Spoiler: New ep stuff I think part of why it's not talked about mush is because until this episode, most people probably didn't get just how dismissive she was of humans. I did see lots of people talking about the whole 'I'd love to play with you but I can't" or whatever the line was though, and that was kind of split between the idea that yes she thinks of humans as lesser, or that it's playing because she has work to do and all, so compared to that hanging out with him would be playing around. I agree that it absolutely wasn't intended to be mean though, especially seeing how upset she was when she realized she was hurting him. And yeah, definitely like, when it comes to dealing with humans they do seem autistic. But like. Idk. It's because they're entirely different species, they don't really get humans and humans don't really get them either. Idk, it's confusing haha. ON ANOTHER NOTE I LOVE RAINBOW QUARTZ. Like, omg Pearl. Pearl is so thirsty lol. It interests me that they chose to fuse for such a silly reason though. I mean, obviously Pearl had an ulterior motive, but Rose didn't and she went along with it anyway. Maybe fusing just wasn't a big deal to them when Rose was around, or maybe with Rose it wasn't a big deal. Also, while their fusion did have 4 eyes, they only had one set of arms, so we can assume it was probably an averagely stable fusion? Maybe the 4 eyes is because they see things differently, like they have different perspectives. That would make sense, since when Ame and Pearl fuse it's to reach a common goal such as saving Steven.
Spoiler YES another thing I was thinking about are the gems maturity levels/mental ages. On the one hand it seems that there is an objective gem age like human age (Pearl thought she was pretty young to be fighting in a war when she was a couple thousand years old) but it's also canon that their bodies are illusions and their age and appearance can fluctuate based on how they see themselves. I think before Greg walked into the picture with humanity being at peace for a long time, with no contact from home world, slowly gathering up the corrupted/shattered gems... they had some down time. So that's why they look and act younger. They don't have to "grow up" they can just be who they feel they are, mentally and emotionally. So Garnet is young-ish but fairly mature, Amethyst gets to be the baby, and Pearl get's to be the teenager. She actually doesn't look much, if any older than her flashback in the war, though that was a little stylized so she may look younger back then later. What I don't know is how these things really intersect? Humans can sort of fluctuate with their maturity and we all know people who act really mature/immature for their age. But I don't really think it's 100% comparable. Of course, once Steven was born everyone had to grow up, which is why they are at the "ages" they are right now.
Spoiler: favorite moment of we need to talk Pearl: Why are they still dancing? It didn't work. Garnet: Yes it did. Because Greg and Rose are a conversation. :D Spoiler Honestly, I think Greg was at least one of the major maturing factors there. We see with the contrast between this episode and Lion 3 that he and Rose really grew up together, and I think some of that may have rubbed off on the other gems. Also we know he used to be pretty good buds with Amethyst, and I could see her falling into a "little sister" role with him. I think Greg pulled the gems into "human time" a bit more.
have i been listening to deedee magno sing I Would Be So Pleased for the last three hours? hell yes i have. Spoiler i think rose had, like, a string of flings with humans that she... really sorta saw like playthings? have a couple good months until things got weird/they got tired, so pearl has some authority in saying he was just a phase. she was wrong and super jealous, but like... her words didnt really come out of nowhere. i think the biggest difference was that greg was serious about it, which like... changed how the dynamic progressed.]
Spoiler: spoilers for We Need to Talk This episode made me like Rose a lot more, I mean, she was cool and pretty before but that's not a lot of character development! I could be way off base with this reading, but... She comes off as kind of reckless to me! I don't know enough about war/pre-war Rose to say, but post-war? She's been reckless with both Pearl's and Greg's feelings, and probably other humans? She might feel guilty about how many gems died in the war and trying to distract herself by playing as someone else.
Spoiler: Pearl thoughts Part of what's killing me about the Pearl bashing on tumblr over the past few episodes is the accusations that she is abusive and should not be around children until she sorts herself out. The vast majority of the time she is fine. But then we have episodes where she does something messed up, we see her mess underneath her facade, and suddenly she shouldn't be around children. It's infuriating. Nobody ever says that Amethyst shouldn't be around kids when she is immature and lashes out at people.Nobody says that Garnet is a terrible parent when she doesn't give a lot of guidance to Steven (at least until more recent episodes). The entire point of episodes like The Test is that none of Steven's "Parents" are perfect and that's okay. It really pisses me off that these tumblr kids think that adults should be perfect 100% of the time with no mistakes whatsoever lest they traumatize children. Saying that as a mentally ill person who grew up with mentally ill parents and mentally ill siblings and did not have a perfect family life. But god damn my parents did the best they could with the hand they were given and I love them because of that. Even though I know their flaws as people and as a parent now that I'm all grown up. Pearl bashing in general is upsetting but what I hate the most is tumblr's fixation that these characters must be flawless. I can only imagine how boring Steven Universe would be if some of these fans were allowed to write the series. Everyone would be perfect and great. There'd be no conflict or drama arising between characters. There would be no growth because there would be no place to grow from. Everyone would start perfect (if they are an adult, maybe children gat a free pass?) and stay that way forever, /rant
Spoiler: some other pearl thoughts i saw a post going around about it that i agreed with: a lot of people really hate pearl because her negative traits and flaws are things that hit too close to home. a lot of people have experienced jealousy and treating other's badly because of that jealousy. a lot of people also know what it's like to be on the receiving end of somebody else's jealousy. some people find it easy to hate her because of that. in my case i actually like her a lot more as more episodes happen. she was just kind of the 'neat freak/know it all' type early on and now that she's getting some cracks in the armor i just continue to find her more interesting and more easy to relate to. some people just don't want to relate with characters -too- much, they want them to be perfect cinnamon rolls/unproblematic faves and/or have easily digestable shallow character flaws that they can baby their characters over like 'is sad over tragic past' and shit.
Spoiler: PORL IS MY FAV YO With these recent episodes expanding upon Pearl she's growing to be more my favorite than before. Very much so. Like I related to her know it allness and her neat freakiness. Especially the dumb organizing Amethyst's piles thing. Like yeah that was stupid and hilarious but that's honestly a thing I feel compelled to do at times. No it's not really neat or clean but my brain tells me that I have to OR ELSE SUFFERING AND ANXIETY. That and Pearl's constant anxiety for other people and her self sacrificing nature. We're getting more context on why Pearl acts the way she does. As well as what Pearl's specific flaws and weaknesses are. She's fucked up in areas and it sucks. Both for Pearl and people Pearl knows. And I can definitely see why people don't like Pearl as a person because she does shit that hits close to home for people and some people just don't like characters that have those traits. Which is understandable. I've personally been on the end of a spiteful jealous person's bullshit before and had my romantic interests abused behind my back by said jealous person. Which helps further my love of Pearl because just. That's a thing I've been through and while it sucked it just means a lot to me to see someone like that in fiction and to not have them be completely horrible. Redemption and helping people means a lot to me and I do try my best with the people who've been shitty to me. While also keeping my boundaries sorted. That and Pearl's particular issues are also relatable to me personally. Beyond the whole "My best friend treated me and others like shit because he was jealous" thing. Pearl has a very shit self esteem it looks like and there is this person who actually makes her feel worthwhile. She doesn't really have healthy coping mechanisms and said person is more interested in someone else. That shit hurts, especially when that person or thing feels like the only thing that makes your existence worthwhile. Attachment is a fucking bitch of an issue. There's reasons that it's one of the major causes of suffering and a poison. Because shit like this can and does happen. Which of course doesn't excuse bad shit that Pearl does. It does however make her a person and someone worth loving kindness and compassion. Pearl needs help. We all do.
@Lazarae reminded me! Spoiler I was SO disappointed that bag turned out to be popcorn and not pop rocks! I mean, it was still cute as heck, but please imagine Amethyst eating pop rocks. Hilaridorible, y/y?
Dude, Amethyst would LOVE PopRocks. She says in Fusion Cuisine that she likes eating because it "feels weird," so I think she'd find the weird mouth shit that poprocks do to be pretty much the coolest thing.
I cannot get over how much plot is always conveyed through the songs in every single one of these episodes. I end up listening to them over and over again. Also hnnng Megara's voice singing a sexy song to Greg Universe, and the way Rose was LOOKING at Greg and at Pearl both, hooo boy. *fans self* /poly-shipping trash
must make hamsteak au with greg<3<pearl and a battle between greg<3rose and pearl<3rose. PEARL<>ROSE HERE I COME BABY.
Spoiler: caaaan you feeel the loove tooonight the Gems-behind-the-rock-watching-greg-and-rose scene really reminded me of can you feel the love tonight from the lion king especially with, well, pearl and what we all know the result of greg/rose basically was also soooo many pearl feels... sooo many... pearl has been hitting me in the feels places ever since rose's scabbard and just... man, if people on tumblr weren't so damn ~tumblry~ i could totally ride this feel train to the fucking moon yeah... ~pearlrose 5ever~ Spoiler: rose and pearlrose and i second @Kary about liking rose more after this finally the Perfection thing is starting to crack and i can see her more fully and think about her better as someone who both pearl and greg fell in love with (and who loved them) just yeah... like i shipped it before rose Had Much Characterization 'cause i'm a sucker for character/person-they-are-obviously-smitten-with-intensely-and-often-have-unrequited-feelings-for but now, i can ship it as something with more to it than that and it's awesome also Gems def. read as very aspie in this ep, especially rose @Beldaran poly is the way to go with Gems, definitely and the only way i, as a hardcore pearlrose shipper, can really be happy with the Actual Canon Romance Endgame thingy, so i'm biased
