was a child. A feckless teenager who never got the chance to grow and learn and mature in a way that would enable her to have relationships that weren’t, in some way, inherently toxic. 

Because she’d never had a relationship that wasn’t inherently toxic before Greg.

Greg was the first person who interacted with her as a woman, as an equal. As someone worthy of respect rather than slavish adoration or open awe, and expected respect in return. He called her out on her bullshit, told her when she was being hurtful or doing something wrong, and I think that’s very much a parallel to Steven being able to call out the Diamonds, and really all of gemkind, on their bullshit.

Before Greg and Steven, nothing about Pink/Rose, or the Crystal Gems, was healthy. It may have been more loving and happy than Homeworld, but it was still based on lies and stunted growth. Every single one of them only knew abuse, and weren’t able to recognize when people who were kinder were still being abusive.

Pink Diamond/Rose Quartz were abusive. Not intentionally. Not violently. But in that casual, thoughtless way that comes from thinking the way they were treated is normal and not realizing it wasn’t until it’s too late. 

I don’t think Rose completely forgot about Spinel or just didn’t care. Much like how I don’t think the Diamonds completely forgot or didn’t care about Pink. But as is made very, very clear, they’re all deeply messed up. 

Pink had been told for millennia that she was too childish, too foolish and young, to have a colony. She was for playtime, for making the other Diamonds laugh and be entertained when they were done being Real Diamonds. She was their Spinel. So when she finally got the opportunity to be a Real Diamond, she did what the other Diamonds did, because that’s who she learned from.

She left Spinel behind. Because she was a Real Diamond now, and Real Diamonds aren’t childish. They don’t want goofy kids in their moon bases. They are always professional, always perfect and regal and without fault. She was not, under any circumstances, allowed to be herself because herself simply wasn’t good enough. 

What she did was cruel, but I don’t think it was intentional. I think it was part of a cycle of abuse, something more or less everyone in this story is caught up in to some extent. I don’t think she forgot about Spinel either; time is different for Gems and especially for Diamonds. I think by the time she was cognizant enough to realize what she’d done, it was too late to do anything about it and she could only hope that someone had gone to get her. 

Pink is still my favorite. She did terrible things and wonderful things. She grew in ways Diamonds shouldn’t have been able to. She left a lot of pain in her wake but also a lot of love and a lot of good. She wanted to be better and she didn’t have the chance to fix every mistake she’d ever made but I genuinely think she never intended so many of them to come back and haunt Steven. She wanted Steven to live his own life and be happy and human and I think it would break her heart to see how much pain her mistakes are causing him.

It’s pretty sad that one of the people who would have benefited most from meeting Steven never got to. 

[jewelblooms]

With the release of the movie, I have seen an influx of hatred towards Pink/Rose.

And that irritates me.

Yes, what she did to Spinel is terrible. What she did to Spinel gave Spinel her own type of trauma.

But y'all seem to be forgetting about/ not caring about Pink's trauma.

Pink was abused. Pink was under high expectations, yet for the longest time was never given any chance to prove herself. When she misbehaved, she was locked in a dark tower and starved of light.

Just remembering what Steven said about Pink to Blue.

"How many times did you lock her in here? How many times did you make her cry?"

It doesn't excuse what happened between Pink and Spinel. But people have to remember her upbringing. Unlike Steven, she didn't have people encouraging her and holding her hand through things. And there were serious consequences for doing what she felt was right. That was the only thing she knew. Sure, her actions were childish and bratty. But I've seen so many people calling her evil. She's far from evil. She isn't good, either. She's created heroes and villains. I think so many people saw her as this perfect, wonderful being.

'I always thought I might be bad, now I'm sure that it's true. Cause I think you're so good, and I'm nothing like you. ' -Love Like You.

I am positive this line is Rose singing to Greg. Always have been. She knows she isn't perfect. She's made mistakes, and done things she didn't like. To write her off as a villain is ignorant. The greatest lesson from Steven Universe is that the world isn't as simple as black and white. Of course she would seem like the worst SU 'villain'. She's the only person we won't get a redemption for. She will never have the chance to make up for her mistakes, or fix her wrong doings. She will never have the chance to overcome her trauma, unlike Spinel. Whether or not due to her own actions, my point stands. There will always be gems like Spinel and White that get redemptions. Pink/Rose never will.

It should also be known that Pink was the ONLY diamond the treat other gems with respect. Pink worked towards freedom on Homeworld before she even knew it.

She lacked the ability to change like Steven did. Pink wasn't able to change because change was regarded as bad. Change made you imperfect. And to Pink, who was already imperfect, that wouldn't have help her in anyway.

But yeah, she's so evil.

Remember everyone,

If every pork chop were perfect, we wouldn't have hot dogs.

Written with help from @summertimeflame

[365daysofterror]

And the most terrifying question of all may be just how much horror the human mind can stand and still maintain a wakeful, staring, unrelenting sanity.

Stephen King, Pet Sematary (via 365daysofterror)

[thesummerturnip]

Part 2……Finally…. 

YouTube HD version 

[katy-keepthefiregoing]

I teared up a little

[faelapis]

do you think it's more right to say that rose used to be pink diamond, or that rose was actually pink, and that the identity of rose is fake?

i’m going to argue that rose quartz used to be pink diamond, but that rose was not just a false identity. 

the idea that rose quartz was only a false alter ego and that pink diamond is her “real” self ignores a few things: how rose’s self-identification progressed, how she genuinely changed as a person, and how heavily the label of diamond implies a certain role.

as rose, she no longer inhabited that role. in ‘shattering’ pink, she relinquished her power over her homewold subjects. she forfeited her ability to command absolutely. she smeared ‘pink diamond’ to her followers, to destroy the goddess-like status that shielded the gem hierarchy. she could only do the same in certain contexts for ‘rose quartz’ (such as with greg), because being honest about herself directly, on a wider scale, could have consequences for her cause - and her own desire to truly reinvent.

rose had a crisis of self-identity, to be sure. because of her origins, she calls herself “not a real person”… yet, at the same time, she had lived as rose for millennia. she was ‘rose quartz’ to her friends, and she had destroyed her old image as a diamond to such an extent that there is no reason to say she was not truly rose quartz, both as a symbol and as a person.

rose quartz was everything she wanted to be. she never felt that was entirely genuine, and she never stopped having once been the diamond who invaded earth, but… rose was still a life she lived. that was the person she became to a small, persistent group of rebels who never recognized homeworldian hierarchy.

the way rose - alive and as initially presented to steven - was treated as a nigh-infallible leader became its own kind of cruel irony, but she wasn’t happy about that herself, either. it fed into her pessimism about gemkind, which is a a post for another day. 

so. the reason i tag my rose posts ‘rose diamond’ instead of just rose quartz, or pink diamond, is not to say that rose quartz is not a real title. it’s simply because rose’s life is one of progress, and i want to capture all of it in one label.

[mindareadsoots]

I guess it’s time to talk about the elephant in the room and ask the obvious question: Why didn’t Rose live with Pearl forever? I think there are a couple of different ways to answer that.

First of all, I don’t think that Rose ever stopped loving Pearl. I’ve always said that Pearl got it (partially) wrong in Mr. Greg. Rose didn’t choose Greg instead of Pearl. She chose Steven instead of both of them. Whatever relationship Greg had with Rose, it ended on the day Steven was born, just like Pearl’s did.

The better question is why did Rose keep having human affairs while also seeing Pearl, and one could write a whole essay about that: Rose was brash and impulsive and wanted to experience everything the earth had to offer. If seeking out those experiences hurt Pearl, Rose was too blinded by her own enthusiasm to see it.

If I had to narrow it down to just one reason though, I think that there was one thing Pearl could never give her: a partner who treated Rose like she was a normal person. As much as Rose clearly admired Pearl, and as much as they loved each other, Pearl always saw herself as subservient to Rose. When they had the opportunity to reinvent themselves as Rose Quartz and the Renegade Pearl, Pearl’s identity for herself was that of Rose’s knight: her weapon to be thrown at their enemies.

This is exactly what Pink was trying to run away from, even before she openly rebelled.

Rose wanted a lot of things: she wanted to save the earth, to save the crystal gems, to experience strange new things, but the one personal thing she wanted for herself was to be a normal person, and I think it’s entirely possible that Greg was the first person in history who treated her that way. 

The gems of Homeworld saw Pink Diamond as a godlike figure. The Crystal Gems saw Rose as a savior. The people of earth probably saw her as a combination of the two.

Greg stood on a box and DEMANDED that Rose talk to him like a real person, and that was the first time she treated their relationship with any sort of gravity.

But that brings us right back to the biggest question about Rose: why did she choose to have Steven? That is the one question that we still can’t answer about Rose. Did she simply decide to end her life because of her many failures? Did she hope or expect Steven to make up for her mistakes on some level? Was she just bored of immortality? One day we may see her explain herself, but not today.

[phantoms-lair]

I think the ‘why have Steven’ boils down to something we heard her say at the beginning of her colonization, How excited she was at the concept on creating life from nothing. And how horrified she was to learn that wasn’t the case.

I can only imagine her reaction to learning that organic life could do just that - naturally. 

And while Pearl mentioned there had been other humans before Greg, it was obvious she never saw them as real partners. And I think while Greg was watching Sour Cream it clicked with her that this was something she might be able to do now.

I don’t think it was a willingness to die or a desire to foist off her mistakes (they hadn’t come back to bite her in nearly six thousand years, she had no reason to believe they would in a human lifetime, if at all). I think Rose was merely trying to live out her last dream - to be able to create a life without destroying all life around it. She probably hadn’t initially realized it would cost her own, this was uncharted territory after all, and in the end decided it was a fair price to pay.

[katy-keepthefiregoing]

I think so as well!

Plus, in Greg’s babysitting episode, Rose herself told him that for the longest time she didn’t realize that babies were still humans and that they eventually grow up into adults. She also questioned if Greg “made” Sour Cream by himself, implying that she still didn’t know how exactly babies are made/ where they come from.

There is a chance Greg was the first one who told her about “the birds and the bees” ahahah

[lillayfran]

Please don’t ever stop!

[katy-keepthefiregoing]

Creating Life

I just realized this

Pink Diamond before exploring Earth: Can you believe that? We are creating life from nothing!!

Pink Diamond after exploring Earth: We are not creating life from nothing ... we are taking life, and leaving nothing behind...

PD as Rose Quartz, thousands of years later: *LITERALLY GIVES UP HER OWN LIFE TO CREATE STEVEN, THUS GENERATING NEW LIFE FROM THE LOVE SHE AND GREG SHARED*

Me: *cries* *shocked by how long it took*

[mkfoodshops]

Attention SU fandom,

Former storyboarder and artist on the Crewniverse Jesse Zuke (Formerly known as Lauren Zuke when with the Crew) is currently facing severe financial troubles due to them not being able to work as an animator anymore due to serious mental ailments. They are currently facing eviction from the apartment at the risk of being homeless and without a job. Luckily, their gofundme page has already raised enough money to pay off one month. However, almost the entire fandom still is not aware of Zuke’s current situation. Let’s give them all the support and spread the awareness!

Here is their gofundme page: 

https://www.gofundme.com/housingforjesse

Here is their thank you video after reaching the gofundme goal:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWWmleWiaic

[silverscribe87]

I could say a lot of things right now but in the end, this is just really fucking important.

The fandom should be ashamed of what they did to Zuke, regardless of your personal feelings towards their opinions and work they did not deserve what happened to them.

So maybe give back a little/share if you can, because we owe a lot of what Lapis, Peridot and just the show in general are today to them.

[goopy-amethyst-deactivated20250]

Helping Zuke is the least we can do after what the fandom did to them to be honest

[if-every-porkchop-were-perfect]

In case anyone needs a summary of what happened. Some crazy shippers targeted Zuke especially after the episode Barn mates for supposedly pushing her own Lapidot agenda in the show instead of Amedot (as if one person could write these characters anyway they want and not as a group decision by the crewniverse) and started some insane rumors with fake screen shots, quotes, etc. Terrible harrassment followed Zuke including death threats leading them to quit the show quit animation and deactivate all social media. Now they can no longer animate without dealing with the mental health problems made worse by this harassment and thus are out of work and need help from us. This is the worst thing I think happened in this fandom, the reason I (and many others) left it for a good while because I was so disgusted by some of you guys (that still go on to cause uneccisary drama and unhealthy shipping wars) Many of the crewniverse themselves have also have distanced themselves from tumblr for this toxicity too. So if we as a fandom can help Zuke and make up for even just a little of what we’ve done. Then I ask that you at least reblog even if they’ve already made their goal.

[screwthediamonds]

My Thoughts

I wanted to briefly discuss the new song because I haven’t really seen anyone talk about it and it was just…ugh.

“Mom was a Diamond who invaded Earth,

Saw its beauty and its worth.

Mom made an army and she fought herself

Did that even end up mattering when she faked her own shattering?

Mom lived in hiding by the name of Rose

With the friends she’d made and the form she chose

Now all that’s left of her exists in me”

So obviously the dramatic layout was supposed to be a somewhat comedic setup to ease the tension of the situation. This doesn’t really make sense to me; Steven deserved to have a moment where he could reflect on everything he’s been told and has peiced together, but then again I wasn’t even expecting this much.

This appears to be the format of the song, a gem is pondering over some of the heavy subjects regarding what we’ve learned so far and Steven convinces them to ignore it completely interested of giving them time to heal which is unsettling to say in the least.

So we have the interlude of dialogue between Ruby and Sapphire preparing for the wedding, which is honestly quite cute even if it’s a little out of place, and then there’s a part with Pearl.

“We could think about lies that we told in the past

Pearl: They took it so hard

We could think about hurt feelings and how long they can last

Pearl: How can we move on?

Or we could think about hope

Pearl: Hope?

You know I’ve been hoping

Pearl: About what?

That everything’s better now everything’s out in the open!”

You hear that? If we admit the truth, there will be no concequences for our actions and everyone will be fine with what happened!

This is written by adults who are old enough to have basic critical thinking skills and shouldn’t really be churning this “let’s all love eachother and everything will be fine” message.

I mean, Steven didn’t even seem hurt about the reveal that his mother was a slave-owning, human-kidnapping, planet-colonizing dictator so why would other children question it?

(Amethyst’s part is so short it’s honestly not even worth mentioning, I’m just glad she had a whole episode to talk it through with Steven.)

Peridot: What if Lapis was right? Sooner or later the Diamonds are going to come for the Cluster. We’re all gonna die here!

“We could think about war

We could think about fighting

We could think about long-lost friends we wish we were inviting

We could think about the broken gems in the Cluster at the planet’s core

Or we could think about the bubble we made

So that they can’t be hurt anymore”

This annoyed me for multiple reasons, the first being Peridot is absolutely right about being worried since her friend emotionally manipulated her for months and then literally stole her home under the guise of being ‘scared about the diamonds.’ Peridot’s last encounter with her own Diamond was disobeying a direct order and yelling an insult in her face, Yellow Diamond may not have remembered which is total bs because how many gems rebel against her every day? there’s only a handful left of course she’d remember the peridot she personally sent on a mission but obviously that’s a big thing for her.

Not only that but the Diamond’s do end up coming for the Cluster by the end of the episode, and she tried to warn him.

Additionally, Steven acts as if bubbling gem shards that were forced together and bubbling corrupted gems is a permanent solution. Just keep them out the way, don’t try to find a cure or anything. That would be too hard.

I’m calling it now. Their way of healing the corrupted gems and unfusing the Cluster shards is going to be Blue Diamond crying on them or some shit while holding Yellow Diamond’s hand sobbing “I didn’t…mean to hurt them…I just…I missed Pink so much!!!!!!”

[katy-keepthefiregoing]

@screwthediamonds

The song literally says: For JUST ONE DAY Let’s only think about Love.

Steven isn’t dismissing what happened. He is not just “accepting” what happened. Nor are the other gems. The message here is that even in the darkest of time or even after the most hurtful discoveries, we don’t have and we SHOULDN’T focus exclusively on what is going wrong. We need to learn to enjoy and appreciate the good things that happen in the meantime (a.k.a. Some dear friends ’s wedding), without letting them get destroyed by what is bothering us.

HECK, the Ancient Greeks friggin’ put WARS on hold just to play the Olympics! 

And again: when Steven says “You know, I have been hoping (..) that everything’s better now that everything’s out in the open”, that DOESN’T MEAN “OOOOh yeah, I don’t really care Mom was PD”. Instead, what he means is that now that everyone knows the truth they can learn how to cope on that together and MOVE ON. So yeah, things are better now, because they can work on that together and they can share their feelings with each other without fear or shame. This is actually a very adaptive way to cope with reality: people who only focus on what is bad in their lives and/or in the world are in higher chance to be crippled by anxiety and depression. And you can see how dysfunctional that could be: it doesn’t help solve the problems, it just makes them bigger. That doesn’t mean problems aren’t there or shouldn’t be addressed. It’s just that we don’t have to let our lives be overrun by things done BY OTHERS, things that HAPPENED IN THE PAST and things that are OUT OF OUR CONTROL. There really is an important message here, in my opinion.

Plus. I’m sorry if my tone sounds very condescending. It’s just that I don’t really think you should get that much triggered by this. I mean, I think Steven Universe has a great way to deal with character depth. They surely are the most polygonal characters in kids show nowadays. But we all have to keep in mind that SU is still a show directed towards children. Of course, conflict resolutions are going to be a bit simplified.