not quite critical

generic media criticism blog, cause steven universe is dead

[su-nitpicks]

dunno why this blog is getting notes suddenly but i have not posted anything since like 2017 and will not be posting anything again. this is basically an archive of outdated discourse lmAO do not follow.

[ankle-beez]

[su-nitpicks]

yknow people praise spinel for being the first SU villain to recognise steven as himself and not an extension of rose quartz but. correct me if im wrong but didnt lapis also do that?? i honestly dont remember a single scene addressing how lapis reacts to the whole rose quartz thing they kinda skip it sdmfdmfmk

[su-nitpicks]

Peridot isn’t coded as a child she’s coded autistic

oh hi, i’m not sure where ive ever said she’s child coded? but i agree 100%, none of the gems are child coded imo.

[artifiziell-deactivated20260518]

she has more important stuff to do ok

[su-nitpicks]

also yknow even tho i was kinda ???hm at steg’s portrayal im so glad they didnt have rose be the key to unlocking pearl’s memories. its nice to reinforce the idea that she really has moved on and is living her own life

[su-nitpicks]

revives this blog after 6000 years because movie

ok so FIRST of all i really like a lot of elements of the movie!! it was very easy to adjust to stevens older design, the animation was gorgeous, getting to re-explore garnet falling in love again was lovely. the jokes landed well and generally it reminded me of what i love about SU. spinel felt like a villain that actually deserved redemption via friendship!! 

HOWEVER

that ending was. hm. yikes? 

the beginning of the movie seemed like it was really hammering in the idea that steven was uncomfortable around the diamonds. so to have spinel go with them? basically returning to the status quo of serving a diamond, just not pink? that was.... something.

imo i wish they’d had her try for a bit of independence. she could’ve made up for 6000 years standing in one spot by exploring the universe! especially now that it’s safe and the colonies are being freed and such.considering she was set up as being an overly dependant person, it wouldve been... a nice change. but y’know. being the diamonds new pet-daughter is fine too i guess,,

[stephanos-spaceopera]

[still-kinda-like-su]

Steven has long legs and a sexy back curve now. Uhhh……..

And all of a sudden, pronounced eyelashes… uhhhhh…..

Um…

Ya i got nothing. This is just plain weird. Don’t do this to children

[su-nitpicks]

Not SU related, but did you see the new She-Ra reboot? I thought it was really good, and it's a lot of what SU seems to want to be imo (diverse cast, LGBT themes, a balance between a serious plot and comedy/filler, etc...)

i havent watched it myself, but a lot of friends are into it and from clips ive seen it looks gr8!! its a shame so many fanboys are insisting its the death of animation lmao

[su-nitpicks]

It's almost not even about the age anyway, it's more about how Sadie acts like an adult and Lars still kinda acts like a teenager/kid. And like, Sadie still has moments where she's immature, but they're not like 'pretending not to be friends because they're not cool enough' kind of moments, which Lars has a lot. Even in space, Lars is still so immature he assumes Sadie is livin her best life specifically to target him and make him feel bad. I dunno, just seems like Lars is kind of a child.

thats fair! i see them as acting the same late-teens age (sadie is still babied by her mom, poisons lars with spices out of spite, etc) but lars definitely is way more immature. i dont even like the idea of their relationship for the whole ‘trapping him on an island’ grossness anyway so it doesnt much matter to me nfkfhdkfh

[su-nitpicks]

Feel free to ignore this if the debate on sadie and lars isn't still open but the problem isn't the gap itself but the fact that from ages 16-25 you are rapidly developing. A 16 y/o is a LOT less mature and experienced than an 18 y/o. I know it seems weird, cause ages don't seem to matter much when you're younger than sixteen or older than 25 but that span in between there is when you rly develop yr almost-adult self into yr adult self so it's more that the age gap is magnified by that fact

oh, i totally understand that! im 20 myself, slap bang in the middle of that range, and i’ll admit that anyone 16-18 isnt really in the range want to date for personal reasons. but i also think that two people who work the same job, are in the same age range, and live virtually the same lives are probably both mentally mature enough to be romantic partners, yknow? when i was in college, everyone in my class was roughly in the same life period as me, even though some were 16 and some were 20. 

its definitely a touchy area tho so i understand if people are still squicked by the gap, because we still dont have definitive ages for them so 

[su-nitpicks]

anyway heres my minimum criteria for a good redemption arc:

1. start the arc the moment they’re introduced

good redemption arcs, like peridot, prince zuko, the grinch, start with the character being likeable and with their crimes being minimum. show that they have humanity when we first meet them, or at least make sure that their crimes arent henious. this is one of the reasons why people are so adverse to the Diamond Authority being redeemed: they’re introduced as pure villains with galactic tyrany level crimes under their belt, so trying to redeem them feels lackluster and undeserved. 

2. take longer than one episode/chapter/act/etc to redeem your character

this goes for in-story timescales too. some characters will spend an entire lifetime atoning for their mistakes. entire seasons of a tv show could be spent developing a villain into a good person. quick, one-episode heel-face turns are extremely anti-climatic and, once again, feel undeserved.

3. don’t have them expect forgiveness from everyone

anyone who’s truly done wrong and recognises their mistakes is unlikely to jump straight into ‘let’s be friends’ territory. good, satisfactory redemptions put all the action on the protagonists and make it their decision as to whether or not they forgive the villain. hell, the best redemption arcs usually keep a character or two wary of them, so you can further develop their relationship and build trust between them.

this is literally a bare minimum list put together by a random tumblr nobody, but i can bet if your villain doesn’t meet one of these checkmarks, then their redemption is probably going to fall flat and feel forced. once again, im looking at you, blue and yellow diamond.

[su-nitpicks]

this is gonna be controversial in the su critical community but imo sadie and lars’ age gap isnt a problem (although the relationship has a LOT of bigger issues)

like, its clearly only a year or two difference? idk. they work the same job and are coded as equals. sadie’s mom acts as if viewing her daughter as an adult is something new to her, meaning she really cant be older than 20. lars has been working at the big donut since the beginning of the series so theres no way he’s younger than 17. and imo the age gap of 17-19 isnt really immoral? especially when they’ve known eachother for years and sadies crush has clearly been there for a long time. i mean if you wanna dispute go ahead, im open to it! but i feel like its a very frivilous age gap to worry about,,

[su-nitpicks]

sort of late, but what are your thoughts on the movie announcement

im mostly suprised by it, but actually lowkey hopeful? a movie budget should HOPEFULLY result in some good animation, and even though i dont like the plot of the series anymore i still like the characters and im looking forward to seeing them getting some good animation again. plus, longer runtimes are something this show desperately needs. the sillouhette of that new character looks like a pretty bland design though.

[trapcard]

You: make black characters Blizzard: here You: not like that

Yeah exactly. I want black characters who are complex and have an identity outside of some hollow racial stereotype or extend past the “nice guy who uses dance and music” or “bald muscle head criminal” molds that have been around forever. Try again bitch. 

[whaticantremembernow]

Black people don’t have to be thankful for representation if its shitty and low-effort 😊

[kirishima-hates-terfs]

A reminder that the Steven universe critical people are the same people that drove a fan artist to try to kill herself becuse she drew rose quartz too thin

[bitter-bismuth]

su critical wasnt even a thing when zamii was getting harassed

[su-nitpicks]

also that artist has made it clear in the past that she doesnt want her suicide attempt associated with her harrassment. respect that.

ok correction: the harrassment was some definitely part of it, but pinning the whole incident on it is direspectful 

[su-nitpicks]

no offense but people who are like ‘su crits used to say valid stuff but now theyre lying sjws!!’ like...... cease ? just because you agree with some peoples points and not some others doesnt mean a whole group of people somehow got worse or whatever. sure, some blogs DO claim bullshit dumb stuff like ‘rupphire is abusive’ or whatever but those people are mostly trollsand they dont stand for the entire su critical community akshfkshd. stop dismissing valid criticism because a handful of people say dumb shit.