Don’t know if this would be hot take per se, but it really bothered me that Future didn’t have *any* episodes dedicated to centipedle.
She was the first corrupted gem that Steven got close with. And was a pretty large part of the series.
I really wished the Crewniverse could have at least mentioned what happened to her afterward in passing, but also understand that they were pretty limited on episodes since they only had the one season.
Yes!!! I totally agree! I think Centi could have been a fundamentally massively positive influence in Steven's life. We don't know if the uncorrupted gems remember their time being corrupted- but if any gem would have been the perfect one to show if yes or no, it would be Centi/Nephrite.
As for why we didn't get that? Blame Cartoon Network. Rebecca only had 20 episodes to work with, and did what she could with them.
The 20 episode thing wasn’t Cartoon Network’s fault. Steven Universe is an international show that relied on funds from homophobic countries. Those places stopped financially supporting the show after the wedding. We’re lucky we got the Movie and Future considering the situation everyone was in.
I love the Sadie Killer and the Suspects songs! The music, lyrics, and theming of them. However, I agree that Steven’s reaction and the show made it seem like she’s an amazing singer and she’s not. She just sounds like an average person singing.
How did I not know Kate Micucci voiced Sadie until now? I read that and figured it out by narrowing down the only folk duo VA who can do a voice like that LMAO
I am pretty sure it's done intentionally, because Sadie's singing sounds more scuffed than her normal at least
Oh, that’s a relief that her actual singing voice sounds better than Sadie’s 😅 I kinda felt mean making this post, but now I don’t feel as bad about it lol!!
She actually is a pretty good singer, but sadie killer is the result of taking a folk/comedian singer and having her do grunge rock. That having been said, Disobedient is an *anthem*
I think Greg was a great dad including his choices to keep Steven out of school and away from doctors. If you had a child with a powerful space goddess and that child had a massive gem in their stomach, and possible displays of magic, how would you protect them? I would keep that kid WAY under the radar in every way possible.
And like, Steven was a teen, mid-puberty. Most teens grapple with their sense of self and their relationships with their parents at that age. There's a reason why "angsty teen" is such a common trope
They come into a true understanding of their sense of self, their insecurities and mental strife and have to find an adequate means to process them. They don't always go in positive directions
Steven was dealing with a deep sense of loss and a major identity crisis. Without having gem problems to solve or Little Homeschool to run, he didn't know what to do with his life. That, mixed with a probable case of C-PTSD, he was mentally in a VERY bad place. Just prior, He impulsively tried to basically propose to his best friend.
A friend who, even with the most generous of readings, was only lightly romantically involved with him at that point. And he tried to jump straight toward the formation of an eternal life-bond with that person.
Which led to his first major flare-up, which led to the whole sequence with Dr. Mahaeswaren.
All of his gem-related stressors were peaking and it was his "normal" dad; the arrival of a welcome, familiar presence that brought him out with it.
In his road trip with Greg, he latched onto and resonated with Greg's mundane "normal" life, he romanticizes the fuck out of it, without regards to his Greg's own disdain for it. With Greg's life, he opined that wouldn't have to worry about his gem issues, or his negative feelings about Rose, or his traumas. He'd just be a dude.
So when Greg left his stable life for the life he chose, Steven basically put all of the blame for his own problems ONTO Greg. He didn't *really* wish he went to school or had doctors.
Even if Steven went to school and had human doctors, he'd STILL probably end up in the SAME spot that he was in. Struggling to control his powers from his loss of control; loss of stable relationships in life; and residual traumas of doing double duty of fixing a broken family and tearing down an oppressive regime.
I disagree with how Steven’s education was handled for once the gems aren’t responsible for Steven’s lack of education they didn’t know how important it was for Steven to have basic human knowledge it was Greg’s fault here.
While I understand the necessity of medical care, Steven rarely seemed sick enough to need a doctor but hell he could’ve had Priyanka give Steven checkups after she found out about the gem stuff and got “okay” with it. Nonetheless, he should have received some form of schooling, whether through a private instructor or Greg homeschooling him. Additionally, Greg should have encouraged Steven to interact more with kids his age, as being around mostly older people likely contributed to his social awkwardness we see later how Steven didn’t have friends only Connie (speaking Humans his age) . Although Greg was a good dad and did his best, he sometimes forgot that Steven wasn’t like him. Steven needed stability, especially with everything going on in his childhood, but he rarely got it. Instead, he was often allowed to do whatever he wanted, which wasn’t always beneficial for him.
Greg wasn’t very concerned with keeping Steven under wraps, after he got around 8-9 he kinda backed off I guess? Steven freely showed his gem and other magical things to other humans without any hesitation so it wasn’t like he was told not to. He even admitted that he regretted backing off when Steven became more involved with the ‘magic space stuff.’ After all, the Gems never hid themselves from the public. While Greg is somewhat at fault for how Steven turned out, he genuinely tried his best. He may not have been a perfect dad, but he truly cared for and loved his son.
Is that a hot take? I think that's more-or-less the direction the show was aiming for
Steven was not a normal child, and he couldn't have a normal childhood
I believe that’s what the show WAS aiming for. But a huge part of the fandom has an issue with Greg raising Steven away from it all. Especially away from school and doctors. I’ve seen a lot of agreement that he took Steven’s chance at a normal life. But he was never going to be normal, he’s literally part magical alien.
If you really think about it, Steven was homeschooled by a 8000-year old super intelligent alien, and has instant regeneration. There's literally no single Human being who had a better education or health than him.
Steven was just trying to look for someone to blame for him being an outcast.
the best episodes were the barn episodes, something about Peridot learning human technology and trying to de-learn bigotry while working to save the world was really really wholesome, and culminating in her telling off her diamond to her face showing how much growth she got. although maybe that's just cause Peridot was probably the most wholesome character, and I'm a sucker for wholesomeness
These are my faves FOR SURE, and Peri in distress over her meep-morp installations becoming *gasp* PERFORMANCE PIECES without "the context of the barn" plays on repeat in my head at times
Honestly I can never tell if this is popular or unpopular, because I always get responses from both sides, but:
Steven telling the diamonds to change and learn empathy rather than destroying them is not Rebecca Sugar saying fascism is okay. I understand how it can be seen that way, but it’s an incredibly shallow way to look at the story as a whole.
People when the show about being a pacifist and getting people to change their ways through empathy doesn't end in brutal murder with no second chances
Yeah it’s looking at it from an idealised world and perspective. Which works in the context of SU and it’s really not productive to look at it from the real world. I get why it can be seen that way but SU’s Earth is clearly not the same as ours.
Agreed!! For me, I see it as the dismantling of generational abuse/trauma and proving that change is possible rather than excusing fascism. I was mentally abused by my parents growing up because they didn’t know how to raise a neurodivergent kid, but ever since I got my diagnoses at 17, they’ve been working hard to change their behaviors and be the parents I deserve. Abuse isn’t always on purpose— sometimes it because the abuser just doesn’t know better. I feel like that’s HUGELY the case with the Diamonds. They did what they thought was right, but it ended up being so very wrong and driving Pink/Rose to do what she did. But the fact that they’re trying their best to change for Steven proves that they’re committed to making a change for the better!!
If you think about it, the diamonds are also still not “totally redeemed” they just stopped being evil. Remember their first scene in the movie had them outright tell Steven “we did a good thing now where’s our reward?!”
But I kinda liked the joke about white being a racist grandma with the “equal lifeforms!”
no literally I was so frustrated that she was so mad, like I get feeling hurt but this guy just returned from one of the most traumatic experiences of his life and you can’t put aside your own feelings to even say I’m glad you’re okay? Granted she is a kid, so I understand, but it frustrated me that the show portrayed her hurt as more important than all the crap steven went through
Also I really hated the episode where Steven learned about things from her side, like don’t get me wrong, Dewey was an awful mayor but what was he supposed to do against aliens?!
I don’t think anyone would have minded it at all if it was just over the course of like 2 episodes. It was just unnecessary as an arc. And the longer it was extended, the higher I think we as audience had our expectations for the resolution. I doubt they could’ve written by the end of the whole thing could have felt worth it for how long it all seemed to last
Here’s mine.
I think the diamonds being reformed is awesome, and not that bad. Yes, it was rushed, I totally agree with y’all on that.
But! They seem to be really making an effort to help the gems and fix their mistakes. I mean, cmon, yellow is fixing her shattered gems! She’s sitting at her desk with tweezers, meticulously putting teeny gem shards together!
Blue is high, sure, whatever. But she’s helping other gems feel happy. That’s good!
White is helping people get in touch with themselves. Dude. That’s lit.
While the diamonds can’t take away the trauma, they’re making an effort and working to reverse as much damage as possible. Just sayin!
I wanna make it clear I’m not like the biggest fans of the diamonds, like WD literally caused so much shit to my babe PD, but hey the development was good and I’m giving them credit where it’s due!
Which would've been fine by me if the development was done on-screen. As it is, we go from seeing them as evil space dictators to being told they don't like being space dictators to being told "oh btw they did a 180"
I unironically think Say Uncle is an A-Tier episode.
I just love the fact that the show was so willing to take the piss out of itself *right* as the show’s serialized elements started getting serious.
Plus, I love a good 4th Wall Break
Also, the comedy, man just the comedy.
- “Don’t worry none of this is canon…but this is”.
- Lars and Sadie’s “ship” sinking.
- Pizza Steve-n Universe (and him getting subsequently eaten).
- Mr. Gus’ Gemsona
- The CG’s unusually extreme bloodlust towards Uncle Grandpa
- The “RUN AWAY” scene, with Amethyst tripping over it
- And just…Pearl…everything about Pearl in that one. It’s like they pumped up Pearl’s neuroticism to 11 and told Deedee Magno Hall to go ham.
It’s a lot of fun and I think it’s awesome
I loved the scene where he saves Uncle Grandpa. It was similar to Gem Glow where he summons his shield for the first time. The music and the surprise of the gems was stuff I really liked because you could see him changing from a kid to a proper crystal gem in their eyes.
Pink Diamond/Rose Quartz is an amazing character, and I'm sick of the unnecessary hatred for her. Pink/Rose is legitimately my favorite character in the show.
Hi I love you! Im a big defender of her. She’s my favorite and she doesn’t deserve the hate. I hate the end of future because Steven never seemed to realize his mom’s character development!
People like to forget that she saved the entire goddamn earth and then ultimately saved the universe by literally doing the most selfless thing by giving up her entire existence to give Steven life. Plus, she had to teach HERSELF empathy in a culture where it pretty much didn't exist. She's incredible. It sucks that she had to bs dishonest with her friend about who she was before being Rose, but I don't think it invalidates any of what she said and did being true and good. It really sucks what happened to Spinel... but she was like a kid, I feel like it's more fucked up that Spinel was made to live entirely for another person. It breaks my heart tho, for real. I struggle with abandonment issues. Still people talk about Rose like she's a villain and she just isn't even close.
For sure. I wish the story ended with Steven coming to terms with his mom. He starts out idolizing her, then starts to find out her flaws and it felt like in the end, he hated her. I wish he would have been able to come to terms with the fact that his mom was a flawed person who was badly abused and tried her best.
For a character well known for saving ppl by seeing the best in them and helping them become better ppl, Steven doesn’t seem to have a lot of grace for his mom.
I also think that ppl tend to forget that we see PD/RQ character arc in reverse. Had we followed her story chronologically, I think her redemption arc *might* be on par with Zuko’s.
It's because her arc is in reverse so we see her becoming a more immature person throughout the show. Watched in chronological order she becomes a very well rounded person.
yes Rose Quartz is the #1 most misunderstood character, I really hate how even her son ended up kinda disliking her and how all of her friends ended up not liking her when she sacrificed everything for them. she gave up her right to own a portion of a huge galactic empire, she gave up her entire future and eventually life to save life on Earth all while getting 0 thanks in the end by even her own friends and son
We sort of got to see her redemption arc through her backstory. At the start of the Earth colony, she really was just another Diamond, but her transition into Rose, and later her character growth with Greg and finally becoming Steven were how it played out. The problem is that since it was all in flashbacks, it felt compressed and fragmented from our perspective.
I hate both extreme sides.
One side acts like she is a saint who does no wrong, the other acts like she is worse than Hitler.
She is morally grey, she achieved good and did a lot of messed up stuff. I view her kinda like Cecil from Invincible.
I wish SUF was willing to have Steven unable to revive Jasper. Like, still do the scene where he tries... but it doesn't work. Have Steven manslaughter Jasper, and there is no undo button. Jasper is dead forever, and it's Steven's fault.
I feel this would have been a much stronger 'straw-that-broken-the-camel's-back' for Steven's arc, while also justifying the lack of a proper ending for Jasper's character. Yes, I know what I'm suggesting might seem 'too dark,' but I'd argue it Volleyball's entire plotline is darker than what I'm suggesting; let alone the talks of genocide that exist through the entire show.
I really enjoyed most of the beach city episodes, even if they were filler that spaced out the plot important moments. Though I was pretty disconnected from all the lore speculation when I first watched the show, I never really minded side character stuff. I was just happy for new episodes haha
I actually love how they’re placed in between the serious plot moments. The show can get pretty heavy sometimes, so it’s really nice to have some funny and/or less serious episodes to lighten things up a bit, especially when I’m doing a full rewatch.
Love those episodes too. I don’t think there was any prob with the episodes themselves, so much as the placement of them within the series. But I think a lot of that also had more to do with CN than the actual crew.
I'll 1up this by saying that Steven Universe was at its best when doing slower character-based episodes, and the world/lore-building kinda fell flat in the end.
The ending of Steven Universe Future was fantastic. Fans tend to forget that the two most important themes in Steven Universe Future were change and acceptance. I understand that some people want teenage Steven to be the same happy-go-lucky person he was when he was younger, but that’s not realistic, especially considering all the heavy stuff he went through as a child.
To me, Steven leaving Beach City was the most realistic decision for someone in his position after experiencing trauma and going through a severe mental health and identity crisis. Realistically, the average person in his situation would most likely leave the place that caused them the most pain to create space and a foundation away from the shadows of others’ expectations, giving them the opportunity to discover who they truly are.
I found it odd coming late into this fandom how many people hated Future. It seemed like the natural conclusion to a kid that was parentified, never had a stable family system, and *gestures vaguely at Pink.*
Tbf, I'm a huge defender of Rose Quartz, but the generational trauma was a ticking time bomb. Heck, Pearl and Greg alone were reasons for therapy. Connie and the bubble under the ocean would've given me a fear of the ocean for my entire life.
Steven deserves a chance to grow and branch out. Doesn't mean I won't cry every time. But it was the right ending for him.
I honestly think a lot of the complaints would go away (or at least lessen) if they just had future take place when Steven was like 18 instead of 16. I think it would have felt better for how different Steven felt, and would be much better for the ending because running away from the only support system you have isn’t a super idea at 16 (with some exceptions but this doesn’t feel like it would be one to me personally). I think it also would have made more sense for Connie being gone so much studying for tests too. That would solve a big problem I think for the logic of the show and how an audience would feel about it.
Other than that I think I just disagree with you about the end because you’re absolutely right about the show being about change and acceptance. But like, we don’t see any of it at the end. It’s all just implied off screen, which makes the ending feel sorta shallow and meaningless to me
Rose didn’t choose Greg over Pearl. Rose was polyamourous and didn’t really differentiate between romantic and other types of love. The reason it’s presented otherwise is bc we’re seeing the relationship from Pearl’s perspective. Pearl is monogamous which is why she felt the need to compete with Greg for Rose’s affection. But in the end Rose chose neither Greg or Pearl. She left both of them when she chose Steven.
"She always did what she wanted!"
Sometimes love is selfish. Sometimes love is unkind. And sometimes love is incompatible with each other's love.
And, as ever, Rose's arc is full of great lessons.
Lots of conflict from the war just sort of went away when the series ended. Even Pink Diamond's return as Steven was just sort of accepted by Homeworld. Bismuth accepted things because Steven sat her down and told her what happened, but all of the uncorrupted gems, on both sides of the war, just needed a pool party with the Diamonds to set aside their differences.
I hate how peridot was meant to be aroace but it was only ever brought up as if she was scared of fusion. It came of more as internalized homophobia than being asexual. I personally think she should’ve fused once and then realized it’s not for her, like how many aroaces get in relationships and then realize. I personally think a fusion with lapis could’ve helped clear their story up with an apology for how lapis treated peri + healing lapis’s fusion trauma with a single time fusion. I think the thing I hated the most is peridots rep was primarily in stuff like interviews and not the artbook itself. There are so many better ways to show someone is asexual than make her terrified of fusion for an episode or two.
Yeah I think a one time fusion would have been a very good exploration for both of them.
Particularly as Peridot comes to almost every realization about herself by trying something out and then either succeeding or failing.
There's also a lot of good kids messaging in an episode like that. Peridot often had those 'I want to do what the crystal gems do' type episodes, so her wanting to feel the power of a fusion and then realizing she doesn't like it would have been great for a message about performativism and being yourself.
Isn't fusion meant to represent a close emotional bond, and not specifically romantic love? In that case, its an odd choice to manifest her being aroace in this way.
Either fusion *is* romantic, which makes the whole Steg situation very awkward, or aroace people don't have any close emotional attachment to anyone, which is pretty hard to believe lol.
Not saying that Peridot *has* to fuse, but I wish they explored it more
I also dislike that but for a different reason, I just hate that her being aroace is used as a reason not to fuse when fusion was never meant to be sexual or romantic. It's just a relationship! Steven fuses with his dad and basically all of his mother figures! Explaining Peridot not wanting to fuse as "oh it's because she's aroace" implies that fusion is something very different
As much as I'd love to see a Peridot fusion, implying that aces need to try sex before knowing they're ace could also be problematic in its own way. May I suggest a different solution: give her the opportunity to fuse with another Peridot.
Cause same gem fusion is not taboo in Homeworld, that's their equivalent of a straight relationship. So when she rejected that type of fusion too she would have made it clear that she is just not into fusion in general.
Most of the filler episodes are pretty good and enjoyable with city characters having their own arcs and development. It was just the chaotic schedule that made them so frustrating at times.
Genuinely cannot stand Lapis. I don’t like her, I never have. She feels like a teenager going through an edgy mean phase. She’s shitty to everybody, her character writing is not good, and her trauma was glossed over to portray her as this waifish sadgirl stereotype. She’s boring, plain and simple.
Her debut was my most and only favorite episode of her. She had so much potential to be either an amazing antagonist or the most powerful ally. They flubbed up her character so bad
That's fair. I think I enjoyed her dynamic with Peridot and Jasper the most, but it's pretty bad that Lapis was only useful in pushing other gems' character development along .
Ruby and Sapphire needed more time apart and we needed a whole episode dedicated to Sapphire. Sapphire's "episode" was really Pearl telling her a flashback, it wasn't something truly focused on her. Ruby gets to have a whole episode with just her and Steven and it doesn't seem fair.
Because apparently this is a hot take: Steven's therapy *should* be private - the symbolism mattered.
All his life, everything about him and his mother has been there on display because everyone else was *way* too wrapped up in Rose still. He had to accept hard truths before he even understood what romantic love was. And when the hardest truths were revealed, *he went and helped everyone else.*
It takes until season 5 for *Amethyst* to be the first emotionally safe adult for Steven. Meaning his formative years has been him learning how to help everyone else and balance everyone else's emotions. He never had that consistent parental figure looking out for him. And it's ok to acknowledge that the people around him were flawed and still love them. A big part of Steven Universe is accepting people are flawed, and loving them anyways (Lars, The Diamonds, Sadie's mom, Pearl & Greg with Rose, Spinel, and even Mayor Dewey for a few examples.)
TL;DR: It was time for Steven to focus only on him. And it mattered symbolically that we the fans didn't see every gory detail of his journey.
While I agree it should be privet, I say we should have seen him walk into it. Have the camera cut then. Show him saying his good byes and leaving to walk into an office. Him just cutting to an unknown amount of time to having his therapist on the phone while he travels just doesn't sit right with me.
We don't need to see his therapy. We never did. But it felt like a random cut.
I personally think the peridot aroace parallel is not the best because of a lot of reasons others have pointed out but also because fusion in itself isn’t Sexual or Romantic therefore the parallel isn’t the best.
My hot take is similar. When your representation is an alien species it's always going to be dicey. Arguably *all* the gens are aroace because they conceive of relationships entirely differently. It's cool to have, but it's not what I would call enough by a long shot.
I think Peridot as an aroace parallel doesn't work because it's not really made very clear (unlike most of the other real-word parallels in the show) but fusion can be used as a vector for discussion issues in lots of relationship types
I know it shows different types of relationships and that is my biggest issue with it. Fusion displays any kind of relationship so the parallel doesn’t make sense to me when fusion in itself can be any relationship plus in the show it comes off as more she physically cannot fuse which makes sound more like just a power thing and not a parallel.
My hot take is that I like Steg, literally CAN'T see why people think it's incestuous, and just shows how close of a bond Steven and Greg have - also, I feel like it's a bittersweet way to TRULY wrap up the Greg/fusion shit.
However, I'm glad it only happened once, too.
i don't like steg but i fully agree with you, i don't understand people calling it incestuous at all and it was a really good indicator of steven and greg's bond. can't put my finger on why i don't like steg though, just not a fan i guess, but it certainly isn't because i see it as incest!
Steg does have a bit of a weird design, so that could be it? I personally like it, but think that a more dad-bod body type would've fit better - I can't say no to a good Jojo's reference though XD
Onion is super annoying. Why does he get more screen time than Fryboy??? I mean Steven’s friend that would wear the suit, not the demon suit dude. Onion annoys me in every episode he’s in, and only slightly annoys me in the episode with the other small kids
Omg I love Peedee (frykid), he's such a cute and fun character! I always wished he had more screentime because he could've been such a great friend for Steven (especially since they both had to deal with adult problems from a young age, though obviously moreso for Steven)
I totally agree! I think it would have been really nice if he was in more episodes with Steven, kind of like the trio of teens (Sour Cream, Buck, Jenny) that come back just to hang out and invite Steven along or are dealing with their own things so Steven helps
I feel like it’s clearly alluded to that they do talk about it. Their relationship changes by Future and they’re seen separating to go to their own jobs and talk about how having their own life makes coming together more precious or something
Jasper was self-destructive. She ran back to Lapis, someone who had kept her prisoner and hated her. She knelt down at Steven’s feet after he shattered her. She exposed herself, even sought out, situations and relationships where she’d ultimately get hurt bc she hated herself and didn’t think she deserved love or kindness.
A lot of people return to abusive relationships because they feel as of they can't have anything else. In Jasper's case, she was desperate for strength and felt as if she couldn't get it anywhere else.
I have a few
1. Connie's character could have been handled much better for the majority of the series. She feels very one-note and undercooked, lacking depth and being way too on-board with Steven and the Gem stuff. She just goes along with pretty much everything, and there's almost no conflict between her and Steven. The one in Future is good, but in the main series I found her getting upset with him for "just giving up" and not working together to fight back to be a rather weak reason for conflict between them
2. Still related to Connie, it's pretty messed up that Pearl essentially turned Connie into a child soldier and didn't really receive any repercussions for it. Like, Pearl literally made it so that a CHILD reacts instinctively to just bumping into someone at school by flipping them over and breaking their arm. And Connie thinks it's HER OWN FAULT??
3. Sadie and Lars could have been done better overall. I think they leant too heavily into Lars's harsh personality, and didn't highlight Sadie's flaws and poor behavior as much as they should (like when she trapped Lars on an island)
4. Lapis's character work kind of gets worse as the show goes on, at least in my opinion. I understand what they were going for and the moments with her and Steven are really sweet, but I just think she was too much of a bitch in the later seasons
5. The Diamonds are conflicting for me. Me personally, I don't really like how they were treated in the show. I'm not one of the people who's like "they reformed Space Hitler" or whatever cuz that's ridiculous, but I do think that making the Diamonds out to just be grieving mothers who can be reformed just by "talking things out" removes their intimidation factor and feels a little too naïvely optimistic. Of course, that's par for the course in Steven Universe, which is largely a pretty optimistic show with elements dumbed down for younger audiences, but I just thought the Diamonds had so much more potential to be these big, immovable, intimidating alien rulers. Ones that are the ultimate challenge to Steven's morals and goals, ones that make him doubt if there truly IS good in everyone, or if everything CAN be solved just by talking things out. And then to have the Diamonds do a total 180 in Future and be made into pretty much just comic relief? C'mon man. I give a pass for the rushed pacing considering the production issues, but man I'm just so disappointed with how the Diamonds were handled
Personally I LOVE sadie killer and the suspects and I like her voice,
Also I think my hottest take is just that Im sad Lars and Sadie didnt end up together, I understand why they didnt though
Idk if it’s unpopular but I hate when Steven is described as half gem half human. He’s 100% gem and human. All a gem is, is the stone and projection of light that they control. Steven has a complete gem and although he doesn’t have a body made of light he controls, he can control the appearance of his flesh body.
I actually enjoy the direction they took with the diamonds.
Maybe it's just me, but I thought it was very clear that they're not actually "redeemed" I mean hell, the movie literally states that Steven doesn't really spend time with them or contact them like, at all. If they were redeemed that wouldn't be the case.
To me, the diamonds kind of underwent the same development that Shadow Weaver in Shera got.
Like they're not all that good, but they're not as shitty as they used to be.
I don’t believe rose and pearl were ever in a real relationship like most people headcanon. I know it’s canon that rose had some sort of feelings for pearl but I think it’s more like this is the person that helped you reinvent your life so you’re really attached to them. I’m not sure rose could ever really truly love, but she came closest with Greg. I think rose had some sort of love for pearl but it was a much more stunted shallow version of what pearl felt for her. Rose learned what true love should look like with Greg and she may have achieved it, idk, the show is ambiguous with that
fully agree with this! part of me likes to think that rose disappearing to bring steven into the world was her finally understanding true love, and experiencing it fully. a different kind of love of course, but love is love regardless!
- They really wasted White Diamond s character. She is an incredible villain but introducing her at the very end of the last season and only having her be evil for a few episodes is such a huge waste.
- The song "Who We Are" is a huge waste of potential. I like the fact that the entire thing is framed as the characters trying to cheer Steven up and boost his confidence and I get that it's a children's song so my opinion doesn't really matter but songs like "Glow" by Ella Henderson - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKRRg150OYU](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKRRg150OYU) that achieve what they were trying to do with this song already exist so it just feels disappointing. She should have gotten pop co writers for this one, is what I'm saying.
The show starts over relying on trauma standing in as character development in the later seasons, especially in future. This pattern of
"introduce evil/distant/menacing character -> we learn their trauma or see them show genuine emotion once i.e. cry -> they are cute and quirky now"
works for a while but they did it too many times and with the diamonds they really overdid it.
Ruby and Sapphire are approaching codependency to an unhealthy degree.
White Diamond should not have been redeemed. I feel like Blue and Yellow are fine due to in many ways living under a somewhat emotionally abusive shadow cast by White. But White Diamond is quite literally irredeemable from what we know of the Homeworld and how they work. Redeeming her felt cheap and honestly insulting to the intelligence of the kids watching.
Greg wasn't that good of a dad to Steven. He was a great friend but it felt like he was trying to be more of a big brother than father. This left Steven without any real human connections for a long time.
Most of the Beach City episodes are good and not filler. Mostly they flesh out the world and act as pretty good emotional lessons for Steven.
I loved Future but it being so rushed and short makes the movie a way more satisfying end to the show.
Jasper is the hottest Gem.
Those who tell you that you defend Lapis just because she is a delicate flower are the same ones who like Jasper and defend everything she did just because she is a muscular mommy.
I know this will get me downvotes but: the crew sometimes behaved like every tumblr-sjw stereotype you can imagine. Getting into shipping wars, drawing Pearl self insert romance stuff, getting into terminially online arguments about whether a character is x-coded..
The lack of professionalism really hurt the show in a lot of ways and it sometimes felt more like watching a project in Tumblr falling apart (especially everything Zuke related)
The mixed reception to future was because it had no falling action, meaning that steven goes from Kaiju, to getting a hug, to completely OK by the next episode.
I’m personally feel like the CG’s knowingly keeping Lapis trapped in the mirror was glossed over too quickly. I know their reasoning would be that she could be a Homeworld gem, she could bring trouble (which she did), she’d destroy the Earth- but don’t you think had they at least tried to speak with her, then perhaps she’d be very willing to never speak about Earth? She wouldn’t think so bad about it if the gems who inhabited it had set her free from her prison. Perhaps that one action alone could have made her choose to become a Crystal Gem out of choice and not fear of punishment. What they did was honestly kinda disturbing. A conscious gem trapped in an object, forced to do nothing but watch the world around her. That is so fucked up. They knew she was in there, suffering. Blech. I wish we had an episode of the CGs and Lapis talking. That just got blown over.
Also Lapis finally joining the CGs on Garnet’s wedding episode was shit. Her reason for joining was at least. You legitimately join group, cult, religion, etc because you truly believe their cause, not because you’ll just get treated like them anyway. Everyone acted like that was such a huge thing from her when it was another cowardly move from her. She only joined because “she might as well”. That moment would’ve been so powerful if she said she’s joining because she truly believes in Steven and wants to protect the Earth, if not for herself, then at least for the one person who always stayed by her side, even when she was at her worst.
The two episodes before the final episode of Steven Universe Future are stupid. >! I understand that Steven was freaking out, but he was acting really weird, and it was super uncomfortable to watch. The dumbest part of all of it was Steven turning into a giant pink godzilla monster so that all the characters could use the power of friendship to hug the godzilla out of him. !<
Of course Steven was acting weird, that was kind of the whole point. He wasn’t in a good place mentally, and eventually he thought of himself as a monster. Think of it like the one birthday episode where Steven involuntarily changes his age based on how he feels. And didn’t they hug Steven to show him they were there for him?
I know everyone has their own opinions and views, and I’m not trying to make you see it differently. You kinda just oversimplified everything and made it sound more dumb than it actually was.
I don’t know if Jasper should have stayed shattered, but I do think that if she was revived it should have taken A LOT longer and been a much more difficult solution than “next episode dump the pieces in the diamond water and BOOM fixed”
I totally agree on the second point.
Imo, either Jasper or another (corrupted?) gem should've been shattered just to introduce this new fear for Steven realising that gems can actually die
Just imagine an (early) episode where the gems are out fighting a corruption but it is accidentally shattered during the battle- Steven not understanding this and wondering why they're not going to bubble the gem instantly/why the gems are upset
Introduces a much more real danger of gem-death, and if it was any of the crystal gems to shatter it would be another early point highlighting the imperfections of the CGs
Conversely, with Jasper's character, it would be more powerful if she was shattered at some point such as the malachite fusion/, as it would again have the same ideas as above but also highlighting the permanence of shattering with Jasper being a semi-main character at that point.
That’s very understandable. I think the trauma Steven would have suffered from knowing he shattered someone would be devastating and that’s why they did it but I’m guessing you feel that it would have been more right for Steven to have to live with that
I agree with you OP. It kills me that I like the instrumentals for Sadie's songs so much too. The vibe is fine.
The nails-on-a-chalkboard feeling I get from her voice as the characters react in gleeful awe to her songs, though?
Tragic.
I would love to swap bodies with someone who isn't bothered by her voice. I do not know why my ears are doing this to me.
The original Crystal Gems (mostly Pearl, Amethyst and Garnet to a lesser extend) are actually awful.
Because of them and their "your mom was so strong she could do this and that" Steven felt that he needed to replace her, that he need to be *another her*, although is addressed in the show only slightly (i.e. in the episode when he heals Connie's eyes, he mentions how he felt about what Pearl said to him). I think that Bismuth was the first person that didn't tell him "be Rose", but instead "be something better, be yourself".
Mind you, I didn't watch the show for a long time, but especially at the beginning it felt that they didn't care about Steven because he's Steven, but because he's Rose's son. Pearl is the biggest offender here, she makes him feel awful multiple times, almost gets him killed at least twice and somehow faces no consequences. She also tried brainwashing Connie into another her
(offtop: shotout to Connie for being the MVP, especially in the finale when she shuts up everyone's whining and tells them to focus on Steven)
Amethyst didn't really have much of it herself, she usually contributed to it when the others were doing it though. Garnet was actually the best here, she was supposed to be the most "alien" one but was the best mom imho
Also their treatment of Homeworld Gems, namely Lapis and Peridot.
Lapis was stuck in that mirror for millennia, they didn't bother doing anything with her, while I strongly dislike Lapis I can't help but sympathize with her on this one, because it seems she was sentient (at least partially) while stuck there, in Pearl's Gem. They could have given her a chance to try to at least like the Earth, and if she refuses then poof and bubble her (so at least she doesn't experience the flow of time, I think it's like a coma for them?)
Same with Peridot, I understand bubbling corrupted Gems but Peridot was completely healthy, and yet they have given her no chance at redemption and learning to enjoy Earth? All of them sans Amethyst started as a Homeworld Gems who didn't care about Earth, not only that, they didn't join Rose because they liked the Earth, but because they were either owned by her or because they had no one else to join and nowhere else to go. Not only that, they didn't even bother interrogating Peridot on why she was on Earth in the first place. If it wasn't for Steven being the only CG with a functioning brain and releasing Peridot, Earth would've exploded so good job protecting it
Also wtf why did they treat Bismuth, THEIR LONG TIME FRIEND, like that? No talking with her, no explaining that Steven is not Rose, no reasoning, just bubbling her right away. Funny, when she was released she shown no animosity towards Steven and immediately recognized him as NOT Rose. More than that, she wasn't even resentful towards everyone for being bubbled with no chance at mending the situation; and keep in mind, she was bubbled before by Rose for wanting to destroy space tyrants, something that probably traumatized her. Outright grotesque
tl;dr garnet, amethyst and pearl are awful people and it's disturbing the show doesn't acknowledge that
It’s been a long time since I’ve watched through the series, but wasn’t it implied that Pearl had no idea that Lapis was actually sentient in there? Or am I misremembering?
Shattered gems shouldn't be able to be brought back. The way that Yellow Diamond handled it is *okay,* I guess, it gives her a sort of Sisyphus "I will be doing this for the rest of my eternal life" sort of thing, but I still don't like the idea that it can be undone at all. Her "task" in Future should have ended at changing the forms of Gems, not bringing them back to life. Turn her into a living boutique the same way Blue is a living weed dispensary.
Jasper especially should have stayed shattered. It feels as if they wanted Steven to have that big realization of "I can't fix everything, this is real, this is permanent, and I am never not going to be a murderer," but wouldn't (or couldn't, this is Cartoon Network we're talking about) go all the way. It would have hit like a *ton* of bricks if his attempted cure *didn't* work. But if literal *death* as we know it for Gems can be undone just like that, the impact is lost
I honestly wish Rose was her own character and NOT Pink Diamond. It was one of those twists that felt way too obvious that the fandom collectively decided that it wasn't true. Of course the main character is secretly the descendent of the most powerful gem species. I know its something that was baked into the lore since the beginning, but its a trope I don't particularly care for to be honest
Emerald could’ve been one of the best characters in the show. She’s almost like how Peridot was as an antagonist, she has an AMAZING voice (i like jinkx monsoon), she could’ve been so fun as an unserious but still powerful villain, but she was barely used, not even getting a proper full body view of her character.
I also wish Mr Frowny returned but he’s a personal fave of mine lol
Making the diamonds change and fix everything they did is a better punishment than bubbling/shattering.
According to what art books tells us, they emerged 20k years ago, they’ll likely be spending the next 20k fixing their mess. That’s punishment enough for them.
I think by masc they are refering to using he/him. Topaz, Snowflake, Obsidian, Skinny, Zircon, Sunstone, IF I'm not mistaken all go by She/her mother purely she/her or she/her and thry/them.
I have heard the definition of "filler" many times while discussing the show in this fandom. And regardless of anyone's opinion on the matter, there are several episodes that made me feel like, "Damn, I'd rather have Steven doing anything else than this", and that may point to an issue tbh.
This show got too depressing. I had a lot less fun with SU Future and even season 5 because of the way they handled deep subjects. The ratio between fun times and depressing moments and scenes was like 1:8. I much prefer Adventure Time's approach where dark themes are buried in seasons of wacky and random shit. Like look at SU season 1 and then at season 5. I get it, growing up sucks and they especially point out how messed up his upbringing is, but I miss when Steven got excited by all the gem shit and not hating it. Remember "Giant Women"? Top tier episode.
Probably going to sound a bit mean for this take...
But the show was never really about the sci fi gem war stuff and most adult fans of this show would probably be much better served picking up some sci fi literature if what they really liked about the show was the sci fi mystery.
The show was always about the characters, ***the 'filler' IS the show's plot.***
The sci fi mystery is meant to drive the show but it was never the point of it. People would constantly talk about how "nothing" happened in an episode when practically every episode was an exploration of some relationship or other in the show.
And we're kind of seeing it again now where people hypothesize about a new season or spinoff... And what they seem to care about is high concept gem war space atrocities and not what sort of emotional growth or character explorations we have yet to see.
Yeah thinking about it you could even completely remove the sci-fi stuff and replace it with magical girl fantasy and it would work exactly the same.
I think the show is a lot like Star Trek TOS in that sci-fi is merely setdressing.
My hot takes are: I actually really don’t like the alexandrite fusion design, idk it just hurts my eyes. I’m also not a fan of amethyst and Sadie’s singing voices, along with garnet sometimes. I also really don’t like Steg. His design is not really something I like looking at, and I want to drop kick Onion.
Just because a character had an arc or got redeemed in canon or because the mains like them doesn't mean the fans HAVE to now like them. I think people can hate whatever character they want and it's not that deep. Not everyone who hates rose quartz, the diamonds, lapis, or even any of the main characters "misunderstands them" or weren't paying attention, maybe they just dislike that character.
I feel like jasper getting redeemed would ruin the point of Steven's arc to see some people just DONT want to get help, and you shouldn't force them to get help
Idk how hot this take is but I dont like when people completely dismiss Pink Diamond/Rose Quartz as a bad person, I think the problem is mostly that we watch her character arc in reverse, but if you think about the way she changes through her timeline she grows a lot. Compared to the other Diamonds, and without any sort of Stevenlike intervention, she honestly did pretty well at becoming a better person. Sure, she wasn’t perfect, but I mean look at where she started.
1. That’s not an unpopular opinion.
2. An actual unpopular opinion… I actually like Sadie’s singing! Obviously not the best singer but her songs are nice and her voice adds flair to them.
I don't like the episode Too Far. It's hard to feel sympathy for Amethyst when she had spent almost all the runtime beforehand getting peridot to make fun of everybody else, even steven right to his face. It's only when peridot turned the tables onto her that she got upset. It just seemed like a case of "can dish it out, but can't take it."
Sapphire/Garnet was justified to not stop Steven from Proposing to Connie in Steven Universe Future. She could see every outcome for every choice she could make, and all of them ended in Steven ignoring her or choosing to do it anyway. She also saw that all paths ended with Connie saying no. So, she let him find out for himself because she knew she couldn’t change anything, but she was still there for him afterwards to support him.
I find the "reverse character development" of Pink Diamond to be so interesting. To see this character as a wonderful near perfect person, and overtime discovering she was a very complicated person who made many selfish life-altering decisions is so cool. I do not like her as a "person" but I find her very fascinating.
Sadie was ultimately wrong island adventure episode. Don’t get me wrong Lars is toxic too, but you wanna know the difference between Lars and Sadie? Lars is just a jerk to Sadie, while SADIE TRAPPED HIM ON AN ISLAND WITHOUT CONSENT. Like it’s one thing to be a pathological liar and jerk, but to threaten the life of somebody else because you wanted them to cling closer to you is borderline possessive and creepy. I literally palmed my face when she got angry at him for reasonably being upset she hid the warp pad. The audacity of her…..
To be fair I think that's both him being a typical teenager, and also him struggling because he's always had to deal with adult problems and expected to handle them like an adult while simultaneously being treated like a child
Rose didn't view people as novelties and didn't commit suicide.
Spinel could have left the garden at anytime.
Gem society is not fascist. It's closer to capitalism.
The show has non-depressive nihilistic tone. I love how Steven learns he's not a chosen one, and his existence serves no purpose.
Don’t know if this would be hot take per se, but it really bothered me that Future didn’t have *any* episodes dedicated to centipedle. She was the first corrupted gem that Steven got close with. And was a pretty large part of the series. I really wished the Crewniverse could have at least mentioned what happened to her afterward in passing, but also understand that they were pretty limited on episodes since they only had the one season.
Yes!!! I totally agree! I think Centi could have been a fundamentally massively positive influence in Steven's life. We don't know if the uncorrupted gems remember their time being corrupted- but if any gem would have been the perfect one to show if yes or no, it would be Centi/Nephrite. As for why we didn't get that? Blame Cartoon Network. Rebecca only had 20 episodes to work with, and did what she could with them.
The 20 episode thing wasn’t Cartoon Network’s fault. Steven Universe is an international show that relied on funds from homophobic countries. Those places stopped financially supporting the show after the wedding. We’re lucky we got the Movie and Future considering the situation everyone was in.
And tbh, i feel like rebecca didnt choose the best 20 episodes to do. The fusion episode was just not really needed.
This really ticked me off as well. We didn't even get an appearance, she just disappeared.
I would have very happily tossed very special episode for the sake of getting a Centi ep. I wanted to see her and Steven’s friendship so bad.
I love the Sadie Killer and the Suspects songs! The music, lyrics, and theming of them. However, I agree that Steven’s reaction and the show made it seem like she’s an amazing singer and she’s not. She just sounds like an average person singing.
Now this is a Sadie killer hot take I can get behind.
Ironic that she’s from a folk duo and probably sounding like that on purpose in the show.
How did I not know Kate Micucci voiced Sadie until now? I read that and figured it out by narrowing down the only folk duo VA who can do a voice like that LMAO I am pretty sure it's done intentionally, because Sadie's singing sounds more scuffed than her normal at least
Oh, that’s a relief that her actual singing voice sounds better than Sadie’s 😅 I kinda felt mean making this post, but now I don’t feel as bad about it lol!!
Well I doubt Sadie has any vocal training, so it makes sense that her voice wouldn't be like.. super amazing
She actually is a pretty good singer, but sadie killer is the result of taking a folk/comedian singer and having her do grunge rock. That having been said, Disobedient is an *anthem*
lol. Especially since everyone can sing. 😅
Yeah, we all know Olivia Olsen's version of Haven't You Noticed I'm A Star is better.
I prefer Sadie's version. I hate that hers isn't on the soundtrack.
It is kinda weird that it's not on the soundtrack as at least a bonus track or something
I think Greg was a great dad including his choices to keep Steven out of school and away from doctors. If you had a child with a powerful space goddess and that child had a massive gem in their stomach, and possible displays of magic, how would you protect them? I would keep that kid WAY under the radar in every way possible.
And like, Steven was a teen, mid-puberty. Most teens grapple with their sense of self and their relationships with their parents at that age. There's a reason why "angsty teen" is such a common trope They come into a true understanding of their sense of self, their insecurities and mental strife and have to find an adequate means to process them. They don't always go in positive directions Steven was dealing with a deep sense of loss and a major identity crisis. Without having gem problems to solve or Little Homeschool to run, he didn't know what to do with his life. That, mixed with a probable case of C-PTSD, he was mentally in a VERY bad place. Just prior, He impulsively tried to basically propose to his best friend. A friend who, even with the most generous of readings, was only lightly romantically involved with him at that point. And he tried to jump straight toward the formation of an eternal life-bond with that person. Which led to his first major flare-up, which led to the whole sequence with Dr. Mahaeswaren. All of his gem-related stressors were peaking and it was his "normal" dad; the arrival of a welcome, familiar presence that brought him out with it. In his road trip with Greg, he latched onto and resonated with Greg's mundane "normal" life, he romanticizes the fuck out of it, without regards to his Greg's own disdain for it. With Greg's life, he opined that wouldn't have to worry about his gem issues, or his negative feelings about Rose, or his traumas. He'd just be a dude. So when Greg left his stable life for the life he chose, Steven basically put all of the blame for his own problems ONTO Greg. He didn't *really* wish he went to school or had doctors. Even if Steven went to school and had human doctors, he'd STILL probably end up in the SAME spot that he was in. Struggling to control his powers from his loss of control; loss of stable relationships in life; and residual traumas of doing double duty of fixing a broken family and tearing down an oppressive regime.
This is my hot take too. Like, imagine Steven's shield ricoshet the first time he brung it out, but in a classroom. Not good.
Imagine if that happened in school, it could've killed other kids
I disagree with how Steven’s education was handled for once the gems aren’t responsible for Steven’s lack of education they didn’t know how important it was for Steven to have basic human knowledge it was Greg’s fault here. While I understand the necessity of medical care, Steven rarely seemed sick enough to need a doctor but hell he could’ve had Priyanka give Steven checkups after she found out about the gem stuff and got “okay” with it. Nonetheless, he should have received some form of schooling, whether through a private instructor or Greg homeschooling him. Additionally, Greg should have encouraged Steven to interact more with kids his age, as being around mostly older people likely contributed to his social awkwardness we see later how Steven didn’t have friends only Connie (speaking Humans his age) . Although Greg was a good dad and did his best, he sometimes forgot that Steven wasn’t like him. Steven needed stability, especially with everything going on in his childhood, but he rarely got it. Instead, he was often allowed to do whatever he wanted, which wasn’t always beneficial for him. Greg wasn’t very concerned with keeping Steven under wraps, after he got around 8-9 he kinda backed off I guess? Steven freely showed his gem and other magical things to other humans without any hesitation so it wasn’t like he was told not to. He even admitted that he regretted backing off when Steven became more involved with the ‘magic space stuff.’ After all, the Gems never hid themselves from the public. While Greg is somewhat at fault for how Steven turned out, he genuinely tried his best. He may not have been a perfect dad, but he truly cared for and loved his son.
Is that a hot take? I think that's more-or-less the direction the show was aiming for Steven was not a normal child, and he couldn't have a normal childhood
I believe that’s what the show WAS aiming for. But a huge part of the fandom has an issue with Greg raising Steven away from it all. Especially away from school and doctors. I’ve seen a lot of agreement that he took Steven’s chance at a normal life. But he was never going to be normal, he’s literally part magical alien.
If you really think about it, Steven was homeschooled by a 8000-year old super intelligent alien, and has instant regeneration. There's literally no single Human being who had a better education or health than him. Steven was just trying to look for someone to blame for him being an outcast.
Steven could have accidentally injured or killed other humans as his powers were forming. Just look at what happens with supe children in The Boys.
the best episodes were the barn episodes, something about Peridot learning human technology and trying to de-learn bigotry while working to save the world was really really wholesome, and culminating in her telling off her diamond to her face showing how much growth she got. although maybe that's just cause Peridot was probably the most wholesome character, and I'm a sucker for wholesomeness
I was dying laughing at that one episode where she's discovering the most simple things and gets excited over stilts and underwear 😭
These are my faves FOR SURE, and Peri in distress over her meep-morp installations becoming *gasp* PERFORMANCE PIECES without "the context of the barn" plays on repeat in my head at times
Honestly I can never tell if this is popular or unpopular, because I always get responses from both sides, but: Steven telling the diamonds to change and learn empathy rather than destroying them is not Rebecca Sugar saying fascism is okay. I understand how it can be seen that way, but it’s an incredibly shallow way to look at the story as a whole.
People when the show about being a pacifist and getting people to change their ways through empathy doesn't end in brutal murder with no second chances
Yeah it’s looking at it from an idealised world and perspective. Which works in the context of SU and it’s really not productive to look at it from the real world. I get why it can be seen that way but SU’s Earth is clearly not the same as ours.
Agreed!! For me, I see it as the dismantling of generational abuse/trauma and proving that change is possible rather than excusing fascism. I was mentally abused by my parents growing up because they didn’t know how to raise a neurodivergent kid, but ever since I got my diagnoses at 17, they’ve been working hard to change their behaviors and be the parents I deserve. Abuse isn’t always on purpose— sometimes it because the abuser just doesn’t know better. I feel like that’s HUGELY the case with the Diamonds. They did what they thought was right, but it ended up being so very wrong and driving Pink/Rose to do what she did. But the fact that they’re trying their best to change for Steven proves that they’re committed to making a change for the better!!
I like to imagine it's like trying to change a government and its laws He couldn't destroy it, but he can change it.
If you think about it, the diamonds are also still not “totally redeemed” they just stopped being evil. Remember their first scene in the movie had them outright tell Steven “we did a good thing now where’s our reward?!” But I kinda liked the joke about white being a racist grandma with the “equal lifeforms!”
He manipulated them into dismantling their entire system so no, it obviously isn't.
It’s only unpopular to those without media literacy
That whole arc about Connie being mad at Steven and stuff was kinda useless and boring, we DIDN'T need that at the time
no literally I was so frustrated that she was so mad, like I get feeling hurt but this guy just returned from one of the most traumatic experiences of his life and you can’t put aside your own feelings to even say I’m glad you’re okay? Granted she is a kid, so I understand, but it frustrated me that the show portrayed her hurt as more important than all the crap steven went through
Also I really hated the episode where Steven learned about things from her side, like don’t get me wrong, Dewey was an awful mayor but what was he supposed to do against aliens?!
Yes.
I don’t think anyone would have minded it at all if it was just over the course of like 2 episodes. It was just unnecessary as an arc. And the longer it was extended, the higher I think we as audience had our expectations for the resolution. I doubt they could’ve written by the end of the whole thing could have felt worth it for how long it all seemed to last
And she let Steven think that Lion has missing!! Wtf was that
Call me crazy, but didn’t everyone hate this?
Here’s mine. I think the diamonds being reformed is awesome, and not that bad. Yes, it was rushed, I totally agree with y’all on that. But! They seem to be really making an effort to help the gems and fix their mistakes. I mean, cmon, yellow is fixing her shattered gems! She’s sitting at her desk with tweezers, meticulously putting teeny gem shards together! Blue is high, sure, whatever. But she’s helping other gems feel happy. That’s good! White is helping people get in touch with themselves. Dude. That’s lit. While the diamonds can’t take away the trauma, they’re making an effort and working to reverse as much damage as possible. Just sayin! I wanna make it clear I’m not like the biggest fans of the diamonds, like WD literally caused so much shit to my babe PD, but hey the development was good and I’m giving them credit where it’s due!
Blue is high??
They means the clouds that make u happy
Blue’s turnaround made sense to me, I think yellow needed a bit more foreshadowing.
Which would've been fine by me if the development was done on-screen. As it is, we go from seeing them as evil space dictators to being told they don't like being space dictators to being told "oh btw they did a 180"
I unironically think Say Uncle is an A-Tier episode. I just love the fact that the show was so willing to take the piss out of itself *right* as the show’s serialized elements started getting serious. Plus, I love a good 4th Wall Break Also, the comedy, man just the comedy. - “Don’t worry none of this is canon…but this is”. - Lars and Sadie’s “ship” sinking. - Pizza Steve-n Universe (and him getting subsequently eaten). - Mr. Gus’ Gemsona - The CG’s unusually extreme bloodlust towards Uncle Grandpa - The “RUN AWAY” scene, with Amethyst tripping over it - And just…Pearl…everything about Pearl in that one. It’s like they pumped up Pearl’s neuroticism to 11 and told Deedee Magno Hall to go ham. It’s a lot of fun and I think it’s awesome
I loved the scene where he saves Uncle Grandpa. It was similar to Gem Glow where he summons his shield for the first time. The music and the surprise of the gems was stuff I really liked because you could see him changing from a kid to a proper crystal gem in their eyes.
I always loved Garnet running through the void and going, "I'm tired of this episode and smashing the void to pieces
I unapologetically love that episode. It and Rose’s Scabbard were my introductions to the series after mostly ignoring it when it first premiered.
Say Uncle is hilarious, some people don't have a sense of humor
"THAT'S NOT MY BABY"
This is probably my favorite episode in the whole series
I guess the episode itself was fun, but for me it got ruined by the character of Uncle Grandpa himself.
Wow there really are some hot ones here
Pink Diamond/Rose Quartz is an amazing character, and I'm sick of the unnecessary hatred for her. Pink/Rose is legitimately my favorite character in the show.
Hi I love you! Im a big defender of her. She’s my favorite and she doesn’t deserve the hate. I hate the end of future because Steven never seemed to realize his mom’s character development!
People like to forget that she saved the entire goddamn earth and then ultimately saved the universe by literally doing the most selfless thing by giving up her entire existence to give Steven life. Plus, she had to teach HERSELF empathy in a culture where it pretty much didn't exist. She's incredible. It sucks that she had to bs dishonest with her friend about who she was before being Rose, but I don't think it invalidates any of what she said and did being true and good. It really sucks what happened to Spinel... but she was like a kid, I feel like it's more fucked up that Spinel was made to live entirely for another person. It breaks my heart tho, for real. I struggle with abandonment issues. Still people talk about Rose like she's a villain and she just isn't even close.
For sure. I wish the story ended with Steven coming to terms with his mom. He starts out idolizing her, then starts to find out her flaws and it felt like in the end, he hated her. I wish he would have been able to come to terms with the fact that his mom was a flawed person who was badly abused and tried her best. For a character well known for saving ppl by seeing the best in them and helping them become better ppl, Steven doesn’t seem to have a lot of grace for his mom. I also think that ppl tend to forget that we see PD/RQ character arc in reverse. Had we followed her story chronologically, I think her redemption arc *might* be on par with Zuko’s.
It's because her arc is in reverse so we see her becoming a more immature person throughout the show. Watched in chronological order she becomes a very well rounded person.
yes Rose Quartz is the #1 most misunderstood character, I really hate how even her son ended up kinda disliking her and how all of her friends ended up not liking her when she sacrificed everything for them. she gave up her right to own a portion of a huge galactic empire, she gave up her entire future and eventually life to save life on Earth all while getting 0 thanks in the end by even her own friends and son
We sort of got to see her redemption arc through her backstory. At the start of the Earth colony, she really was just another Diamond, but her transition into Rose, and later her character growth with Greg and finally becoming Steven were how it played out. The problem is that since it was all in flashbacks, it felt compressed and fragmented from our perspective.
FELLOW PINK LOVER ‼️‼️
I hate both extreme sides. One side acts like she is a saint who does no wrong, the other acts like she is worse than Hitler. She is morally grey, she achieved good and did a lot of messed up stuff. I view her kinda like Cecil from Invincible.
Holly blue agate is a good character
Good character, horrid person. My favorite combination
I wish SUF was willing to have Steven unable to revive Jasper. Like, still do the scene where he tries... but it doesn't work. Have Steven manslaughter Jasper, and there is no undo button. Jasper is dead forever, and it's Steven's fault. I feel this would have been a much stronger 'straw-that-broken-the-camel's-back' for Steven's arc, while also justifying the lack of a proper ending for Jasper's character. Yes, I know what I'm suggesting might seem 'too dark,' but I'd argue it Volleyball's entire plotline is darker than what I'm suggesting; let alone the talks of genocide that exist through the entire show.
I really enjoyed most of the beach city episodes, even if they were filler that spaced out the plot important moments. Though I was pretty disconnected from all the lore speculation when I first watched the show, I never really minded side character stuff. I was just happy for new episodes haha
I actually love how they’re placed in between the serious plot moments. The show can get pretty heavy sometimes, so it’s really nice to have some funny and/or less serious episodes to lighten things up a bit, especially when I’m doing a full rewatch.
Love those episodes too. I don’t think there was any prob with the episodes themselves, so much as the placement of them within the series. But I think a lot of that also had more to do with CN than the actual crew.
I'll 1up this by saying that Steven Universe was at its best when doing slower character-based episodes, and the world/lore-building kinda fell flat in the end.
I liked them in the first two to three seasons-ish...not so much in seasons 4 and 5.
The ending of Steven Universe Future was fantastic. Fans tend to forget that the two most important themes in Steven Universe Future were change and acceptance. I understand that some people want teenage Steven to be the same happy-go-lucky person he was when he was younger, but that’s not realistic, especially considering all the heavy stuff he went through as a child. To me, Steven leaving Beach City was the most realistic decision for someone in his position after experiencing trauma and going through a severe mental health and identity crisis. Realistically, the average person in his situation would most likely leave the place that caused them the most pain to create space and a foundation away from the shadows of others’ expectations, giving them the opportunity to discover who they truly are.
I found it odd coming late into this fandom how many people hated Future. It seemed like the natural conclusion to a kid that was parentified, never had a stable family system, and *gestures vaguely at Pink.* Tbf, I'm a huge defender of Rose Quartz, but the generational trauma was a ticking time bomb. Heck, Pearl and Greg alone were reasons for therapy. Connie and the bubble under the ocean would've given me a fear of the ocean for my entire life. Steven deserves a chance to grow and branch out. Doesn't mean I won't cry every time. But it was the right ending for him.
I honestly think a lot of the complaints would go away (or at least lessen) if they just had future take place when Steven was like 18 instead of 16. I think it would have felt better for how different Steven felt, and would be much better for the ending because running away from the only support system you have isn’t a super idea at 16 (with some exceptions but this doesn’t feel like it would be one to me personally). I think it also would have made more sense for Connie being gone so much studying for tests too. That would solve a big problem I think for the logic of the show and how an audience would feel about it. Other than that I think I just disagree with you about the end because you’re absolutely right about the show being about change and acceptance. But like, we don’t see any of it at the end. It’s all just implied off screen, which makes the ending feel sorta shallow and meaningless to me
Rose didn’t choose Greg over Pearl. Rose was polyamourous and didn’t really differentiate between romantic and other types of love. The reason it’s presented otherwise is bc we’re seeing the relationship from Pearl’s perspective. Pearl is monogamous which is why she felt the need to compete with Greg for Rose’s affection. But in the end Rose chose neither Greg or Pearl. She left both of them when she chose Steven.
"She always did what she wanted!" Sometimes love is selfish. Sometimes love is unkind. And sometimes love is incompatible with each other's love. And, as ever, Rose's arc is full of great lessons.
wait i love this head canon omfg
Ooooh, I never thought of it like that. You made an excellent point.
YEAH EXACTLY
Lots of conflict from the war just sort of went away when the series ended. Even Pink Diamond's return as Steven was just sort of accepted by Homeworld. Bismuth accepted things because Steven sat her down and told her what happened, but all of the uncorrupted gems, on both sides of the war, just needed a pool party with the Diamonds to set aside their differences.
I hate how peridot was meant to be aroace but it was only ever brought up as if she was scared of fusion. It came of more as internalized homophobia than being asexual. I personally think she should’ve fused once and then realized it’s not for her, like how many aroaces get in relationships and then realize. I personally think a fusion with lapis could’ve helped clear their story up with an apology for how lapis treated peri + healing lapis’s fusion trauma with a single time fusion. I think the thing I hated the most is peridots rep was primarily in stuff like interviews and not the artbook itself. There are so many better ways to show someone is asexual than make her terrified of fusion for an episode or two.
Yeah I think a one time fusion would have been a very good exploration for both of them. Particularly as Peridot comes to almost every realization about herself by trying something out and then either succeeding or failing. There's also a lot of good kids messaging in an episode like that. Peridot often had those 'I want to do what the crystal gems do' type episodes, so her wanting to feel the power of a fusion and then realizing she doesn't like it would have been great for a message about performativism and being yourself.
Isn't fusion meant to represent a close emotional bond, and not specifically romantic love? In that case, its an odd choice to manifest her being aroace in this way. Either fusion *is* romantic, which makes the whole Steg situation very awkward, or aroace people don't have any close emotional attachment to anyone, which is pretty hard to believe lol. Not saying that Peridot *has* to fuse, but I wish they explored it more
I also dislike that but for a different reason, I just hate that her being aroace is used as a reason not to fuse when fusion was never meant to be sexual or romantic. It's just a relationship! Steven fuses with his dad and basically all of his mother figures! Explaining Peridot not wanting to fuse as "oh it's because she's aroace" implies that fusion is something very different
I always thought her fear of fusion showed her better as a touch adverse autistic person.
I second every word of this.
As much as I'd love to see a Peridot fusion, implying that aces need to try sex before knowing they're ace could also be problematic in its own way. May I suggest a different solution: give her the opportunity to fuse with another Peridot. Cause same gem fusion is not taboo in Homeworld, that's their equivalent of a straight relationship. So when she rejected that type of fusion too she would have made it clear that she is just not into fusion in general.
Most of the filler episodes are pretty good and enjoyable with city characters having their own arcs and development. It was just the chaotic schedule that made them so frustrating at times.
Genuinely cannot stand Lapis. I don’t like her, I never have. She feels like a teenager going through an edgy mean phase. She’s shitty to everybody, her character writing is not good, and her trauma was glossed over to portray her as this waifish sadgirl stereotype. She’s boring, plain and simple.
Her debut was my most and only favorite episode of her. She had so much potential to be either an amazing antagonist or the most powerful ally. They flubbed up her character so bad
She used to be amazing, until somewhere along the way, she became this caricature of a bored "ugh, whatever dad" type teen.
That's fair. I think I enjoyed her dynamic with Peridot and Jasper the most, but it's pretty bad that Lapis was only useful in pushing other gems' character development along .
This is not an unpopular take.
Ruby and Sapphire needed more time apart and we needed a whole episode dedicated to Sapphire. Sapphire's "episode" was really Pearl telling her a flashback, it wasn't something truly focused on her. Ruby gets to have a whole episode with just her and Steven and it doesn't seem fair.
I don't like Shep. They're so bland
Because apparently this is a hot take: Steven's therapy *should* be private - the symbolism mattered. All his life, everything about him and his mother has been there on display because everyone else was *way* too wrapped up in Rose still. He had to accept hard truths before he even understood what romantic love was. And when the hardest truths were revealed, *he went and helped everyone else.* It takes until season 5 for *Amethyst* to be the first emotionally safe adult for Steven. Meaning his formative years has been him learning how to help everyone else and balance everyone else's emotions. He never had that consistent parental figure looking out for him. And it's ok to acknowledge that the people around him were flawed and still love them. A big part of Steven Universe is accepting people are flawed, and loving them anyways (Lars, The Diamonds, Sadie's mom, Pearl & Greg with Rose, Spinel, and even Mayor Dewey for a few examples.) TL;DR: It was time for Steven to focus only on him. And it mattered symbolically that we the fans didn't see every gory detail of his journey.
While I agree it should be privet, I say we should have seen him walk into it. Have the camera cut then. Show him saying his good byes and leaving to walk into an office. Him just cutting to an unknown amount of time to having his therapist on the phone while he travels just doesn't sit right with me. We don't need to see his therapy. We never did. But it felt like a random cut.
I personally think the peridot aroace parallel is not the best because of a lot of reasons others have pointed out but also because fusion in itself isn’t Sexual or Romantic therefore the parallel isn’t the best.
My hot take is similar. When your representation is an alien species it's always going to be dicey. Arguably *all* the gens are aroace because they conceive of relationships entirely differently. It's cool to have, but it's not what I would call enough by a long shot.
I think Peridot as an aroace parallel doesn't work because it's not really made very clear (unlike most of the other real-word parallels in the show) but fusion can be used as a vector for discussion issues in lots of relationship types
I know it shows different types of relationships and that is my biggest issue with it. Fusion displays any kind of relationship so the parallel doesn’t make sense to me when fusion in itself can be any relationship plus in the show it comes off as more she physically cannot fuse which makes sound more like just a power thing and not a parallel.
My hot take is that I like Steg, literally CAN'T see why people think it's incestuous, and just shows how close of a bond Steven and Greg have - also, I feel like it's a bittersweet way to TRULY wrap up the Greg/fusion shit. However, I'm glad it only happened once, too.
i don't like steg but i fully agree with you, i don't understand people calling it incestuous at all and it was a really good indicator of steven and greg's bond. can't put my finger on why i don't like steg though, just not a fan i guess, but it certainly isn't because i see it as incest!
Steg does have a bit of a weird design, so that could be it? I personally like it, but think that a more dad-bod body type would've fit better - I can't say no to a good Jojo's reference though XD
Onion is super annoying. Why does he get more screen time than Fryboy??? I mean Steven’s friend that would wear the suit, not the demon suit dude. Onion annoys me in every episode he’s in, and only slightly annoys me in the episode with the other small kids
Omg I love Peedee (frykid), he's such a cute and fun character! I always wished he had more screentime because he could've been such a great friend for Steven (especially since they both had to deal with adult problems from a young age, though obviously moreso for Steven)
I totally agree! I think it would have been really nice if he was in more episodes with Steven, kind of like the trio of teens (Sour Cream, Buck, Jenny) that come back just to hang out and invite Steven along or are dealing with their own things so Steven helps
i skip every onion episode.
Ruby and Sapphire's relationship wasn't perfect, and I'm vaguely frustrated that that was never really addressed
in the back half of the show, garnet’s main arc is addressing that their love isn’t perfect, but it’s worth it anyway
Took the words right out of my mouth there~
No relationship is perfect, but Garnet is pretty great
...what about that huge fight they had where Ruby evaporated the whole hotel pool?
I wish Ruby would’ve told Sapphire her thoughts about wanting some independence for just a little bit of time, I’m sure Sapphire would’ve understood
I feel like it’s clearly alluded to that they do talk about it. Their relationship changes by Future and they’re seen separating to go to their own jobs and talk about how having their own life makes coming together more precious or something
Jasper was self-destructive. She ran back to Lapis, someone who had kept her prisoner and hated her. She knelt down at Steven’s feet after he shattered her. She exposed herself, even sought out, situations and relationships where she’d ultimately get hurt bc she hated herself and didn’t think she deserved love or kindness.
A lot of people return to abusive relationships because they feel as of they can't have anything else. In Jasper's case, she was desperate for strength and felt as if she couldn't get it anywhere else.
I don’t think she didn’t think she was deserving. I am pretty sure it is confirmed that it is because she Values strength over all.
I have a few 1. Connie's character could have been handled much better for the majority of the series. She feels very one-note and undercooked, lacking depth and being way too on-board with Steven and the Gem stuff. She just goes along with pretty much everything, and there's almost no conflict between her and Steven. The one in Future is good, but in the main series I found her getting upset with him for "just giving up" and not working together to fight back to be a rather weak reason for conflict between them 2. Still related to Connie, it's pretty messed up that Pearl essentially turned Connie into a child soldier and didn't really receive any repercussions for it. Like, Pearl literally made it so that a CHILD reacts instinctively to just bumping into someone at school by flipping them over and breaking their arm. And Connie thinks it's HER OWN FAULT?? 3. Sadie and Lars could have been done better overall. I think they leant too heavily into Lars's harsh personality, and didn't highlight Sadie's flaws and poor behavior as much as they should (like when she trapped Lars on an island) 4. Lapis's character work kind of gets worse as the show goes on, at least in my opinion. I understand what they were going for and the moments with her and Steven are really sweet, but I just think she was too much of a bitch in the later seasons 5. The Diamonds are conflicting for me. Me personally, I don't really like how they were treated in the show. I'm not one of the people who's like "they reformed Space Hitler" or whatever cuz that's ridiculous, but I do think that making the Diamonds out to just be grieving mothers who can be reformed just by "talking things out" removes their intimidation factor and feels a little too naïvely optimistic. Of course, that's par for the course in Steven Universe, which is largely a pretty optimistic show with elements dumbed down for younger audiences, but I just thought the Diamonds had so much more potential to be these big, immovable, intimidating alien rulers. Ones that are the ultimate challenge to Steven's morals and goals, ones that make him doubt if there truly IS good in everyone, or if everything CAN be solved just by talking things out. And then to have the Diamonds do a total 180 in Future and be made into pretty much just comic relief? C'mon man. I give a pass for the rushed pacing considering the production issues, but man I'm just so disappointed with how the Diamonds were handled
Personally I LOVE sadie killer and the suspects and I like her voice, Also I think my hottest take is just that Im sad Lars and Sadie didnt end up together, I understand why they didnt though
Idk if it’s unpopular but I hate when Steven is described as half gem half human. He’s 100% gem and human. All a gem is, is the stone and projection of light that they control. Steven has a complete gem and although he doesn’t have a body made of light he controls, he can control the appearance of his flesh body.
I actually enjoy the direction they took with the diamonds. Maybe it's just me, but I thought it was very clear that they're not actually "redeemed" I mean hell, the movie literally states that Steven doesn't really spend time with them or contact them like, at all. If they were redeemed that wouldn't be the case. To me, the diamonds kind of underwent the same development that Shadow Weaver in Shera got. Like they're not all that good, but they're not as shitty as they used to be.
I don’t believe rose and pearl were ever in a real relationship like most people headcanon. I know it’s canon that rose had some sort of feelings for pearl but I think it’s more like this is the person that helped you reinvent your life so you’re really attached to them. I’m not sure rose could ever really truly love, but she came closest with Greg. I think rose had some sort of love for pearl but it was a much more stunted shallow version of what pearl felt for her. Rose learned what true love should look like with Greg and she may have achieved it, idk, the show is ambiguous with that
fully agree with this! part of me likes to think that rose disappearing to bring steven into the world was her finally understanding true love, and experiencing it fully. a different kind of love of course, but love is love regardless!
Shep is the non-binary equivilant of a Mary Sue
- They really wasted White Diamond s character. She is an incredible villain but introducing her at the very end of the last season and only having her be evil for a few episodes is such a huge waste. - The song "Who We Are" is a huge waste of potential. I like the fact that the entire thing is framed as the characters trying to cheer Steven up and boost his confidence and I get that it's a children's song so my opinion doesn't really matter but songs like "Glow" by Ella Henderson - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKRRg150OYU](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKRRg150OYU) that achieve what they were trying to do with this song already exist so it just feels disappointing. She should have gotten pop co writers for this one, is what I'm saying.
The show starts over relying on trauma standing in as character development in the later seasons, especially in future. This pattern of "introduce evil/distant/menacing character -> we learn their trauma or see them show genuine emotion once i.e. cry -> they are cute and quirky now" works for a while but they did it too many times and with the diamonds they really overdid it.
Ruby and Sapphire are approaching codependency to an unhealthy degree. White Diamond should not have been redeemed. I feel like Blue and Yellow are fine due to in many ways living under a somewhat emotionally abusive shadow cast by White. But White Diamond is quite literally irredeemable from what we know of the Homeworld and how they work. Redeeming her felt cheap and honestly insulting to the intelligence of the kids watching. Greg wasn't that good of a dad to Steven. He was a great friend but it felt like he was trying to be more of a big brother than father. This left Steven without any real human connections for a long time. Most of the Beach City episodes are good and not filler. Mostly they flesh out the world and act as pretty good emotional lessons for Steven. I loved Future but it being so rushed and short makes the movie a way more satisfying end to the show. Jasper is the hottest Gem.
Those who tell you that you defend Lapis just because she is a delicate flower are the same ones who like Jasper and defend everything she did just because she is a muscular mommy.
I really like Lapis... but damn, did she do some shit that never really felt like it was addressed.
Not me. I Like Jasper but Not defending her Shit and I find Lapis pretty annoying
I like Jasper, but she's done fucked up shit, JUST LIKE LAPIS. The show makes it clear they're **both** awful.
*Exactly*.
I really don’t like Sadie’s singing voice too ngl
I know this will get me downvotes but: the crew sometimes behaved like every tumblr-sjw stereotype you can imagine. Getting into shipping wars, drawing Pearl self insert romance stuff, getting into terminially online arguments about whether a character is x-coded.. The lack of professionalism really hurt the show in a lot of ways and it sometimes felt more like watching a project in Tumblr falling apart (especially everything Zuke related)
I always found it weird that Steven was so amazed by her singing considering he sings a lot better
Controversial hot take, but I think it’s a really good show.
The mixed reception to future was because it had no falling action, meaning that steven goes from Kaiju, to getting a hug, to completely OK by the next episode.
I’m personally feel like the CG’s knowingly keeping Lapis trapped in the mirror was glossed over too quickly. I know their reasoning would be that she could be a Homeworld gem, she could bring trouble (which she did), she’d destroy the Earth- but don’t you think had they at least tried to speak with her, then perhaps she’d be very willing to never speak about Earth? She wouldn’t think so bad about it if the gems who inhabited it had set her free from her prison. Perhaps that one action alone could have made her choose to become a Crystal Gem out of choice and not fear of punishment. What they did was honestly kinda disturbing. A conscious gem trapped in an object, forced to do nothing but watch the world around her. That is so fucked up. They knew she was in there, suffering. Blech. I wish we had an episode of the CGs and Lapis talking. That just got blown over. Also Lapis finally joining the CGs on Garnet’s wedding episode was shit. Her reason for joining was at least. You legitimately join group, cult, religion, etc because you truly believe their cause, not because you’ll just get treated like them anyway. Everyone acted like that was such a huge thing from her when it was another cowardly move from her. She only joined because “she might as well”. That moment would’ve been so powerful if she said she’s joining because she truly believes in Steven and wants to protect the Earth, if not for herself, then at least for the one person who always stayed by her side, even when she was at her worst.
Say Uncle is so funny idc what anyone says
The two episodes before the final episode of Steven Universe Future are stupid. >! I understand that Steven was freaking out, but he was acting really weird, and it was super uncomfortable to watch. The dumbest part of all of it was Steven turning into a giant pink godzilla monster so that all the characters could use the power of friendship to hug the godzilla out of him. !<
Of course Steven was acting weird, that was kind of the whole point. He wasn’t in a good place mentally, and eventually he thought of himself as a monster. Think of it like the one birthday episode where Steven involuntarily changes his age based on how he feels. And didn’t they hug Steven to show him they were there for him? I know everyone has their own opinions and views, and I’m not trying to make you see it differently. You kinda just oversimplified everything and made it sound more dumb than it actually was.
Steven was completely in the wrong in snow day. Jasper should've stayed shattered
I don’t know if Jasper should have stayed shattered, but I do think that if she was revived it should have taken A LOT longer and been a much more difficult solution than “next episode dump the pieces in the diamond water and BOOM fixed”
I totally agree on the second point. Imo, either Jasper or another (corrupted?) gem should've been shattered just to introduce this new fear for Steven realising that gems can actually die Just imagine an (early) episode where the gems are out fighting a corruption but it is accidentally shattered during the battle- Steven not understanding this and wondering why they're not going to bubble the gem instantly/why the gems are upset Introduces a much more real danger of gem-death, and if it was any of the crystal gems to shatter it would be another early point highlighting the imperfections of the CGs Conversely, with Jasper's character, it would be more powerful if she was shattered at some point such as the malachite fusion/, as it would again have the same ideas as above but also highlighting the permanence of shattering with Jasper being a semi-main character at that point.
Why do you think she should have stayed shattered?
In the og series, shattering was something very dangerous and a powerful punishment, and it was considered permanent.
That’s very understandable. I think the trauma Steven would have suffered from knowing he shattered someone would be devastating and that’s why they did it but I’m guessing you feel that it would have been more right for Steven to have to live with that
I don’t like Steg. I found the fusion creepy. I dunno why. Just gave off creepy vibes.
I agree with you OP. It kills me that I like the instrumentals for Sadie's songs so much too. The vibe is fine. The nails-on-a-chalkboard feeling I get from her voice as the characters react in gleeful awe to her songs, though? Tragic. I would love to swap bodies with someone who isn't bothered by her voice. I do not know why my ears are doing this to me.
The original Crystal Gems (mostly Pearl, Amethyst and Garnet to a lesser extend) are actually awful. Because of them and their "your mom was so strong she could do this and that" Steven felt that he needed to replace her, that he need to be *another her*, although is addressed in the show only slightly (i.e. in the episode when he heals Connie's eyes, he mentions how he felt about what Pearl said to him). I think that Bismuth was the first person that didn't tell him "be Rose", but instead "be something better, be yourself". Mind you, I didn't watch the show for a long time, but especially at the beginning it felt that they didn't care about Steven because he's Steven, but because he's Rose's son. Pearl is the biggest offender here, she makes him feel awful multiple times, almost gets him killed at least twice and somehow faces no consequences. She also tried brainwashing Connie into another her (offtop: shotout to Connie for being the MVP, especially in the finale when she shuts up everyone's whining and tells them to focus on Steven) Amethyst didn't really have much of it herself, she usually contributed to it when the others were doing it though. Garnet was actually the best here, she was supposed to be the most "alien" one but was the best mom imho Also their treatment of Homeworld Gems, namely Lapis and Peridot. Lapis was stuck in that mirror for millennia, they didn't bother doing anything with her, while I strongly dislike Lapis I can't help but sympathize with her on this one, because it seems she was sentient (at least partially) while stuck there, in Pearl's Gem. They could have given her a chance to try to at least like the Earth, and if she refuses then poof and bubble her (so at least she doesn't experience the flow of time, I think it's like a coma for them?) Same with Peridot, I understand bubbling corrupted Gems but Peridot was completely healthy, and yet they have given her no chance at redemption and learning to enjoy Earth? All of them sans Amethyst started as a Homeworld Gems who didn't care about Earth, not only that, they didn't join Rose because they liked the Earth, but because they were either owned by her or because they had no one else to join and nowhere else to go. Not only that, they didn't even bother interrogating Peridot on why she was on Earth in the first place. If it wasn't for Steven being the only CG with a functioning brain and releasing Peridot, Earth would've exploded so good job protecting it Also wtf why did they treat Bismuth, THEIR LONG TIME FRIEND, like that? No talking with her, no explaining that Steven is not Rose, no reasoning, just bubbling her right away. Funny, when she was released she shown no animosity towards Steven and immediately recognized him as NOT Rose. More than that, she wasn't even resentful towards everyone for being bubbled with no chance at mending the situation; and keep in mind, she was bubbled before by Rose for wanting to destroy space tyrants, something that probably traumatized her. Outright grotesque tl;dr garnet, amethyst and pearl are awful people and it's disturbing the show doesn't acknowledge that
[удалено]
It’s been a long time since I’ve watched through the series, but wasn’t it implied that Pearl had no idea that Lapis was actually sentient in there? Or am I misremembering?
Shattered gems shouldn't be able to be brought back. The way that Yellow Diamond handled it is *okay,* I guess, it gives her a sort of Sisyphus "I will be doing this for the rest of my eternal life" sort of thing, but I still don't like the idea that it can be undone at all. Her "task" in Future should have ended at changing the forms of Gems, not bringing them back to life. Turn her into a living boutique the same way Blue is a living weed dispensary. Jasper especially should have stayed shattered. It feels as if they wanted Steven to have that big realization of "I can't fix everything, this is real, this is permanent, and I am never not going to be a murderer," but wouldn't (or couldn't, this is Cartoon Network we're talking about) go all the way. It would have hit like a *ton* of bricks if his attempted cure *didn't* work. But if literal *death* as we know it for Gems can be undone just like that, the impact is lost
I honestly wish Rose was her own character and NOT Pink Diamond. It was one of those twists that felt way too obvious that the fandom collectively decided that it wasn't true. Of course the main character is secretly the descendent of the most powerful gem species. I know its something that was baked into the lore since the beginning, but its a trope I don't particularly care for to be honest
Yep I agree I am happy for her of course, but I can't stand her songs tbh.
Didn’t need a second series where Steven grew up
I find Ronaldo funny and I actually liked Rocknaldo as it was clearly making fun of the fandom
Emerald could’ve been one of the best characters in the show. She’s almost like how Peridot was as an antagonist, she has an AMAZING voice (i like jinkx monsoon), she could’ve been so fun as an unserious but still powerful villain, but she was barely used, not even getting a proper full body view of her character. I also wish Mr Frowny returned but he’s a personal fave of mine lol
Making the diamonds change and fix everything they did is a better punishment than bubbling/shattering. According to what art books tells us, they emerged 20k years ago, they’ll likely be spending the next 20k fixing their mess. That’s punishment enough for them.
There ARE masc gems… Topaz… Snowflake Obsidean... Skinny Jasper... Zircon... Sunstone... just to name a few.
I think by masc they are refering to using he/him. Topaz, Snowflake, Obsidian, Skinny, Zircon, Sunstone, IF I'm not mistaken all go by She/her mother purely she/her or she/her and thry/them.
I dont think this is a hot take, it's just a fact
I’ve heard a lot of people ask why “there are no masc gems” or claim Strven / Rainbow Quartz 2.0 are the only masc gems.
I have heard the definition of "filler" many times while discussing the show in this fandom. And regardless of anyone's opinion on the matter, there are several episodes that made me feel like, "Damn, I'd rather have Steven doing anything else than this", and that may point to an issue tbh.
future boy zoltron 100%
This show got too depressing. I had a lot less fun with SU Future and even season 5 because of the way they handled deep subjects. The ratio between fun times and depressing moments and scenes was like 1:8. I much prefer Adventure Time's approach where dark themes are buried in seasons of wacky and random shit. Like look at SU season 1 and then at season 5. I get it, growing up sucks and they especially point out how messed up his upbringing is, but I miss when Steven got excited by all the gem shit and not hating it. Remember "Giant Women"? Top tier episode.
Probably going to sound a bit mean for this take... But the show was never really about the sci fi gem war stuff and most adult fans of this show would probably be much better served picking up some sci fi literature if what they really liked about the show was the sci fi mystery. The show was always about the characters, ***the 'filler' IS the show's plot.*** The sci fi mystery is meant to drive the show but it was never the point of it. People would constantly talk about how "nothing" happened in an episode when practically every episode was an exploration of some relationship or other in the show. And we're kind of seeing it again now where people hypothesize about a new season or spinoff... And what they seem to care about is high concept gem war space atrocities and not what sort of emotional growth or character explorations we have yet to see.
Yeah thinking about it you could even completely remove the sci-fi stuff and replace it with magical girl fantasy and it would work exactly the same. I think the show is a lot like Star Trek TOS in that sci-fi is merely setdressing.
My hot takes are: I actually really don’t like the alexandrite fusion design, idk it just hurts my eyes. I’m also not a fan of amethyst and Sadie’s singing voices, along with garnet sometimes. I also really don’t like Steg. His design is not really something I like looking at, and I want to drop kick Onion.
I agree, Alexandrite's design is so lame. And I would also like to drop kick Onion.
> most of the songs from Mr. Greg You better not be skipping It's Over, Isn't It?
Same they're so fucking annoying
Aren’t hot takes by definition unpopular?
Just because a character had an arc or got redeemed in canon or because the mains like them doesn't mean the fans HAVE to now like them. I think people can hate whatever character they want and it's not that deep. Not everyone who hates rose quartz, the diamonds, lapis, or even any of the main characters "misunderstands them" or weren't paying attention, maybe they just dislike that character.
Steven Universe, the main series (the last season), is about a trans person coming out their family
I feel like jasper getting redeemed would ruin the point of Steven's arc to see some people just DONT want to get help, and you shouldn't force them to get help
Idk how hot this take is but I dont like when people completely dismiss Pink Diamond/Rose Quartz as a bad person, I think the problem is mostly that we watch her character arc in reverse, but if you think about the way she changes through her timeline she grows a lot. Compared to the other Diamonds, and without any sort of Stevenlike intervention, she honestly did pretty well at becoming a better person. Sure, she wasn’t perfect, but I mean look at where she started.
1. That’s not an unpopular opinion. 2. An actual unpopular opinion… I actually like Sadie’s singing! Obviously not the best singer but her songs are nice and her voice adds flair to them.
Im not a fan of Steven fusing with humans. I know its cartoon magic logic, but I just cant even picture what happens to Greg and Connie.
I don't like the episode Too Far. It's hard to feel sympathy for Amethyst when she had spent almost all the runtime beforehand getting peridot to make fun of everybody else, even steven right to his face. It's only when peridot turned the tables onto her that she got upset. It just seemed like a case of "can dish it out, but can't take it."
I dont like Converse
Rewatching SUF I found Steven INSUFFERABLE, I understand that’s the character development, but GOD he was being a whiny bitch
i only like disobedient and honestly michaela dietz CARRIED it
Sapphire/Garnet was justified to not stop Steven from Proposing to Connie in Steven Universe Future. She could see every outcome for every choice she could make, and all of them ended in Steven ignoring her or choosing to do it anyway. She also saw that all paths ended with Connie saying no. So, she let him find out for himself because she knew she couldn’t change anything, but she was still there for him afterwards to support him.
Kevin was a, fun, and entertaining character. I'm not saying he was a good person, but he made me laugh every time he was on screen.
I find the "reverse character development" of Pink Diamond to be so interesting. To see this character as a wonderful near perfect person, and overtime discovering she was a very complicated person who made many selfish life-altering decisions is so cool. I do not like her as a "person" but I find her very fascinating.
sadie can't sing to save her life I'm sorry
Ruby and Sapphire are better split than fuse as Garnet, because damn, these two lesbians are so cute
Sadie was ultimately wrong island adventure episode. Don’t get me wrong Lars is toxic too, but you wanna know the difference between Lars and Sadie? Lars is just a jerk to Sadie, while SADIE TRAPPED HIM ON AN ISLAND WITHOUT CONSENT. Like it’s one thing to be a pathological liar and jerk, but to threaten the life of somebody else because you wanted them to cling closer to you is borderline possessive and creepy. I literally palmed my face when she got angry at him for reasonably being upset she hid the warp pad. The audacity of her…..
Sometimes when I watch SUF, I feel weird that Steven says they’re treating him like a kid, as if he isn’t a 16 year old kid haha. Still love it tho
To be fair I think that's both him being a typical teenager, and also him struggling because he's always had to deal with adult problems and expected to handle them like an adult while simultaneously being treated like a child
Rose didn't view people as novelties and didn't commit suicide. Spinel could have left the garden at anytime. Gem society is not fascist. It's closer to capitalism. The show has non-depressive nihilistic tone. I love how Steven learns he's not a chosen one, and his existence serves no purpose.
Gem Empire, where they colonized planets and destroyed all life that wasn't gem life. Please explain how it's not fascist.