Steven And The Critical Gems

This is my side and vent blog. I’ve been dissatisfied with this whole show for so much it’s done. It sucks that something that was once progressive has screwed up so much of it’s progressiveness

[destinymoonart]

The comments in the Steven wearing Pink diamond suit in rebecca instagram are like…so scary…

[destinymoonart]

[itsmrleorio-deactivated20210107]

[therubiesdeservedbetter]

that spanish comment that called him a “little tr*p” killed me and this is my ghost writing this

[lapis-lives]

oh god!

[thatlazyfuckshow]

“Is it normal if this turns me on?“ Ahem… NO YOU FUCKING SICKO IT IS NOT NORMAL AT ALL THAT YOU’RE GETTING TURNED ON WITH A FREAKING 14 YEAR OLD THAT LOOKS LIKE A 10 YEAR OLD DOESN’T MATTER IF HE’S REAL OR NOT HE’S STILL A KID. G O D

[stephanos-spaceopera]

[lattetimes]

i fucking hate everything. this is so gross i have no more words.

[the-critical-gems]

Next time someone tries to argue that it’s not a sexual picture, I’m gonna show them this

[stephanos-spaceopera]

imagine going off model just to make steven sexy,,,,, like theres draw what you want and theres draw steven however you want in pursuits to make him look curvy 

[the-critical-gems]

I remember seeing this on my instagram and I literally thought it was some weird fetish or NSFW thing for a few seconds and it freaked me out

[gryffon]

every time i see steven universe discourse i think “what if people were this intensely analytical about My Gym Partners a Monkey”

[darthgryffon]

my url is better than yours

[gryffon]

youre my shadow self and i need to kill you

[screwthediamonds]

Me: Pearls are literally described as “someone’s shiny toy” in the show and were made for the soul the purpose of serving their Diamond, they will be killed if they disobey. Therefore shipping Pearls with their Diamond is disgusting because it’s abusive and slave/master relationships shouldn’t be romanticised in any circumstance, let alone a children’s show.

Stans: wow … I just … I just can’t beleive how homophobic crits are … trying to take away my uwu soft smol/tol space rock lesbian babies … fucking disgusting … we finally get canon queer couples and you’re still not grateful?? :/

[i-hate-chick-fil-a]

The racist Serena Williams cartoon was published in Melbourne’s Herald Sun. Which is owned by Rupert Murdoch. It’s a very right wing version of his New York Post, but with fewer completely made up stories.

[criticalalexandrite]

To all the media stans on this hellsite who think that the media industry doesn’t make cartoons for the sole purpose of harassing black people anymore.

[the-critical-gems]

I remember someone tried to argue with me that “It’s a cartoon it’s MEANT to be exaggerated” and that is the most BS excuse I have ever heard in my life. You can make things exaggerated without making it racist

[stevengoyuniverse]

anyone: hey I think this thing/concept/scene is racist and needs proper addressal. that doesn’t mean i’ll accept the apology, however I feel like it’s necessary to acknowledge that this thing wasn’t executed well and has bad connotations, whether or not it was intended to come across as such

lowkey racists on this site with “woke” vocab and a hatred of being called out so they label it petty tumblr discourse: um, actually

[lkfsflkgfkdmlsaklfd-deactivated]

wired: we’ve gotten several canon wlw couples in children’s cartoons now and thats amazing! & hopefully this trend continues and in the near future we get some canon mlm couples in cartoons as well!

tired: theres omly gay women and no gay men in cartoons because (farts) men are oppressed and (long drawn out fart) they’re too coward to make klance canon and (loud wet fart)

[snailslovesalt]

Listen I’m as ess yoo critical as you can get but this “redesign” is just. So fucking hilarious

[bitterlapis]

Hey, leave the artist alone. I personally thought it was an interesting idea.

[squandereduniverse]

It was because the artist wanted a more alien look to the gems. Design wise it works pretty well because all rubies seem to mainly be bodyguards, so as goofy as it seems its practical. Plus if gems were meant to be made more efficiently (especially say non artistic ones) itd track that rubies would just be cubes.

Plus even if it wasnt: dont shit on what someone did for fun if it’s not hurting anyone. Most redesigns are harmless. Just leave them be.

[lapis-lives]

I actually think this design COULD work in the world of the show, but seriously give the artist some credit

[salty-sapphire]

Someone having fun and drawing cool and creative inhuman alien designs is apparently a horrible thing to do according to OP.

I remember seeing this post when it was first posted and they also redesigned Peridot and Lapis to look super alien too. They all looked really really cool, I just cant remember for the life of me who it was.

If anyone knows, please add it to this post so that they can be credited, and so OP can fuck off.

[lapis-lives]

^^^

[critically-connie]

op shut the fuck up and let people have fun challenge, the redesign’s not harmful to anyone, so you can die mad.

[aj-thegreatest]

I believe that the artists is @unicornkin. This is also his art blog @lesbianperil

[critically-connie]

y’all reblog the version with the artist’s blog. thank you!

[lapis-lives]

@repair-doods you’re absolutely right!! How could We have been so blind!

[repair-doods-deactivated2018122]

Hey, I was kind of defending this art but I heard unicornkin is another name for ackee/pitaya, and Ive heard some not so good stuff about them so I kinda wanna distance myself from this

Im not saying making fun of the art was justified (no artist deserves that), but I dont want to have potentially defended a bad person

If someone could clear this up that would be great (feel free to message me)

Imma @lapis-lives @critically-connie and @salty-sapphire in case they know any more info on it, seeing as they were one of the original rebloggers (probs know more about this than I do)

[repair-doods-deactivated2018122]

I was notified my fears were in fact right. Please, guys, dont defend this person. Theyve posted very horrible stuff in the past (look it up, theres post about it).

And so I take back the idea I added to this post bc I did not know unicornkin was in fact Ackee/Pitaya

[snailslovesalt]

Thanks, that’s why I really don’t feel bad about reposting the art of an adult who has unapologetically done a bunch of toxic shit on this website. Also I said it was him in another reblog of this post that no one seems to care abt

[repair-doods-deactivated2018122]

Yeah, I saw who the person was once I saw your other post, which is why I reblogged! Thanks for the info!

While I dont like the idea of making fun of someones art, this person has done some terrible things on here and im glad some ppl have called them out on it

Edit: also sorry @shezoshy bc I didnt know who this was before and I shouldve paid more attention to your other posts. I regret ever thinking it was a good idea, and I would rather not be suppoorting someone whose done disgusting things.

[the-critical-gems]

Important addition

[snailslovesalt]

Listen I’m as ess yoo critical as you can get but this “redesign” is just. So fucking hilarious

[bitterlapis]

Hey, leave the artist alone. I personally thought it was an interesting idea.

[squandereduniverse]

It was because the artist wanted a more alien look to the gems. Design wise it works pretty well because all rubies seem to mainly be bodyguards, so as goofy as it seems its practical. Plus if gems were meant to be made more efficiently (especially say non artistic ones) itd track that rubies would just be cubes.

Plus even if it wasnt: dont shit on what someone did for fun if it’s not hurting anyone. Most redesigns are harmless. Just leave them be.

[lapis-lives]

I actually think this design COULD work in the world of the show, but seriously give the artist some credit

[salty-sapphire]

Someone having fun and drawing cool and creative inhuman alien designs is apparently a horrible thing to do according to OP.

I remember seeing this post when it was first posted and they also redesigned Peridot and Lapis to look super alien too. They all looked really really cool, I just cant remember for the life of me who it was.

If anyone knows, please add it to this post so that they can be credited, and so OP can fuck off.

[lapis-lives]

^^^

[critically-connie]

op shut the fuck up and let people have fun challenge, the redesign’s not harmful to anyone, so you can die mad.

[children-against-pedophiles]

Ok but op who’s the original artist??Did you even ask if you could repost their work or could you not wait to be an asshole?

[snailslovesalt]

I credited him in another reblog of the post also ur 15 please get off discourse tumblr and go back to 9th grade I appreciate the cause of your blog but seriously you shouldn’t be purposefully exposing yourself to map content it can be harmful, genuinely

[children-against-pedophiles]

Nah.I know what I’m getting into.I appreciate your concern but I don’t want to quit.

[the-critical-gems]

Lmao the show is made for people their age. If anything OP needs to stfu.

[repair-doods-deactivated2018122]

Screenshot submitted by @the-magnificent-otaku-taco-chan !

Finally, back with request! Yeah, I know there are others I need to get to (sorry about that), Im just doing ones that are easier to me! Anyways, touched up Pearl and Steven! Pearl I had to redraw facewise, while I just edited and adjusted steven through resizing (only thing I drew was his mouth, as well as further touchups). Unpopular opinion, but I actuslly rlly love Raven Molisses style, especially with the expressions. Sure, not all their drawings are 100% perfect, but theres always that goofy aspect to them which I love. I used reference for Pearl’s head from S1 bc I wanna rlly try to make them look the more canon and similar.

_______________________________

Disclaimer: Ive never claimed to be better than the crew (and never will)! These redraws are just suggestions, and should be taken lightly. Think of it as this: “What if SU stayed with the S1 style?” That’s what I’m trying to show with my redraws. My critiques are added onto said redraws bc I want to give my two cents through a comparative and analytical perspective. These are my opinions, none of which will hurt the show. I love SU (heck, my room shows that with all the merch)! I respect all the crewniverse members as artists, and I understand the possible time constraints. Hope you all enjoy, and please dont let these screenshots upset you.

[ankle-beez]

I find it extremely funny how Su critical changes their perspectives on certain characters when something new happens in the show. Like, seriously, most of them hated Pearl and were treating her like an abusive monster until the Pink Diamond reveal.

they don’t ever want to be seen as wrong, so they change their opinions accordingly

[lapis-lives]

Oh no, CHANGING AN OPINION AS MORE INFO GETS PRESENTED??? WHAT A SHOCKER!!! And btw I still dislike pearl, so you shouldn’t treat us like a hivemind! Pink diamond was manipulative to her, but that only EXPLAINS her behavior NOT justifies it

[therubiesdeservedbetter]

@bluenebelung i’ve literally never seen an SU crit say that she wasn’t?? in fact, most of the discourse i’ve seen centered on pearl before The Reveal with how the narrative handles her emotional trauma.  (specifically, people accusing pearl of using her emotional trauma as an excuse to mistreat others or the narrative focusing more on her emotional trauma for so long that it didn’t flesh out any of the other characters as well as it should have)

the primary reason that people are starting to go easier on her after The Reveal isn’t that they’re suddenly becoming aware that the emotional trauma happened, but that the magnitude of it has suddenly changed. we always knew she was dealing with issues, but the reveal that the “free and rebellious” pearl without a master has actually been fiercely loyal to her master this whole time (as well as the fact that she’s been under a 5,000 year long gag order) kind of put a new perspective on things.

[criticalalexandrite]

Angel-baez and his followers need o stop with their nasty ableist “SU crits don’t know what trauma looks like uwu” bullshit. Y’all are ableist for even suggesting that. Especially since a lot of SU crits have dealt with racial based trauma. Get over it.

[fixitstevenjunior]

Why do some people get pissy over REDESIGNS let people have their fun and show of how they would interpret characters refering them.

[criticalalexandrite]

Lapis Lazuli is a Godmod OC

(Edit: I realized the original version of this post had typos. The way tumblr works on my computer won’t let me just edit the other version from my blog. Not without spending hours scrolling back to it. I’m not gonna do that lol so here have a reposted version without typos.) Gonna try to put this into coherent words the best I can. I haven’t seen anyone point this out yet and I wanna change that. What I just today realized pisses me off the most about Lapis’ canon backstory IS the fact that it’s so laughably anti-climactic. And yet the show acts like it’s worse than what the CG’s have been through. The reason I hate that is because as far as canon has shown us, Lapis NEVER suffered on Homeworld till she got sealed in the mirror. Why is that bad? Well again like I said the show treats it as if it’s the darkest backstory in the series. But really, it’s not. if Lapis was such a high class gem that she never suffered on Homeworld before then, that means her backstory is the tamest one in the show. If you still don’t get why, let me explain this point a little further. All the other gems below the Diamonds on the show have had it rougher than Lapis did on Homeworld. All of them. Except for maybe Aquamarine, Sapphire or the Agates since they seem to have almost the same privileged status as Lapis does. All the other gems have had it confirmed that they’ve suffered abuse in some way shape or form. Yet what kind of abuse did Lapis endure on Homeworld before she got mirrored? None from what was shown to us. SO crewniverse is trying to legit tell us that just because some highly privileged gem got stupidly mistaken for a CG and mirrored, that means her life is the most traumatic one in the entire story. Yeah no, crewniverse. No amount of angsty meltdowns and toxic fusions is gonna convince me until you change that fact. You can’t even say that Malachite is proof. Lapis was in full control of Malachite. In fact, Jasper was the lower class gem in that fusion who has had at least been hinted to be emotionally and physically abused in the past. So technically Lapis was exploiting her for selfish reasons in order to get revenge on the a crystal gems in Super Watermelon island. Never mind the fact that it was most likely the Diamonds who ordered her getting mirrored. No, can’t go after the Diamonds for revenge, that would go against Rebecca saying they’re not villains. Mmm dat writing bias. A smarter thing to do to get justice for what Homeworld did to Lapis would’ve been Steven and Lapis fusing and then poofing Jasper before she could hurt anyone else. Problem instantly solved. Even if Steven’s powers are very finicky, Lapis’ aren’t. Their fusion would be godly unstoppable, considering Steven has literally every other power rn and Lapis can control water as much as she wants. Especially since the narrative babies both so much. They wouldn’t have anyone who could rival their strength. Of course, though, we really needed that terrible at best Malachite arc that was a walking abuse allegory a lot more instead. That is exactly the main problem I have with Lapis’ arc. She’s shown she’s powerful, she’s shown she’s aggressive, she’s shown she’s clever. Yet when it comes to protecting herself against danger, she makes the stupidest decisions. Lapis is literally a godmod character that can protect herself as much as she wants to. But she just doesn’t do it because…it’s more tragic that way? Why are you like this, crewniverse. I mean you can still like Lapis, but there are very big flaws in her story that have not been fixed since her second episode. Ones that for me ruin any weight that it had when she first appeared. And at the risk of a bad pun, it makes the crewniverse’s trying to convince us she’s the most helpless abuse victim *fishy.*

[thosedarncriticals]

You know what I didn’t like?

Sorry if this is a roundabout post, it’s hard for me to gather an emotion about SU.

But anyway, let’s go to the episode where Bismuth is re-unbubbled. We’ve been waiting for this moment for a long time and all around, I’m glad Bismuth didn’t go into a rampage after learning about PD or get particularly angry at Steven. And while I’m happy that they didn’t play into the big scary black woman trope again (which is honestly the least the crew could do) Bismuth’s reaction still came with problems. Sort of the same problems that happened with Sapphire.

For some reason both Bismuth and Sapphire find a way to shift the blame to themselves in regards to Rose’s actions. Sapphire, before she started magically feeling better, suddenly begins to believe that Rose only did what the gems were already doing and that their relief of being free gems influenced/caused Rose’s immature decisions. In Bismuth’s dialogue, the writers try to rationalize Rose’s behavior yet again by having Bismuth defeatedly say,

“I thought all our problems would be solved if we could just shatter a Diamond. Guess she took my advice….”

Um…no Bismuth, she didn’t. Your plan was to liberate other gems, remember? Making a statement by elimating those holding gems in captivity. Pink didn’t liberate her forces at all. Those gems were forced to go to Homeworld’s side when their previous leader just up and died. If Rose had really followed her plan, she would’ve turned her own army, including the Crystal Gems, against Homeworld and systematically tore down her own government because, well…she can. Pink literally has god-like powers and the ability to heal her armies, she definitely could’ve won that fight.

And on Sapphire’s side, even if Rose didn’t just want to save Earth and didn’t give a crap about gems, that doesn’t make it the victims’ fault that the one in power made a bad decision and lied to everyone about it. Such a decision that killed all your friends, ground them up, and forced their collective consciousnesses into a giant planet killer. No matter how you spin it, Rose did a terrible thing that hurt literally everyone both on Earth and on Homeworld. No one else should be blamed in order to make PD seem better than she actually was.

[blogexplosive13]

You are so full of truth

[salty-sapphire]

If they wanted to make the diamonds redeemable, they should've made them "Extreme workplace asshole" levels of bad not "Genocidal dictator"

YEAP, they should have made them the overbearing bosses who are so caught up in the numbers and the factors of the workplace that they dont care for each individual gem. they dont realise how stressed and broken each gem is because they’re just so focussed on making everything run smoothly.

Not literal space nazis.

[homophobic]

straight people cannot correctly, authenetically, or naturally create a gay person and their coming out story. period. end of discussion.

[hotwhiteguy]

all y'all straights on this post being butthurt need to realize that you can NEVER understand or relate to the struggles of coming out. You have no idea how it feels, the shame, the hatred, the never-ending alienation. You never have and never will understand what it is like to come out and your stories about it are wrong and paint a picture that further invalidates the gay existence

[agatated]

you know what? I’m going to say it.

it is perfectly valid not to like certain members of the crew.

it does not justify directing bigotry or harassment toward them,

(emphasizing in case any ankle-biters want to twist my words up)

but it is okay not to like the things they’ve done or said. they’ve done and said some pretty bad things.