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drawing just 2 pass the time have some life advice animals
Six Months Later
“Here we are in the future.”
Hi, y’all!
As I promised myself long ago, and wrote about a year and a half ago, I’ve marked the end of Steven, Universally with my fifth tattoo. It’s an edited version of a gorgeous minimalist crest designed by SekultSiul (took a surprisingly lengthy web search to find something I wanted), and I’m rull pumped for it to heal over.
Today marks six months since I wrapped this project up, and in that time I got engaged to my favorite person and moved to a new city after nearly a decade in New York. In all the hubbub it’s frankly been wonderful to have time away from writing every week; analyzing my favorite cartoon never felt like a burden, but as life gets busier it does feel freeing to have one less meal on my plate. As such, while there’s always a chance for another blog down the line (for instance, I have some thoughts about Korra through the lens of policing), for now I’m happy to focus on settling into this new stage in my life.
In its entirety, Steven, Universally is a touch over 350,000 words, which means I’ve written more about Steven Universe than Tolstoy wrote about Anna Karenina. Between this blog and Going Over the Garden Wall achieving what I wanted to achieve, I’m content with the decision to let this chapter close, but I’ll always be grateful for the support I got from y’all as I tackled this endeavor. Thanks so much, and merry reading!
...if you Change Your Mind
I’m gonna miss writing about Steven Universe.
He isn’t done. This is the end of one story, but we always have more work to do. Self-growth takes effort, and even if his instinct to focus on everyone else can go too far, it’s still good, hard work to actively care about others. Steven’s story is about a kid who craves respect learning to respect himself, a kid bursting with love for others learning to love himself, a kid struggling with his identity making his truth known to himself and others. But there’s only so much you can do when facing a force that refuses to acknowledge your humanity, and while it’s a hard lesson for a kid who lives to help people, I’m so grateful that he ends the original series by learning that he isn’t obligated to justify his existence to a bigot.
It’s important to know how to change your mind. But it’s just as important to know when you shouldn’t.
“I am a child. What’s your excuse?”
Afficher davantage
But I want you to know you could know me…
I’m gonna miss writing about Garnet.
As the strongest Crystal Gem, an avatar of love thrust into a major promotion with the death of her predecessor, Garnet’s story is about realizing that the best way to understand others is to be honest about herself. Like Steven, she bears the impossible weight of Rose Quartz’s legacy, but unlike Steven, she spent enough time with his mother to model herself off who Rose was, rather than the idea of her. While there are plenty of positives in following the path of a protector guided by love, she also inherits the notion that good leaders keep secrets, and between this mindset and her inexperience (and perhaps a history of Homeworld’s fusionphobia punishing her for being herself), she takes longer than any other Crystal Gem to open up to Steven. But looking broader, her reluctance to admit her insecurities impacts her relationships with everyone, even her oldest friends, and even herself. Her problem goes beyond struggling with situations she doesn’t understand: she doesn’t understand the power of making her true self known.
But she changes her mind.
“Your light can’t help shining through.”
Afficher davantage
I don’t need you to love me, I love me
I’m gonna miss writing about Pearl.
As the loneliest Crystal Gem, a loyal servant who became a fierce ally, then a spurned lover, then a grieving survivor, Pearl’s story is about discovering who she can be on her own terms. Like Steven, she believes that her value comes from being valued, but unlike Steven, she was literally programmed this way and has an even harder time breaking loose, so she starts off at the toxic level of selfish selflessness that threatens to consume him, directed towards someone who’s been dead for years. She defines herself by her relationships, but struggles with all of them because she only understands a dynamic where one person is superior and the other is inferior; as such, her life is an endless evaluation of whether she’s worse or better than the people around her, thus whether she should be deferential or condescending. Her problem goes beyond not knowing how to develop loving relationships with equals: she doesn’t know how to love herself.
But she changes her mind.
“We need to talk about us.”
Afficher davantage
Episode 151/152: Reunited
“I chose the truth, and we survived.”
The above sketch isn’t from this episode. It’s from 2014, a year before same-sex marriage was nationally legalized in the United States. And the above quote isn’t from this episode, either. It’s from an event I attended on October 7th, 2019, a little over a month after Steven Universe: The Movie debuted and just days after Steven Universe Future was announced at New York Comic Con. I was on the top floor of the Barnes & Noble on the northern tip of Union Square in Manhattan, an area that served as the hub world of my twenties, blocks away from my first indie bookstore job (22-24) and my second indie bookstore job (25-26) and my grad school (26-28). It’s also not far from the School of Visual Arts, and the Barnes & Noble was full of SVA students and alumni, including the one who drew that sketch and said that quote.
Rebecca Sugar was answering a question about the trials of putting Reunited out into the world, the battles it took to get from a sketch in 2014 to an episode in 2018. She dismissed the rumor that she’d threatened to quit the show if the wedding was blocked, as abandoning the characters was never an option for her. And she gave Cartoon Network some credit for laying out how the unaltered episode might have dire consequences but allowing her to argue her case anyway. But even if championing her choice was a lengthy struggle, even if it was a fight that she shouldn’t have had to fight, even if there was a real chance that the show could’ve ended right there, the choice itself was simple: whether to lie about love in exchange for a smoother and more certain road for her crew of teammates and characters alike, or whether to tell the truth.
She chose the truth, and they survived. And that’s what makes her a hero.
Afficher davantage
Episode 141: Your Mother and Mine
”You have it all wrong!”
We already know the story of Rose Quartz. We know she was a rebel who battled for many years against the forces of Pink Diamond. We know that she was “just another quartz soldier, made right here in the dirt” and rose to greatness by rallying fellow Gems to join her cause. We know that she was drawn to Gems that Homeworld shunned, wanting to make sure everyone had a place. We know that she ended the war by shattering Pink Diamond. And we know that after the war, her shield could only save two of her friends. So on paper, an episode that recaps this information is redundant.
But Your Mother and Mind isn’t about Rose Quartz’s history, it’s about her story. And the story is told by a character that can only reach her audience by impersonating the bearer of Pink Diamond’s gem.
Afficher davantage
cant bamboozle ME that easy anymore, cousin
Episode 140: Jungle Moon
Jungle Moon starts with a bang. Several, actually, as the title fades away but we linger on its shot of deep space, pulling us right back to the aftermath of Stevonnie’s dogfight aboard the Star Skipper. They’re more frustrated than concerned with the danger at first, but as Lars’s feed and then the ship’s display cut out, there’s nothing to distract from the terror of crashing.
That panic lingers for a bit when they surface, saved by a bubble and thankfully able to breathe, but Stevonnie continues to alternate between “we” and “I” as they talk themselves through several understandable worries. Still, the landscape is incredible, between the diversity of fauna and flora and the husk of a world hanging above them, and after the shock wears off and the magic of this alien world sets in, they don’t even need to take that deep of a breath to put those fears at rest.
Stevonnie combines Steven’s experience with missions and Connie’s survival prepping to navigate the Jungle Moon. Their montage fits right in with the likes of Samurai Jack or Dwayne McDuffie’s classic Justice League episode Hereafter in its comfort with long stretches of silent visual storytelling. The difference is that such sequences tend to feature adults, as the lead needs a certain level of competence and independence to work, but Jungle Moon is about two growing teens in the body of a grown teen making it on their own. So Stevonnie is still young enough to blow bubbles while drinking, to be amazed at every wonder this moon has to offer, and to debate the merits of eating a cute critter (Connie is pragmatic and Steven vetoes as hard as he can, and we don’t even need to use their names to know which is which). But at the same time, their body is older than either of their components, and it leads to a simple, game-changing element of their depiction: the stubble.
Stevonnie being nonbinary is such a given that even a toolbox like Kevin knows to use their correct pronoun. But most of their physical traits are traditionally coded feminine: they’ve got long hair and an exposed navel and curves, and they’re voiced by a woman to boot. Now, obviously you can present feminine and be nonbinary—this is a show created by a feminine-presenting nonbinary woman that stars an entire race of feminine-presenting nonbinary aliens—but the stubble not only shows us the passage of time that facial hair connotes, but acts as a masculine-coded trait to make Stevonnie’s identity crystal clear to audience members that still haven’t picked up on it, especially young viewers conditioned to think on binary terms. And it’s effortless, only focused on briefly as Stevonnie admires a sword shave, because Steven Universe has always known that queer folks are normal folks so there’s no need to make a fuss about it. We get right back to running away from giant monsters and exploring alien ruins, and it’s awesome.
So yeah, we’re already doing great. This is already an excellent adventure, a continued breath of fresh air after Lars of the Stars as we return to the show’s old formula of a field trip episode. AJ Michalka is already killing it as Stevonnie, and Aivi and Surasshu are already laying down gorgeous background tracks, and veteran Jeff Liu’s team-up with brand-new storyboarder Miki Brewster (I cannot believe this is somebody’s first episode) is already a total success. I already love everything about it.
And then Stevonnie falls asleep, and Jungle Moon begins.
“I hate it when she ignores me.”
I don’t mean to be dismissive of Jungle Moon’s first half; far from it, it’s nuts that a story that could’ve coasted until the dream instead provides Steven Universe’s best adventure episode in just under five minutes. But the dream is still the main event, and it makes the whole “best adventure episode” thing even more nuts by being Steven Universe’s best dream sequence.
The dream is right up there with the third act of Mirror Gem, the last scene of Winter Forecast, and the first act of Beta as one of the show’s absolute perfect sequences. The sort of thing you can watch over and over and over again in a bubble, and no matter how hard you try, it refuses to stop being a marvel of storytelling. These scenes each set a transcendent tone that allows us to go beyond reacting to how a character is feeling: we’re instead sucked right into that moment with them. The emotions these masterpieces invoke elude simple description: there’s no one word or phrase that can capture the sensation of Steven realizing that his universe is much bigger than he thought, or of two best friends staying up late to watch the snow fall, or of an art exhibit ran by two alien refugees in an abandoned barn. Or, in this case, of two kids channeling their difficult relationships with their mothers into a dream that features both kids and both mothers, but also features neither kid and neither mother.
Jungle Moon uses the same structure for dreams that we got in Lion 3, Chille Tid, and Kiki’s Pizza Delivery Service, where a dream with a straightforward meaning (or in Lion 3′s case a reality that feels dreamlike) is preceded by a nonsense dream that’s ironically more realistic, because actual dreams tend to be nonsense. Sure, there are snippets of meaning that can be gleaned from these sorts of dreams (both Steven’s and our own) but it takes some heavy lifting on our part to interpret what it might mean when, say, Steven dreams that the main Gems in his life are humans in a sitcom.
But this time, while the weird nonsense mood of past first dreams persists, the living room segment has immediately comprehensible implications. And that by itself not only makes Jungle Moon stand out, but makes the other dream episodes I mentioned even better by feeling like the buildup to a version of Steven whose powers are so strong that everything is clearer. (They eventually become so clear that he can project dreams into screens, but let’s not get into Future just yet.)
The perfection of the dream begins before the scene even starts: this show almost never uses fadeout transitions, but that’s how Stevonnie drifts into slumber, and it makes the jolt to a new setting all the starker. We go from gradual darkness to a sudden pink and cream backdrop, from silence to sudden ambient humming as Stevonnie emerges from the ground, snoring and drooling until they recognize the unfamiliar texture of a rug, leading to another moment of silence. We get a simulated dolly zoom as they realize they’re in a giant version of Connie’s living room, but they never acknowledge the strange size, because this show understands that we accept pretty much everything in dreams.
But then, as Dr. Maheswaran finishes her momentous rise from the rug (cue more ominous sound design), we zoom out. From now until the end of the living room scene, the camera looks down on Stevonnie and looks up at Dr. Maheswaran, unless it’s a wide enough shot to show huge portions of the room around our hero: my favorite shot of the sequence is when the camera refuses to zoom in or budge as our hero scampers up the couch and onto the side table. It all works together to reveal that this world isn’t huge: Stevonnie is small. Because Connie is small. Because Steven is small.
Because, if there’s one thing this episode teaches us, it’s that Rose Quartz was big, but Pink Diamond was small.
Yellow Diamond was introduced in a conversation with Peridot, and Blue Diamond was introduced in a conversation with Greg. Steven, our viewpoint character, only speaks with them in The Trial after both appeared twice (once in their debuts and once in That Will Be All). The Diamonds arrive after being alluded to and whispered about well in advance, but their distance from Steven allows their mystique to hold firm even after we meet them.
Pink was always going to be different. For one thing, she plays a way bigger role in Steven’s journey than the other two Diamonds even before we learn the truth about her identity, as the story of her shattering is a pivotal moment in his life. We also have a more detailed impression of her than we did of her predecessors prior to their introductions: at this point we already understand that her enemies feared and hated her, Homeworld loyalists are devoted to her memory, and her sisters remain devastated by her death. And of course, in retrospect, we know that her gem is right there in Steven and Stevonnie’s gut. So after Steven meets two Diamonds indirectly, we jump right past the step of having him talk to a new Diamond to having him embody one.
But, and this is one of the many brilliant parts of the dream, it’s still indirect! Because despite what I just said, Steven isn’t embodying Pink Diamond. Stevonnie is, and Stevonnie fuses Steven’s childhood frustration of not being treated like an equal member of his group/family with Connie’s childhood in a strict household, and you need both to understand Pink. There’s a reason the beginning of the dream is in Connie’s house, with Connie’s mom taking the place of Yellow Diamond: Steven doesn’t have a Yellow Diamond in his life, so he needs to tap into his friend’s emotions to feel the full weight of Pink’s life in a harsher family than his own. Neither kid could make this connection alone, but together they’re able to understand the core essence of this childish, impatient, belittled, furious Gem.
Another one of those brilliant parts is that while Dr. Maheswaran stands in for Yellow Diamond from the start, discussing an invasion in her phone call before she’s even done rising from the rug, it takes a while for Stevonnie to become Pink: before we transition to the moon base, they recognize Connie’s living room, share the same confusion we do about what’s going on, and refer to the giant woman as “Mom.” But after knowing how the rest of the dream will shake out, their connection to Pink is visible even in the first half. Beyond the element of size, we have the best line of the episode, the one I chose as the review’s header quote because it’s the one moment where Stevonnie and Pink Diamond are in total sync. Whether it’s Dr. Maheswaran on a phone call or Yellow Diamond commanding a nephrite, you never feel smaller than when you’re ignored.
On that note, let’s step back a moment to give a standing ovation to AJ Michalka, whose sullen read on that line is just one of the many emotions she weaves her way through as the lead of Jungle Moon. This is the only episode of the series or its epilogue without Zach Callison, and Michalka takes over so well that I didn’t even notice until my third or fourth viewing. She’s always been a master of voicing not only her own character, but the elements of Steven and Connie within that character as they talk to each other through Stevonnie; Deedee Magno Hall and Charlyne Yi are terrific at voicing multiple distinct Gems (as is Kimberly Brooks in Future), but Michalka has the added challenge of portraying characters that are normally voiced by other actors, actors we hear a lot more of than her, and she never falters. And now she voices another character, one who’s similar to Stevonnie but still has to sound distinct, and she nails it again. When we enter the second half of the dream, we don’t even need the new setting or Dr. Maheswaran’s epic wardrobe change to tell that the Stevonnie Michalka plays on the moon base isn’t Stevonnie anymore.
While Michalka shifts her performance from Stevonnie to Pink, Mary Elizabeth McGlynn doubles down on the absolute authority of Dr. Maheswaran and Yellow Diamond to maintain an brutal front through both halves of the dream. She barely deigns to acknowledge Pink’s presence until she makes a big enough fuss, so of course Pink has learned to be fussy. When Pink says she wants a colony, we already sense that it’s the millionth time she’s asked; Yellow doesn’t respond with words, but presses her console’s insignia to play the four-note Diamond motif and reinforce that there’s a strict hierarchy at play. White comes first, then Yellow and Blue, and then, if there’s time, Pink gets a turn. That same droning music accompanies the conversation throughout, but while the Diamonds’ warped harmonette usually provides a smooth transition between notes, Pink’s note bursts out whenever she talks, interrupting that easy flow.
Everything we need to know about Pink Diamond is right here. She’s in every way a little kid: excitable, entranced by the prospect of playing with her big sister’s toys, frustrated when she isn’t listened to, and prone to tantrums. She’s got all the whimsical fun that makes the Diamonds see her as an entertainer and Spinel see her as a playmate, all the burning desire to prove herself that Pearl remembers, and all the burning rage that her other pearl remembers. She’s almost musical as she stamps her foot and demands an army and a planet: even in her fury, it’s easy to not take her seriously. But it’s telling that when we finally see a glimpse of Pink, it’s in a moment of violence. This isn’t just a silly Gem who wants to play grown-up, this is a Diamond who’s as capable of destruction as her sisters.
We of course need to get Stevonnie back home safely, so the story doesn’t end here. While the sense of familiarity they have with the location before they fall asleep hints that Stevonnie and Pink Diamond are more connected than they appear, the dream is followed by Steven’s half telling Connie’s half that they’re having Diamond dreams again, allowing an alternate interpretation to present itself: just like Steven’s unusually direct dream that led to meeting Blue, Stevonnie had an unusually direct dream about Yellow and Pink. Sure, evidence is mounting that Rose might be Pink (which fans had been theorizing for ages at this point, just as they’d theorized that Garnet was a fusion well before Jailbreak), but Jungle Moon is smart to muddy the water here. Can’t make it too easy to guess.
An underrated joy of this episode, largely because the first two segments are so huge, is that it reflects the experience of rewatching old episodes with new context: Jungle Moon begins with Stevonnie staring at the dead planet above them in awe, but now they look again with new eyes and realize just what happened to it. What was once mysterious and beautiful can now be seen as the result of past horrors, which is basically Steven’s life story.
We get one last joke with Yellow Pearl’s selfie on the throne (she loves modeling, what can I say?) and one last action scene as Lars scares off the delightful bird/wheel/umbrella alien that forced Stevonnie to hide in the base in the first place. But everything that Jungle Moon wanted to say has been said, and it ends with one last drone from that harmonette, cutting to black with the same brief return to the episode’s killer tone that we got in the final clanging from On the Run’s first look at the Kindergarten.
If it somehow wasn’t clear by now, Jungle Moon is exceptional. The mystery of Pink Diamond’s shattering was last addressed in The Trial, and while it was the right call for a show about Steven’s life for lore to take a backseat as he reexamines and rebuilds his relationship with Connie, it means we’ve had ten episodes to think about Blue Zircon’s dismantling of the story that shaped the series. It was always going to be exciting to return to the mystery after so much personal drama, but because Steven Universe is Steven Universe, this return excels by making Pink Diamond’s drama feel personal.
We’re the one, we’re the ONE! TWO! THREE! FOUR!
What do you get when you combine the best adventure episode in the series with the best dream sequence in the series? You get in my top ten.
Top Twenty-Five
Steven and the Stevens
Hit the Diamond
Mirror Gem
Lion 3: Straight to Video
Alone Together
Jungle Moon
Last One Out of Beach City
The Return
Jailbreak
The Answer
Mindful Education
Sworn to the Sword
Rose’s Scabbard
Earthlings
Mr. Greg
Coach Steven
Lars of the Stars
Giant Woman
Beach City Drift
Winter Forecast
Bismuth
Back to the Kindergarten
Steven’s Dream
Kevin Party
When It Rains
Love ‘em
Laser Light Cannon
Bubble Buddies
Tiger Millionaire
Lion 2: The Movie
Rose’s Room
An Indirect Kiss
Ocean Gem
Space Race
Garnet’s Universe
Warp Tour
The Test
Future Vision
On the Run
Maximum Capacity
Marble Madness
Political Power
Full Disclosure
Joy Ride
Keeping It Together
We Need to Talk
Chille Tid
Cry for Help
Keystone Motel
Catch and Release
Back to the Barn
Steven’s Birthdayigno
It Could’vr Been Great
Message Received
Log Date 7 15 2
Same Old World
The New Lars
Monster Reunion
Alone at Sea
Crack the Whip
Beta
Back to the Moon
Kindergarten Kid
Buddy’s Book
Gem Harvest
Three Gems and a Baby
That Will Be All
The New Crystal Gems
Storm in the Room
Room for Ruby
Lion 4: Alternate Ending
Doug Out
The Good Lars
Are You My Dad?
I Am My Mom
Stuck Together
The Trial
Off Colors
Lars’s Head
Gemcation
Raising the Barn
Sadie Killer
Like ‘em
Gem Glow
Frybo
Arcade Mania
So Many Birthdays
Lars and the Cool Kids
Onion Trade
Steven the Sword Fighter
Beach Party
Monster Buddies
Keep Beach City Weird
Watermelon Steven
The Message
Open Book
Story for Steven
Shirt Club
Love Letters
Reformed
Rising Tides, Crashing Tides
Onion Friend
Historical Friction
Friend Ship
Nightmare Hospital
Too Far
Barn Mates
Steven Floats
Drop Beat Dad
Too Short to Ride
Restaurant Wars
Kiki’s Pizza Delivery Service
Greg the Babysitter
Gem Hunt
Steven vs. Amethyst
Bubbled
Adventures in Light Distortion
Gem Heist
The Zoo
Rocknaldo
Dewey Wins
Enh
Cheeseburger Backpack
Together Breakfast
Cat Fingers
Serious Steven
Steven’s Lion
Joking Victim
Secret Team
Say Uncle
Super Watermelon Island
Gem Drill
Know Your Fusion
Future Boy Zoltron
Tiger Philanthropist
No Thanks!
6. Horror Club 5. Fusion Cuisine 4. House Guest 3. Onion Gang 2. Sadie’s Song 1. Island Adventure
“Behold! The first live-action Black lesbian superhero in modern history. Her name is THUNDER! #BlackLightning #GetLit”
Read the full thread for more info!
Disney Ladies + Science (& “Science”). Thanks to our followers for ideas.
Yes, textile engineer. That’s not a fashion designer in any way.
You’ve obviously not watched the movie. She invented those fabrics to resist flame, turn invisible, resist high amounts of friction, and stretch infinite times, and avoid tear from bombs
she did a tad more than “design” them
(Id go so far as to say “tactical textile engineer”
And since the fabrics have to be comfortable as well, she’s a tactile tactical textile engineer.
And since the uniforms also had to look stylish and not gaudy, she’s a tasteful tactile tactical textile engineer.
And since she was making suits for superheroes of color in the 50′s she’s a tolerant tasteful tactile tactical textile engineer
Tiny tolerant tasteful tactile textile engineer
Wonder Woman was a great movie for equal opportunity eye candy.
Straight guys and gay girls can enjoy gal gadot in armor.
Gay guys and straight girls can enjoy a mostly naked Chris pine
Bi/pan people get to enjoy both
And if you’re ace like me, well. She threw a tank with her bare hands, and that’s as good as it gets
I really like this post.
he cannot die. Unstoppable
Bad dog. Out you go
The Dog Will Stay
Too bad.
the dog stays
WRONG
Trap Master can only be flipped during your turn or by the effect of another card. Since no card has been activated to trigger such an effect, Trap Master cannot be activated in response to Trap Stun.
THE DOG GOES.
The effect of Prediction Princess Tarotrei can flip trap monster face up on the opponents turn.
THE DOG STAYS
Once we send that Prediction Princess Tarotrei to the graveyard, our trap sealing will stick around.
The dog goes.
Ritual Sealing does not negate, only destroy. Prediction Princess Tarotrei is destroyed, but its effect is still carried out.
THE DOG. STAYS.
I’m watching an online yu gi oh battle
THE DOG GOES
THE DOG STAYS
^ this entire thread in a nutshell.
THE DOG IS MINE.
Plagg is in trouble
Things Are Different Now
Plagg: Hey kid, why don't you ask pigtail girl to go to the movies with you?
Plagg: You need a partner for your assignment, right? Why not pigtail girl?
Plagg: Pigtail girl is good at video games. You should invite her over sometime.
Plagg: ADRIEN I'M HUNGRY let's go to pigtail girl's bakery.