Fiction is just another reality

Welcome ! I'm Amy and I do analyses of pretty much everything I like ! Sit back and enjoy your stay !

[ladyeomine-blog]

Thoughts on Jungle Moon

Steven Universe just has this ability to always surprise its audience. Jungle Moon is a very good example of this quality, the writing was particularly well-thought especially for a a 10-minutes format which is quite challenging to work with, you have to get to your point quickly and do it while being very clear to reach the audience.

The blend in the dream sequence is the key to this clever writing. This episode is led by Stevonnie. Instead of just showing an external point of view on the memory/dream, they chose to really incorporate the fact that it is Stevonnie, a fusion, who is having this dream. Hence both Steven and Connie bring something to it. The fact we enter the dream through Connie might have been surprising but it is the best way to stage the transition between the known and the unknown. The changes and transition between the characters were so smooth they were almost imperceptible up until the very obvious turning-point.

Connie’s mother is the figure of authority for Connie but also for Steven. No one else in his entourage is as strict as her. Her personality but also her position as an important doctor - which means she has responsabilities - are the best to match Yellow’s character as we have seen her in previous episodes.  But Dr. Maheswaran is also a maternal figure which is quite a clever way to introduce Yellow’s and Pink’s relationship. Yellow is obviously more experienced and mature than Pink and it is quite clear in the episode that she treats Pink like a child, giving her pet names or shooing her away. As we already know from the Diamond Authority pattern, White is above them all and Pink is at the bottom. Pink is considered as the lowest of the great and possibly because of this, is given very little to no responsabity at all in the Gem society. When Pink’s personality takes over Stevonnie’s, everything in her behaviour is reminiscent of a child’s. At this point, this behaviour and particularly the loud shout “Yellooooow !” reminded me of Amethyst, herself a very loud character always pestering the others. This is quite an interesting thought when we think about Pink Diamond as the leader of the Earth colony. All our eyes are now turned towards Pink Diamond. Pink Diamond was one of the most anticipated characters of the show and hence the fandom had already created quite a persona around the glimpses that we got to catch from the few mentions of Pink. What we knew about Pink’s appearance came from the mural on the Moon Base.

The mural representations are actually distorted. The Gem system is an oligarchy, the power is hold by a small group of people, which means representation of power is a great weapon. Therefore on the murals the Diamonds had to be represented in a mighty posture, even if it doesn’t match their real appearances. The Diamonds want smaller Gem to feel and fear their power while being omnipresent. And all those expectations were shattered the minute Pink came into the frame. The Crewniverse has said that the gem placement is revealing of a Gem’s personality. Pink’s gem is on her stomach. From what we see of her in this episode, she seems to be guided by her guts. She is very passionate and gets easily frustrated and mad. Hence Pink seems to be driven by passion. Yellow and Blue are both driven by very distinct features :  Yellow’s is action and Blue’s personality leans towards contemplation and melancholy. Pink’s passion is a feature a lot of her future followers share. My intuition on Amethyst when seeing Stevonnie’s and Pink’s blend can be explained by this. The Amethysts were made on Earth, Pink’s planet, and we know how much the Diamonds are reflected by their subjects. The Pearls are a very good example of it. Amethyst is bold and gets easily frustrated, just like Pink. The same goes for Jasper, who was originally one of Pink’s subjects. In addition to a very bold personality, Jasper also shows her passion for Pink on screen. Rose was also Pink’s subjects and if they are similar it’s not only because of their gem placement but also because they do not seem to give up. Pink probably finally obtained a planet through persistence. The same goes for Rose, no one leads a rebellion if one doesn’t have the passion to do so. This fact probably makes Pink closer to her Gems than any other Diamonds, according to what we have seen so far. No one has expressed as much love towards her Diamond than Jasper, not even the Pearls. Jasper is genuinely desperate when she talks about Pink (Earthlings). This is another clue for the hypothesis that our Pearl was not under Pink’s orders. Keep also in mind that in her mural representation, Pink is shown coming out of the earth, much like all her followers. One of the most striking aspects of Pink is her gem. We are used to see a Diamond’s gem through the Diamond Authority pattern and Yellow’s and Blue’s gems which are all diamond-shaped. Pink’s cut is similar to what we usually think about when we think of the precious stone called diamond, only upside-down. Funny thought when you remember her first and only colony was Earth, her gem is shaped just like the image we, earthlings, would picture when thinking of a diamond.

Many have already theorized on Pink being an off-colour Gem and therefore a defective Diamond. It is true that her size doesn’t match Yellow’s or Blue’s but then again White Diamond seems to be even bigger than them. It is possible than Pink is simply a different kind of Diamond.  At this point, we have seen too little of Pink to know for sure if she is defective or not. Even if she is not defective, she is at least very different from the other Diamonds. This episode shows us that she seems to have a problem with authority, embodied by Yellow (here again a parallel with Rose). The episode leaves us very free to theorize on Pink and on her part in the rebellion. Pink seems very ignorant of the whole colony deal and of her possible role as a Diamond, she is just like a child and everything seems to be a game for her.

At this point, both ways are possible. Either she took the whole colony system as another game and was very cruel towards her gems - as we saw, she can get pretty violent. Or she learned the harsh reality and did not accept it. The last question raised by this episode is why is Steven linked to the Diamonds this way. He is be able to channel a memory from Pink Diamond, just like he was feeling Blue Diamond’s sadness. This connection remains quite a mystery and even if Rose has probably something to do with it, no hypothesis seems satisfying at this point.

[the-muse-of-animation]

The Magic of Animation~Scenery Seen through Brendan and the Secret of Kells

[the-muse-of-animation]

The Magic of Animation~Scenery Seen through Steven Universe

[the-muse-of-animation]

The Magic of Animation~Scenery Seen through Gravity Falls

[the-muse-of-animation]

The Magic of Animation~Scenery Seen through Over the Garden Wall

[the-muse-of-animation]

The Magic of Animation ~ Voice Acting Seen through Biosock Infinite

This footage shows the massive amount of work behind the voices of the characters, especially the actors’s dedication for their role. Voice actors do not have the whole scenery or the costumes to help them get into character, voice acting is a complex mix between imagination and the reality of reaching in oneself to find and express the character’s emotions. One may think that voice actors are safely hidden behind their animated persona but your voice is a part of you and thus voice actors are as exposed as any other actors. This Behind the Scenes really reveals how much voice actors work on channeling their own interiority with all its strengths and weaknesses to give life to a character : Troy Baker gets mad at Courtnee Draper for her to find in herself the right feeling for Elizabeth’s lines.

[the-muse-of-animation]

The Magic of Animation

Animation is like a dream come true, if magic exists, it’s in animation. As a child you may have been enchanted by the tree growing scene in Totoro or by how lively and comical a object such as the carpet in Aladdin could become. Have you ever wondered how this magic comes to be ? How all the mechanisms are set in motion to deliver the final product on your screen ? You have come to the right place, O Reader, this blog is solely devoted to the magic of animation, may it be to showcase its wonders or to uncover all its tricks.

This post will be a very small and incomplete talk about animation to serve as an introduction to this blog.

Why animation would be magical one may ask ?

Animation is magic because anything can take life on screen. Animation is the part of art that can not only give movements to a drawing but can also give it all the dimensions and complexity of a soul. Even a landscape has a new life when animated. All arts have their own way to convey life to their objects and animation is too often seen as simple entertainment compared to “higher arts” when it should be on the same level as all the other arts.  Animation is magic because unlike a live action movie, anything can be done : sumptuous sceneries, impressive fights, surreal landscapes, you name it. This is why live action adaptations are often considered a loss compared to their original material. The magic of animation also lies in the possibilities it offers, which are far more important than for a movie.The world of animation is built by all the styles the animators use. Animation is perhaps where the directors pour their own identities and visions in a more spectacular and intimate manner. This might be because in animation distortion is the key. For example the animated human figure is rarely similar to the real human figure. This distortion is impossible in live action movies. The same thing goes for the laws of physics : for example, in the animated world, a fabric will not fall the same way it would in real life. Hence the animated world has a wide range of aesthetics to play with.  When you watch animation you see a specific style and thus you see through the eyes of a creative mind. This is why the same scene animated by different animators will not render the same. The Gemanimate Project in the Steven Universe fandom is a very good example of this, here is a comparison with the original material. Style goes hand in hand with technique : the technique influences the style and the style closer to the animator’s vision will be best express with a certain technique. Technique is the one of the reasons why animation is going through a golden age at the moment. Computers and 3D technology allow a whole new area for animators to experiment with more styles and more challenges too. The rising figure of this tendency is Makoto Shinkai :  he said himself that without technology he probably wouldn’t have started animating. Nonetheless, traditional animation is not dead and choosing between the two is actually already an artistic choice like the one made by former Disney animators when they started the Hullabaloo project. You wish to see the magic of technique ? Follow me ! Style and technique go hand in hand to create the most magical aspect of animation : an atmosphere. Animation goes even further than live action movies when it comes to creating an ambiance.

Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Akiyuki Shinbo and Gen Urobuchi

Your Name, Makoto Shinkai

Le Tableau, Jean-François Laguionie

The Adventures of Prince Achmed, Lotte Reiniger When animation appears in a movie, it not only adds novelty but is also very linked to the special role of this particular scene. In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows, The Tale of the Three Brothers is told through an animated scene : animation manages to render the eerieness of this story as well as the fact that it is not on the same level as the main story line. It is a tale and animation helps emphasize on the difference with the real world.

Like all magic tricks, the magician needs time to master it, to hide all the tricks and to give the impression of an effortless demonstration. You may admire an animator with all your might and may want him to make a new movie every year but behind every animated piece there are a lot of hard workers and hours of work. Even up to these days, animation is not something you can make in a blink of an eye. For example, stop motion is one of the technique to require a huge amount of work to shoot only a few seconds. It took 30 years for Le Roi et l’Oiseau, one of the masterpieces of French animation and also the first French full-length animated film, to achieve its final form. On a side note, the first incomplete release of the movie ended up inspiring a young generation of animators which happened to create the Studio Ghibli afterwards. Even nowadays animation requires time. Take the latest Disney movie Moana, it took around 5 years to make it, from the first scouting in the Pacific Islands to the final release in theaters. All this time is needed because animation goes far more than just characters moving, it’s about giving life, it’s about making the characters deep and complex as any good characters should be. It’s less a question of realism than a question of how touching and believable the story and the characters are. Animation is magic because it has so many different formats and each has their own specificities, may it be a movie, an animated series, an anime… Different formats mean different ways of using animation especially when it comes to animated series. A series of 10-minute long episodes will not tell a story the same way as a series of 20-minute long episodes. Nor would a movie or an anime, the latter having very specific “rules” of its own. Some may think that  nowadays animated series have way too simplistic drawing styles. As creator Alex Hirsh pointed out, style is not the only decisive element in animation, scenario and character development are keys to a good series. A story needs to follow a coherent scenario with a coherent ending. Gravity Falls is the best example when it comes to animated series, its ending crowning the series at the paroxysm of its excellence. Moreover, even in these “simplistic drawn” shows, there is a clear distinction and work on the style, Steven Universe is not Gravity Falls, each has its own aesthetics and ambiances.

Steven Universe

Gravity Falls

Over the Garden Wall Animation is magic because it is a important part of another side of art : video games. Video games nowadays can expand and keep innovating partly because of their use of  animation. Here again style is a very important aspect : the story travels through it to bring you a very specific ambiance and grab your attention. And there again, the scenario influences the style chosen.

Child of Light

Limbo Animation is magic because it has a very special place compared to the other media when it comes to audience.  An immense majority of people still thinks that animation is either for kids or a weird hobby for adults to have. They fail to see that animation is a huge part of education for kids : animation helps develop imagination, it sparkles creativity, and helps them understand themselves better. Rebecca Sugar said that she created Steven Universe because she wanted to help young people in search of themselves and she would have loved to have a show like this when she was young and struggling. Likewise Gravity Falls is an ode to the imagination and creativity of childhood and the transition to adolescence. Hence saying that a show is “for kids” doesn’t mean anything else than an ignorant contempt. As an adult, you can appreciate animation as the art it is and reflect on things differently. The animation industry targets more and more adults with some heavy-themed productions. Psichonautas is a very good example of this. The movie addresses multiple issues such as depression, PTSD, drugs and global warming through a very dark ambiance. Likewise, Night in the Woods explores mental illness, animation and striking imagery conveying Mae’s dissociative disorder.

Night in the Woods Animation is magic because it comes to life with music. As I said, animation is not only movements, backgrounds, styles and everything in between. To bring the characters and the world to life, animation needs voices and music. A Miyazaki movie will not be the same without Joe Hisaishi to paint the sound of his universe. The same thing goes for the voice actors. Their part in the process is as important as any other. The Joker in the Batman Series would not have been the Joker without Mark Hamill and even up to these days, he is the most iconic performer. The voice actors themselves are like chameleons, you are sometimes surprised to discover it was a very familiar actor/actress who was dubbing a specific character. Tara Strong is a very famous voice actress precisely for that reason. Animation is magic because it is linked with everything else. Animation sparkles creativity from the watchers : fanart is the mark of this creativity. Besides, animation is connected with culture too. Animation and video games are also other ways and maybe less conventionnal ways of learning about history, literature etc. The anime Puella Magi Magica Madoka plays on the Faustian myth whereas the Fate series are very good ways to learn who Semiramis or Hassan ibn al-Sabbah were in history. These series often use historical fact in very clever manners to serve the scenarios. Like everything, animation has a bad side, still they are the reason we should appreciate all the more the good stuff. The Muse answers all your questions here, O Reader !

[ladyeomine-blog]

My second blog is finally here! This post took for ages ! Go check out @the-muse-of-animation !

[the-muse-of-animation]

The Magic of Animation

Animation is like a dream come true, if magic exists, it’s in animation. As a child you may have been enchanted by the tree growing scene in Totoro or by how lively and comical a object such as the carpet in Aladdin could become. Have you ever wondered how this magic comes to be ? How all the mechanisms are set in motion to deliver the final product on your screen ? You have come to the right place, O Reader, this blog is solely devoted to the magic of animation, may it be to showcase its wonders or to uncover all its tricks.

This post will be a very small and incomplete talk about animation to serve as an introduction to this blog.

Why animation would be magical one may ask ?

Animation is magic because anything can take life on screen. Animation is the part of art that can not only give movements to a drawing but can also give it all the dimensions and complexity of a soul. Even a landscape has a new life when animated. All arts have their own way to convey life to their objects and animation is too often seen as simple entertainment compared to “higher arts” when it should be on the same level as all the other arts.  Animation is magic because unlike a live action movie, anything can be done : sumptuous sceneries, impressive fights, surreal landscapes, you name it. This is why live action adaptations are often considered a loss compared to their original material. The magic of animation also lies in the possibilities it offers, which are far more important than for a movie.The world of animation is built by all the styles the animators use. Animation is perhaps where the directors pour their own identities and visions in a more spectacular and intimate manner. This might be because in animation distortion is the key. For example the animated human figure is rarely similar to the real human figure. This distortion is impossible in live action movies. The same thing goes for the laws of physics : for example, in the animated world, a fabric will not fall the same way it would in real life. Hence the animated world has a wide range of aesthetics to play with.  When you watch animation you see a specific style and thus you see through the eyes of a creative mind. This is why the same scene animated by different animators will not render the same. The Gemanimate Project in the Steven Universe fandom is a very good example of this, here is a comparison with the original material. Style goes hand in hand with technique : the technique influences the style and the style closer to the animator’s vision will be best express with a certain technique. Technique is the one of the reasons why animation is going through a golden age at the moment. Computers and 3D technology allow a whole new area for animators to experiment with more styles and more challenges too. The rising figure of this tendency is Makoto Shinkai :  he said himself that without technology he probably wouldn’t have started animating. Nonetheless, traditional animation is not dead and choosing between the two is actually already an artistic choice like the one made by former Disney animators when they started the Hullabaloo project. You wish to see the magic of technique ? Follow me ! Style and technique go hand in hand to create the most magical aspect of animation : an atmosphere. Animation goes even further than live action movies when it comes to creating an ambiance.

Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Akiyuki Shinbo and Gen Urobuchi

Your Name, Makoto Shinkai

Le Tableau, Jean-François Laguionie

The Adventures of Prince Achmed, Lotte Reiniger When animation appears in a movie, it not only adds novelty but is also very linked to the special role of this particular scene. In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows, The Tale of the Three Brothers is told through an animated scene : animation manages to render the eerieness of this story as well as the fact that it is not on the same level as the main story line. It is a tale and animation helps emphasize on the difference with the real world.

Like all magic tricks, the magician needs time to master it, to hide all the tricks and to give the impression of an effortless demonstration. You may admire an animator with all your might and may want him to make a new movie every year but behind every animated piece there are a lot of hard workers and hours of work. Even up to these days, animation is not something you can make in a blink of an eye. For example, stop motion is one of the technique to require a huge amount of work to shoot only a few seconds. It took 30 years for Le Roi et l’Oiseau, one of the masterpieces of French animation and also the first French full-length animated film, to achieve its final form. On a side note, the first incomplete release of the movie ended up inspiring a young generation of animators which happened to create the Studio Ghibli afterwards. Even nowadays animation requires time. Take the latest Disney movie Moana, it took around 5 years to make it, from the first scouting in the Pacific Islands to the final release in theaters. All this time is needed because animation goes far more than just characters moving, it’s about giving life, it’s about making the characters deep and complex as any good characters should be. It’s less a question of realism than a question of how touching and believable the story and the characters are. Animation is magic because it has so many different formats and each has their own specificities, may it be a movie, an animated series, an anime… Different formats mean different ways of using animation especially when it comes to animated series. A series of 10-minute long episodes will not tell a story the same way as a series of 20-minute long episodes. Nor would a movie or an anime, the latter having very specific “rules” of its own. Some may think that  nowadays animated series have way too simplistic drawing styles. As creator Alex Hirsh pointed out, style is not the only decisive element in animation, scenario and character development are keys to a good series. A story needs to follow a coherent scenario with a coherent ending. Gravity Falls is the best example when it comes to animated series, its ending crowning the series at the paroxysm of its excellence. Moreover, even in these “simplistic drawn” shows, there is a clear distinction and work on the style, Steven Universe is not Gravity Falls, each has its own aesthetics and ambiances.

Steven Universe

Gravity Falls

Over the Garden Wall Animation is magic because it is a important part of another side of art : video games. Video games nowadays can expand and keep innovating partly because of their use of  animation. Here again style is a very important aspect : the story travels through it to bring you a very specific ambiance and grab your attention. And there again, the scenario influences the style chosen.

Child of Light

Limbo Animation is magic because it has a very special place compared to the other media when it comes to audience.  An immense majority of people still thinks that animation is either for kids or a weird hobby for adults to have. They fail to see that animation is a huge part of education for kids : animation helps develop imagination, it sparkles creativity, and helps them understand themselves better. Rebecca Sugar said that she created Steven Universe because she wanted to help young people in search of themselves and she would have loved to have a show like this when she was young and struggling. Likewise Gravity Falls is an ode to the imagination and creativity of childhood and the transition to adolescence. Hence saying that a show is “for kids” doesn’t mean anything else than an ignorant contempt. As an adult, you can appreciate animation as the art it is and reflect on things differently. The animation industry targets more and more adults with some heavy-themed productions. Psichonautas is a very good example of this. The movie addresses multiple issues such as depression, PTSD, drugs and global warming through a very dark ambiance. Likewise, Night in the Woods explores mental illness, animation and striking imagery conveying Mae’s dissociative disorder.

Night in the Woods Animation is magic because it comes to life with music. As I said, animation is not only movements, backgrounds, styles and everything in between. To bring the characters and the world to life, animation needs voices and music. A Miyazaki movie will not be the same without Joe Hisaishi to paint the sound of his universe. The same thing goes for the voice actors. Their part in the process is as important as any other. The Joker in the Batman Series would not have been the Joker without Mark Hamill and even up to these days, he is the most iconic performer. The voice actors themselves are like chameleons, you are sometimes surprised to discover it was a very familiar actor/actress who was dubbing a specific character. Tara Strong is a very famous voice actress precisely for that reason. Animation is magic because it is linked with everything else. Animation sparkles creativity from the watchers : fanart is the mark of this creativity. Besides, animation is connected with culture too. Animation and video games are also other ways and maybe less conventionnal ways of learning about history, literature etc. The anime Puella Magi Magica Madoka plays on the Faustian myth whereas the Fate series are very good ways to learn who Semiramis or Hassan ibn al-Sabbah were in history. These series often use historical fact in very clever manners to serve the scenarios. Like everything, animation has a bad side, still they are the reason we should appreciate all the more the good stuff. The Muse answers all your questions here, O Reader !

[ladyeomine-blog]

My second blog is finally here! This post took for ages ! Go check out @the-muse-of-animation !

[jbaxteranimator]

This is the original test that I animated before we started production on Enchanted. It was done to test out the character and production design as well as our production pipeline. The sound comes from one of Amy Adam’s audition tapes which is why it sounds like it was recorded in a hotel room (which I believe it was!). Enjoy.

[ladyeomine-blog]

About art in video games : NieR Automata - Simone Boss fight

I was quite surprised to discover that there weren’t that many analyses on Tumblr about video games, at least not enough into-depth analysis like you would find for any other medias.

Well, gamers and non-gamers, this is your day of luck, this post is the first of a series on video games and especially about all the forms of art in video games. Because games do not only represent a good ride for those in thirst for an adventure, games are multidimensional, they need all forms of art :

Graphic arts, may it be animation, scenery, character design… anything related to visuals. A scenery or an atmosphere can tell a story on its own, think about Little Nightmares : no dialogues, not a line of text, yet the visuals allow you to create or recreate a story.

Music and voice acting which contribute to the atmosphere and give life to everything. Ever felt boosted up by the music during a difficult boss fight ? Listening to Rivers in the desert makes you want to fight giants ? Every game soundtrack has its very specific power.

Story telling, you may not think this is an important aspect but a well-written story sometimes surpasses the most beautiful and realistic graphics, Undertale being a very good example of this.

Finally video games have the possibility to play with the player’s involvement in the game. This last parameter is what makes video games so unique, here again Undertale is a famous example but small games like One Shot can explore this aspect very cleverly.

Every parameter has a part to play but how does it all come together ? Good question reader and to understand that, nothing better than an example !

NieR Automata is the most recent game where all aspects really have a part to play. A complete analysis of this game will result in a three-hundred-page book so I will restrain to the fight against the Opera Singer Boss. Fear not, you don’t need to have played the game to enjoy this, if you know the general context of NieR you should be fine ! However, this is your warning of potential spoilers if you want to play the game by yourself.

This is where our heroes 2B and 9S confront the Opera Singer, also called Simone or Beauvoir. This machine lifeform is the boss of the Amusement Park area. Let’s talk about the scenery. The entire fight takes place in a theater and more precisely in the auditorium. This location is extremely important regarding who Simone is. The scenery mirrors her and her struggles. Simone defines herself by her appearance. As we learn from her memory data, she was a machine lifeform very similar to the others we met in the game, but she wanted to be noticed by another machine lifeform which is very likely to be Jean-Paul. She wanted to acquire some things to distinguish herself and soon became obsessed with beauty. Simone as we first saw her has a lot of ornaments on her, you can actually still see her base head.

Appareances are one of the aspects of theater : putting on a costume, showing yourself in front of others, playing a character, is the essence of theater, which is exactly what Simone did : by adding more and more ornaments, she became someone else, a beautiful person according to her, she wants to be this ideal beautiful persona. In her memory data, she keeps saying “he won’t look my way” over and again until she looses her mind and says “someone please look my way”. The verb look is very important as it is the central core of theater : theater comes from the ancient greek verb meaning to look. The location and what makes Simone’s essence are tied up closely. There is where the developpers are genuises, Simone is like the embodiment of theater : she literally has the symbolic red curtain on her. She also has the look expected for an opera singer : impressive skirt, the regal shape behind her head, she has the gestures and poses you would expect. Video games don’t come from nowhere, they are inspired by other arts and they use it in an ingenious manner.

Finally the theater mirrors Simone for it is the place where stories are told and where humanity exposes its strength and weaknesses. The fight stages her struggle for what she wants and it shows more and more as she takes hits from our heroes. Theater is the place where struggles are put in the light in front of everyone. And indeed this passage highlights a specific ambiguity at the center of the game. Simone has the features of an Opera Singer and indeed she sings, the amazing soundtrack is triggered by her and it seems like she conducts it : the puppet-androids are the choir and she is the leading voice. This part is also very cleverly done for the music is in sinc with Simone’s attacks : the red rays with the entrance of the choir, the red balls with the bells for example. Moreover some of her attacks are inspired by sound vibrations.

It really shows how all aspects can be linked and in this case it is extremely well-thought and well-executed. Simone is very closely linked to music and more precisely to singing. Singing is known to be the way of expressing passion, of revealing yourself. This is why singing is usely a human attribute. Moreover, Simone is an opera singer, the opera being the place where everything is exposed through singing. Arias are a focus on a character who shows themselves and what makes them human.

According to this Simone should be human and there is no denying her emotions when she goes crazy at the end of the fight and when her backstory is revealed. 9S is actually surprised by this after the encounter and says : “it’s almost like it had actual emotion”  and 2B interrupts him and says in a rather harsh tone : “the machines don’t have feelings” This should alert the player : 2B shows here that she is aware of the ambiguity and similarities between machine lifeforms and androids and their link to humanity. Simone’s memory data is yet another proof of this as she pondered and suffered from what she has done after Jean-Paul’s rejection :   “I gaze into the mirror. In its reflection, I see only my own meaningless. And so I scream.” Simone is very human and this is yet another clever way to hint the deepest themes of the game : this story of machines is about humanity. In a way Simone already makes 2B and 9S face their own contradictions : the second half of the fight brings in the controled androids. The theater here seems to be transformed into an arena where 2B and 9S have to battle their own kind. This twisted show is conducted by Simone as she is the one who closes the curtain to place the action elsewhere. Moroever, the camera switches to a high-angle shot during that second part and we can clearly see our main characters being followed by a spotlight.They are part of this play : the twisted show echoes throughout the entire game since 2B had to kill 9S over and over again and all the character seem trapped and unable to break free. As some players pointed out their blindfold can represent how they are blind to the world they live in and how they blind themselves. Which then again makes them very human.

None can talk about NieR Automata without saying a word on its philosophical dimension. Now I’m not a philosophy specialist but it is quite interesting to see how only machine lifeforms hold the names of great philosophers, Pascal or Simone (de Beauvoir) as we saw here whereas androids only have names which would normally be associated with machines, letters and numbers. Simone’s passionate and obsessed love for Jean-Paul is a reference to philosophers Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre fusional love relationship. NieR Simone’s obsession for beauty might be a reference to de Beauvoir’s work on how society perceives women. I’m sure a lot of students, teachers and philosophy enthusiasts would have a lot to say on NieR Automata, too bad video games are still considered as second rate entertainement by the majority of people… Forever salty about how video games are not seen as suitable examples in academic essays. If you have questions, suggestions or if you want to see a particular game featured in the next issue, hit that ask button with all your might !

[ladyeomine-blog]

About art in video games : NieR Automata - Simone Boss fight

I was quite surprised to discover that there weren’t that many analyses on Tumblr about video games, at least not enough into-depth analysis like you would find for any other medias.

Well, gamers and non-gamers, this is your day of luck, this post is the first of a series on video games and especially about all the forms of art in video games. Because games do not only represent a good ride for those in thirst for an adventure, games are multidimensional, they need all forms of art :

Graphic arts, may it be animation, scenery, character design… anything related to visuals. A scenery or an atmosphere can tell a story on its own, think about Little Nightmares : no dialogues, not a line of text, yet the visuals allow you to create or recreate a story.

Music and voice acting which contribute to the atmosphere and give life to everything. Ever felt boosted up by the music during a difficult boss fight ? Listening to Rivers in the desert makes you want to fight giants ? Every game soundtrack has its very specific power.

Story telling, you may not think this is an important aspect but a well-written story sometimes surpasses the most beautiful and realistic graphics, Undertale being a very good example of this.

Finally video games have the possibility to play with the player’s involvement in the game. This last parameter is what makes video games so unique, here again Undertale is a famous example but small games like One Shot can explore this aspect very cleverly.

Every parameter has a part to play but how does it all come together ? Good question reader and to understand that, nothing better than an example !

NieR Automata is the most recent game where all aspects really have a part to play. A complete analysis of this game will result in a three-hundred-page book so I will restrain to the fight against the Opera Singer Boss. Fear not, you don’t need to have played the game to enjoy this, if you know the general context of NieR you should be fine ! However, this is your warning of potential spoilers if you want to play the game by yourself.

This is where our heroes 2B and 9S confront the Opera Singer, also called Simone or Beauvoir. This machine lifeform is the boss of the Amusement Park area. Let’s talk about the scenery. The entire fight takes place in a theater and more precisely in the auditorium. This location is extremely important regarding who Simone is. The scenery mirrors her and her struggles. Simone defines herself by her appearance. As we learn from her memory data, she was a machine lifeform very similar to the others we met in the game, but she wanted to be noticed by another machine lifeform which is very likely to be Jean-Paul. She wanted to acquire some things to distinguish herself and soon became obsessed with beauty. Simone as we first saw her has a lot of ornaments on her, you can actually still see her base head.

Appareances are one of the aspects of theater : putting on a costume, showing yourself in front of others, playing a character, is the essence of theater, which is exactly what Simone did : by adding more and more ornaments, she became someone else, a beautiful person according to her, she wants to be this ideal beautiful persona. In her memory data, she keeps saying “he won’t look my way” over and again until she looses her mind and says “someone please look my way”. The verb look is very important as it is the central core of theater : theater comes from the ancient greek verb meaning to look. The location and what makes Simone’s essence are tied up closely. There is where the developpers are genuises, Simone is like the embodiment of theater : she literally has the symbolic red curtain on her. She also has the look expected for an opera singer : impressive skirt, the regal shape behind her head, she has the gestures and poses you would expect. Video games don’t come from nowhere, they are inspired by other arts and they use it in an ingenious manner.

Finally the theater mirrors Simone for it is the place where stories are told and where humanity exposes its strength and weaknesses. The fight stages her struggle for what she wants and it shows more and more as she takes hits from our heroes. Theater is the place where struggles are put in the light in front of everyone. And indeed this passage highlights a specific ambiguity at the center of the game. Simone has the features of an Opera Singer and indeed she sings, the amazing soundtrack is triggered by her and it seems like she conducts it : the puppet-androids are the choir and she is the leading voice. This part is also very cleverly done for the music is in sinc with Simone’s attacks : the red rays with the entrance of the choir, the red balls with the bells for example. Moreover some of her attacks are inspired by sound vibrations.

It really shows how all aspects can be linked and in this case it is extremely well-thought and well-executed. Simone is very closely linked to music and more precisely to singing. Singing is known to be the way of expressing passion, of revealing yourself. This is why singing is usely a human attribute. Moreover, Simone is an opera singer, the opera being the place where everything is exposed through singing. Arias are a focus on a character who shows themselves and what makes them human.

According to this Simone should be human and there is no denying her emotions when she goes crazy at the end of the fight and when her backstory is revealed. 9S is actually surprised by this after the encounter and says : “it’s almost like it had actual emotion”  and 2B interrupts him and says in a rather harsh tone : “the machines don’t have feelings” This should alert the player : 2B shows here that she is aware of the ambiguity and similarities between machine lifeforms and androids and their link to humanity. Simone’s memory data is yet another proof of this as she pondered and suffered from what she has done after Jean-Paul’s rejection :   “I gaze into the mirror. In its reflection, I see only my own meaningless. And so I scream.” Simone is very human and this is yet another clever way to hint the deepest themes of the game : this story of machines is about humanity. In a way Simone already makes 2B and 9S face their own contradictions : the second half of the fight brings in the controled androids. The theater here seems to be transformed into an arena where 2B and 9S have to battle their own kind. This twisted show is conducted by Simone as she is the one who closes the curtain to place the action elsewhere. Moroever, the camera switches to a high-angle shot during that second part and we can clearly see our main characters being followed by a spotlight.They are part of this play : the twisted show echoes throughout the entire game since 2B had to kill 9S over and over again and all the character seem trapped and unable to break free. As some players pointed out their blindfold can represent how they are blind to the world they live in and how they blind themselves. Which then again makes them very human.

None can talk about NieR Automata without saying a word on its philosophical dimension. Now I'm not a philosophy specialist but it is quite interesting to see how only machine lifeforms hold the names of great philosophers, Pascal or Simone (de Beauvoir) as we saw here whereas androids only have names which would normally be associated with machines, letters and numbers. Simone's passionate and obsessed love for Jean-Paul is a reference to philosophers Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre fusional love relationship. NieR Simone's obsession for beauty might be a reference to de Beauvoir's work on how society perceives women. I'm sure a lot of students, teachers and philosophy enthusiasts would have a lot to say on NieR Automata, too bad video games are still considered as second rate entertainement by the majority of people... Forever salty about how video games are not seen as suitable examples in academic essays. If you have questions, suggestions or if you want to see a particular game featured in the next issue, hit that ask button with all your might !

[ladyeomine-blog]

Let’s analyse : The Trial

After the release of the Trial, a lot of theories were made around Pink Diamond’s death since the episode evolves mainly around the events of her shattering. Let’s analyse precisely what happened in there. First of all, we witness once again how theatrical and conventional Homeworld is as shown by the Diamonds’ entrance, their pose and the way their Pearls introduce them. If you look closely, the entire trial scene is made to be very theatrical. Generally speaking, a trial is like a stage : there are conventions, it is impressive and something is supposed to be revealed about the different parties involved. But a trial can also be tricked and actually used to transform reality.This is exactly what happens here :

Everything is made to impress Steven : the entrance, the dramatically big chairs, Yellow Zircon’s way of talking. It really shows in Eyeball’s testimony : she rises from nowhere under a sudden light which looks like a spotlight. The same thing happens when Steven speaks. All these elements and Blue Zircon’s despair at the beginning show that Rose’s trial was supposed to be a false trial. This is very perceptible in Yellow Diamond’s behaviour. First of all, Yellow does not like words : she rolls her eyes whenever a Gem cursties and give her epithets. But more importantly, she tries to call off the trial multiple times even at the very beginning : “Forget the trial, we should shatter her just for looking like that”.

As we saw from her song What’s the Use of Feeling Blue, Yellow prefers action to feelings. This episode goes even further : Yellow does not want the trial to go on because she knows something will be revealed if they keep talking about it. In a way, she fears the power of words : it shows in the way she wants to stop the trial even though the defense still has to speak. She is way too impatient for the trial for it to be just the demonstration of her personality.

This is where the tables are turned and the other side of the theatrical comes in. The last part of the episode is centered around Blue Zircon’s plea. She builds her reasoning around the reenactment of Pink’s death. This way of demonstration reminded me a lot of the famous scene in Hamlet where Hamlet hires actors to reenact his father’s death in front of the murderer to make him betray himself. Even if Blue Zircon certainly does not do it on purpose since she is actually carried away by her thoughts, it has the same effect on Yellow Diamond since she bursts with anger, poofs Blue Zircon and actually uses her electric power of the first time in the show. This extreme reaction allows us to think that she knows something about Pink’s death and it is something she did not want to be revealed at the trial, that’s why she wanted to cut it short and skip to the shattering.

What is interesting is the difference in the reactions and behaviours between Yellow and Blue Diamond. Of course, we know they are build to be opposite but until now they understood each other. In this episode, Blue really does not understand Yellow and her actions, she says : “Yellow stop it ! Why are you doing this ?” Following this idea and Zircon’s arguments, we can think that Yellow knows there is some kind of responsability from the Diamond Authority in Pink’s death. It is a bit early to go as far as to say Yellow did it herself but the Diamonds are not complete outsiders in the story. It is even more obvious by the fact that Blue does not know anything whereas Yellow asserts some elements like the fact Pink had her followers with her when she died. Yellow’s assertions are another proof of her hiding something. Nothing about Pink’s death makes sense. It seems clearly stated in the episode that there were no witnesses of the crime, or else why would Blue ask Steven how Rose did it ? If a Homeworld Gem had seen everything, these questions would already have found an answer. Zircon emphasizes on this when she asks Steven how it happened before the trial, she really is eager to find out because no one knows. When Steven tries to reconstruct a possible scenario of how it could have happened, he mentions Breaking Point as a possible weapon, Blue immediately cuts short screaming it was a sword. But if no one was there, how can she know it was a sword ? It really sounds like it’s a made up story everyone was manipulated to believe. The same thing goes for Eyeball, it seems impossible for her to have seen everything and yet to not be able to say exactly how it happened. She seems like she is actually just repeating something she learned by heart. Blue Zircon’s role is very important, she is the one to point out all the problems in Pink’s death scene. She is the first one to properly say that Pink and her murderer must have been alone which arises the question as to how and why they were left alone. As we saw, like all royalties, the Diamonds never are alone, their Pearl is always with them and if Pink was on Earth, she obviously had a larger party than that hence all the Gems Zircon mentions : Sapphires, Agates etc. At the time of Pink’s death, Rose was already a known rebel, she could not have pass the guards in her form, let alone stay alone with Pink. Moreover no one from Homeworld mentions a fight. If Pink had been attacked by the Rebellion, she should have defend herself, even if she seems less aggressive than the other Gems, based on the Gems attached to her especially the Famethyst.

But even if this scenario is true, a Diamond seems rather difficult to shatter for a smaller Gem, there is a really big difference of scale. The question is : can a small Gem shapeshift into a Diamond ? Let’s look a few episodes back and remember Amethyst impersonating Jasper : it was already difficult for her to maintain that form and Ame is the master of shapeshifting. A lot of theories exist on Pearl’s incapability to shapeshift during the show and it is true that it is an unsettling element. It could be her who shatter Pink, being her Pearl and thus the closest to her. That would be very powerful but it doesn’t seem possible, at least according to what we saw about shapeshifting now. Moroever, why would Yellow react like this if it was a Pearl who shattered Pink ? What’s the difference with a Rose Quartz ? She gets angry because Zircon mentions the Diamonds and because her plea actually makes sense. Even if the Diamons did not wield the sword against Pink themselves, it would seem they have a serious part in this story. Generally speaking, everything regarding Earth seems very problematic for Homeworld. Take for example Yellow’s reaction after Peridot defended Earth back in Message Received : “What do you know about the Earth ?!“ Homeworld would rather destroy that planet than harvest it, there is something strange about that. Finally, White Diamond remains a big mystery, the only new shot we got on her presence actually sums up really well her role in the show so far : a looming figure, always in the background, never mentioned.

[ladyeomine-blog]

Let’s analyse : The Trial

After the release of the Trial, a lot of theories were made around Pink Diamond's death since the episode evolves mainly around the events of her shattering. Let's analyse precisely what happened in there. First of all, we witness once again how theatrical and conventional Homeworld is as shown by the Diamonds’ entrance, their pose and the way their Pearls introduce them. If you look closely, the entire trial scene is made to be very theatrical. Generally speaking, a trial is like a stage : there are conventions, it is impressive and something is supposed to be revealed about the different parties involved. But a trial can also be tricked and actually used to transform reality.This is exactly what happens here :

Everything is made to impress Steven : the entrance, the dramatically big chairs, Yellow Zircon’s way of talking. It really shows in Eyeball’s testimony : she rises from nowhere under a sudden light which looks like a spotlight. The same thing happens when Steven speaks. All these elements and Blue Zircon’s despair at the beginning show that Rose’s trial was supposed to be a false trial. This is very perceptible in Yellow Diamond’s behaviour. First of all, Yellow does not like words : she rolls her eyes whenever a Gem cursties and give her epithets. But more importantly, she tries to call off the trial multiple times even at the very beginning : “Forget the trial, we should shatter her just for looking like that”.

As we saw from her song What’s the Use of Feeling Blue, Yellow prefers action to feelings. This episode goes even further : Yellow does not want the trial to go on because she knows something will be revealed if they keep talking about it. In a way, she fears the power of words : it shows in the way she wants to stop the trial even though the defense still has to speak. She is way too impatient for the trial for it to be just the demonstration of her personality.

This is where the tables are turned and the other side of the theatrical comes in. The last part of the episode is centered around Blue Zircon’s plea. She builds her reasoning around the reenactment of Pink’s death. This way of demonstration reminded me a lot of the famous scene in Hamlet where Hamlet hires actors to reenact his father’s death in front of the murderer to make him betray himself. Even if Blue Zircon certainly does not do it on purpose since she is actually carried away by her thoughts, it has the same effect on Yellow Diamond since she bursts with anger, poofs Blue Zircon and actually uses her electric power of the first time in the show. This extreme reaction allows us to think that she knows something about Pink’s death and it is something she did not want to be revealed at the trial, that’s why she wanted to cut it short and skip to the shattering.

What is interesting is the difference in the reactions and behaviours between Yellow and Blue Diamond. Of course, we know they are build to be opposite but until now they understood each other. In this episode, Blue really does not understand Yellow and her actions, she says : “Yellow stop it ! Why are you doing this ?” Following this idea and Zircon’s arguments, we can think that Yellow knows there is some kind of responsability from the Diamond Authority in Pink’s death. It is a bit early to go as far as to say Yellow did it herself but the Diamonds are not complete outsiders in the story. It is even more obvious by the fact that Blue does not know anything whereas Yellow asserts some elements like the fact Pink had her followers with her when she died. Yellow’s assertions are another proof of her hiding something. Nothing about Pink's death makes sense. It seems clearly stated in the episode that there were no witnesses of the crime, or else why would Blue ask Steven how Rose did it ? If a Homeworld Gem had seen everything, these questions would already have found an answer. Zircon emphasizes on this when she asks Steven how it happened before the trial, she really is eager to find out because no one knows. When Steven tries to reconstruct a possible scenario of how it could have happened, he mentions Breaking Point as a possible weapon, Blue immediately cuts short screaming it was a sword. But if no one was there, how can she know it was a sword ? It really sounds like it's a made up story everyone was manipulated to believe. The same thing goes for Eyeball, it seems impossible for her to have seen everything and yet to not be able to say exactly how it happened. She seems like she is actually just repeating something she learned by heart. Blue Zircon's role is very important, she is the one to point out all the problems in Pink's death scene. She is the first one to properly say that Pink and her murderer must have been alone which arises the question as to how and why they were left alone. As we saw, like all royalties, the Diamonds never are alone, their Pearl is always with them and if Pink was on Earth, she obviously had a larger party than that hence all the Gems Zircon mentions : Sapphires, Agates etc. At the time of Pink's death, Rose was already a known rebel, she could not have pass the guards in her form, let alone stay alone with Pink. Moreover no one from Homeworld mentions a fight. If Pink had been attacked by the Rebellion, she should have defend herself, even if she seems less aggressive than the other Gems, based on the Gems attached to her especially the Famethyst.

But even if this scenario is true, a Diamond seems rather difficult to shatter for a smaller Gem, there is a really big difference of scale. The question is : can a small Gem shapeshift into a Diamond ? Let’s look a few episodes back and remember Amethyst impersonating Jasper : it was already difficult for her to maintain that form and Ame is the master of shapeshifting. A lot of theories exist on Pearl’s incapability to shapeshift during the show and it is true that it is an unsettling element. It could be her who shatter Pink, being her Pearl and thus the closest to her. That would be very powerful but it doesn't seem possible, at least according to what we saw about shapeshifting now. Moroever, why would Yellow react like this if it was a Pearl who shattered Pink ? What’s the difference with a Rose Quartz ? She gets angry because Zircon mentions the Diamonds and because her plea actually makes sense. Even if the Diamons did not wield the sword against Pink themselves, it would seem they have a serious part in this story. Generally speaking, everything regarding Earth seems very problematic for Homeworld. Take for example Yellow's reaction after Peridot defended Earth back in Message Received : “What do you know about the Earth ?!“ Homeworld would rather destroy that planet than harvest it, there is something strange about that. Finally, White Diamond remains a big mystery, the only new shot we got on her presence actually sums up really well her role in the show so far : a looming figure, always in the background, never mentioned.

[ladyeomine-blog]

Some SU thoughts #3

The epic special Wanted has been out for a while now, it’s time to gather our thoughts ! As expected from the previous episodes, Lars finally got some development and what a drastic one ! Off Colors really is built around Lars and it is rather new of a human character other than Connie to evolve because of their interaction with Gems. At the beginning of Off Colors, Lars states that he has been afraid all his life. His friends on Earth did not allow him to overcome this fear because he thought they were too different from him - too cool - as it is shown in all the episodes involving the Cool Kids gang. Saddie is the closest person to Lars and she is always represented as being way more confident than him. Putting Lars on Homeworld was the best way for him to conquer his fears. Lars had troubles “fitting in” back on Earth and introducing the “Off Colour” Gems, the Gems who don’t fit, allows him to feel like he finally is in the right place : when the Rutile twins say “Where only those who don’t belong… belong.”, he answers “Heh, sounds like my kind of place.” This environment seems to give him a new confidence. He actually saves people he doesn’t know when he couldn’t do anything to save Saddie back on Aquamarine’s ship. Lars identifies with those Gems and sees better his own problems through another perspective : the Rutile twins, Fluorite, Padparadscha and Rhodonite are all outside of society because of their differences, a position Lars understands since he sees himself that way on Earth. But for once only he can make a difference because, being gemless, he has the upper hand against the Robonoids. It is interesting to see how Lars himself doesn’t really understand why he is being so brave : “I think that’s the coolest thing I’ve done in my life.” A change of perspective, Steven’s help to learn how to accept the fear, as mirrored by those two lines : Steven: “Lars, it’s okay to be scared”. / Lars : “ It’s okay to be afraid.” and possibly the imminent death are what lead Lars to deal with his fear and eventually change. The crew went all out on symbolism on this one : the old Lars literally dies to let the new Lars be born. The scar on his eye can be seen as a reminder of the hardships of change and all he went through. His metamorphosis also allows the two sides of the show to be joined more closely. As I pointed out in my last thoughts, the show separates the “Gem-centric” episodes and the “human-centric” ones. A human is now even more involved than Connie into the Gem storyline. This will allow more opportunities for the two sides to meet in future episodes. Furthermore, up until now going into space was impossible since the Crystal Gems don’t have an actual ship. Besides, the journeys back and forth between Earth and space would have started to get redundant so the crew added a very convenient fast travel probably to avoid those. Wanted also shows how powerful Rose and Steven are and yet not by Homeworld standards. They can heal broken gems, a thing Homeworld doesn’t need because when a Gem is broken, she gets replaced. Homeworld seems to have the capacity to produce an enormous number of Gems, therefore a healing power shouldn’t be seen as necessary for this society. We now know that both Rose and Steven have the power to bring the dead back to life. Then again, Homeworld has no interest in this as they conquer planets and harvest them, hence they don’t seem to care about the living beings. The question to be asked is : Can Steven or Rose bring back a shattered Gem ? If you think about it, it is very strange that Homeworld should produce a Gem such as Rose for she seems to have no powers Homeworld would find helpful for their purposes. Here we have two theories :

she developed those powers herself, which would be a good practical demonstration of her ethic : Rose’s Rebellion is all about allowing Gems to choose their own destiny and to live outside of the path Homeworld made for them. According to this idea, it seems possible for Rose to have gained somehow those powers herself. However from what we have seen so far, there seem to be some limitations as to what a Gem can do and a Gem’s power really is connected to the type of Gem they are. It is highly unlikely that a Ruby would develop an ice-based power on her own. Therefore it appears difficult for Rose to have gained those powers herself.

The other theory is that it was Pink Diamond who designed her as such. If we remember the Famethyst who also belonged to Pink in the first place, all their work evolves around taking care of the humans in the Zoo. It seems that all of Pink’s Gems are caretakers for the living beings from Earth. Hence, Pink must have cared for those beings which is quite a contradictory position for a Homeworld leader and might have lead her to her death.

Finally let’s appreciated how Steven is so respectful of all the people around him. It really shows in Lars’ Head where Steven always asks for permission before doing anything related to his powers on Lars. This shows the crew’s attention to what seems like little details but actually have a big teaching impact on the audience. A developed analysis on The Trial will come soon ! Shoot your questions here, dear reader !

[ladyeomine-blog]

Some SU thoughts #3

The epic special Wanted has been out for a while now, it’s time to gather our thoughts ! As expected from the previous episodes, Lars finally got some development and what a drastic one ! Off Colors really is built around Lars and it is rather new of a human character other than Connie to evolve because of their interaction with Gems. At the beginning of Off Colors, Lars states that he has been afraid all his life. His friends on Earth did not allow him to overcome this fear because he thought they were too different from him - too cool - as it is shown in all the episodes involving the Cool Kids gang. Saddie is the closest person to Lars and she is always represented as being way more confident than him. Putting Lars on Homeworld was the best way for him to conquer his fears. Lars had troubles “fitting in” back on Earth and introducing the “Off Colour” Gems, the Gems who don’t fit, allows him to feel like he finally is in the right place : when the Rutile twins say “Where only those who don't belong... belong.”, he answers “Heh, sounds like my kind of place.” This environment seems to give him a new confidence. He actually saves people he doesn't know when he couldn't do anything to save Saddie back on Aquamarine’s ship. Lars identifies with those Gems and sees better his own problems through another perspective : the Rutile twins, Fluorite, Padparadscha and Rhodonite are all outside of society because of their differences, a position Lars understands since he sees himself that way on Earth. But for once only he can make a difference because, being gemless, he has the upper hand against the Robonoids. It is interesting to see how Lars himself doesn’t really understand why he is being so brave : “I think that's the coolest thing I've done in my life.” A change of perspective, Steven’s help to learn how to accept the fear, as mirrored by those two lines : Steven: “Lars, it's okay to be scared”. / Lars : “ It's okay to be afraid.” and possibly the imminent death are what lead Lars to deal with his fear and eventually change. The crew went all out on symbolism on this one : the old Lars literally dies to let the new Lars be born. The scar on his eye can be seen as a reminder of the hardships of change and all he went through. His metamorphosis also allows the two sides of the show to be joined more closely. As I pointed out in my last thoughts, the show separates the “Gem-centric” episodes and the “human-centric” ones. A human is now even more involved than Connie into the Gem storyline. This will allow more opportunities for the two sides to meet in future episodes. Furthermore, up until now going into space was impossible since the Crystal Gems don't have an actual ship. Besides, the journeys back and forth between Earth and space would have started to get redundant so the crew added a very convenient fast travel probably to avoid those. Wanted also shows how powerful Rose and Steven are and yet not by Homeworld standards. They can heal broken gems, a thing Homeworld doesn’t need because when a Gem is broken, she gets replaced. Homeworld seems to have the capacity to produce an enormous number of Gems, therefore a healing power shouldn't be seen as necessary for this society. We now know that both Rose and Steven have the power to bring the dead back to life. Then again, Homeworld has no interest in this as they conquer planets and harvest them, hence they don’t seem to care about the living beings. The question to be asked is : Can Steven or Rose bring back a shattered Gem ? If you think about it, it is very strange that Homeworld should produce a Gem such as Rose for she seems to have no powers Homeworld would find helpful for their purposes. Here we have two theories :

she developed those powers herself, which would be a good practical demonstration of her ethic : Rose’s Rebellion is all about allowing Gems to choose their own destiny and to live outside of the path Homeworld made for them. According to this idea, it seems possible for Rose to have gained somehow those powers herself. However from what we have seen so far, there seem to be some limitations as to what a Gem can do and a Gem’s power really is connected to the type of Gem they are. It is highly unlikely that a Ruby would develop an ice-based power on her own. Therefore it appears difficult for Rose to have gained those powers herself.

The other theory is that it was Pink Diamond who designed her as such. If we remember the Famethyst who also belonged to Pink in the first place, all their work evolves around taking care of the humans in the Zoo. It seems that all of Pink’s Gems are caretakers for the living beings from Earth. Hence, Pink must have cared for those beings which is quite a contradictory position for a Homeworld leader and might have lead her to her death.

Finally let’s appreciated how Steven is so respectful of all the people around him. It really shows in Lars’ Head where Steven always asks for permission before doing anything related to his powers on Lars. This shows the crew’s attention to what seems like little details but actually have a big teaching impact on the audience. A developed analysis on The Trial will come soon ! Shoot your questions here, dear reader !

[poetofthepiano]

Hi ! Do you have a theory or an explanation as to why the rebels named themselves the Crystal Gems ? Is it because they are some sort of aggregate of different types of gems ?

Hi there! Something that was brought up a while back was how Homeworld categorised Earth as part of the Crystal System. I think, more specifically, their name for our solar system was “Crystal System.” As such, colonies in the system would be Crystal Planets. I would go as far as to suggest that this is Crystal Earth, as there may be planets made of similar ground substance. And the gems, who have decided to remain here on Earth, would be called the Crystal Gems.

I hope this was helpful! 

[ladyeomine-blog]

Thank you so much ! It makes way more sense now !

[ca-tsuka]

“Steven Universe : Art & Origins” Artbook - Preview 2 / 2 (from Amazon)