Spoiler: things that made me happy tho Did...did they just establish Steven/Connie as fully canon? (Granted, it's Ronaldo saying it, but...) ALSO CONNIE IS AN OFFICIAL CG NOW I'M SO GLAD <3
is it just me or is this episode oddly perfectly timed re: current forum drama?? like several moments were just Too Real
Spoiler: rocknaldo I feel like this was a How Not To Ally episode. Ronaldo going from "I know how to X better than you, why aren't you more Y", based on outside observations, to actually asking Steven questions and accepting his answers/experiences.
Spoiler: rocknaldo Yeah, it made me feel really uncomfortable. I don't think I really liked this episode. As much as the message was good it seemed really...off
Okay, so I'm two minutes into the new episode and here's my thoughts so far. Hmmmmmmmm. I wonder if this means something. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.
Okay, actually done with the episode. Spoiler Ronaldo is a jerk and continues to be a jerk. He thinks he's an outsider because he's weird, but in reality, it's just because he's an egocentric asshat who doesn't really care about anything except being cool and special. Aside from the fact that he's an idiot and doesn't know what he's talking about, his attempts to "educate" people about the Crystal Gems would do more harm than good if anyone actually cared, and his attempts to BE a Crystal Gem actually did do harm to Steven because he doesn't know what he's doing, and only does it for the attention. Second spoiler for self-deprecation Spoiler Honestly, as much as I say I relate to Pearl, I'm more like Ronaldo than anything. I have a strong desire for attention, I want to be special, I want to matter. But I'm not good at anything, and I'm a jerk. No one likes me because I'm a fucking jackass, not because I'm a nerd, and insulting and hurting myself all the time just makes the cycle continue because it's all about me, my flaws, I suck, pity me. But I'm not really sure how to stop?
The fact that you're actually self-aware of it already makes you better than Ronaldo. Talking to a therapist and following good advice would be the next step, I think. As to the episode - Spoiler: I guess??? Yeah, that was DEFINITELY 'how not to be an Ally'. I've seen similar things with transphobia and austism-stuff first-hand. 'If you're a dude then why are you curvy/smol?' 'If you're austistic, how are you doing so well with eye contact'? Bluhhhhh. Also tbh this episode reminded me so well that I have DATED narcissistic self-loathing idiots like that, and it's not fun for anyone involved.
Episode thinks! Spoiler they HATE MEN omg STEVEN NO NOT AGAIN ronaldo somehow missing the fact that EVERYONE already knew about the Gems is still funny to me i need a pic of that face of Pearl oh god. ronaldo you've never been to Steven's house steven it's RONALDO. oh god the secondhand embarassment BLOODFRY and like. we know there are human crystal gems. look at Connie! ronaldo why are you like this. ugh. I'm glad Steven is getting annoyed with him though. FRYROCKO well, beach city is really nice, he probably won't get mugged or anything or you're just a jerk. 'that's rough buddy' PFFFFF I SEE WHAT YOU DID THERE
Spoiler: rocknaldo spoilers it is hilarious how on youtube there is a video about the episode that says like, "bloodstone gem revealed" on it, and yet... bloodstone ended up just being the name ronaldo chose for pretending to be a gem, not some epic reveal or anything.
You know one thing I loved about it? Spoiler Ronaldo was a jerk and stuff, but at no point did Steven ever stop calling him by his preferred name. Even after he left.
Spoiler I thought it was interesting how we see just... -how- pliable Steven is in the face of others. Like we've seen Steven upset before about not doing the right thing, not being nice enough to someone, not meeting their standards, but it feels like Steven is especially hard on himself here. It's interesting to see that flaw highlighted. also I thought the message was nice in the 'it's nice for kids' way, probably not a message you get a lot at that age bracket.
Spoiler maybe he's being even nicer and more pliant in response to his conflicts over the awful things his mom did - like he feels like he has to distance himself as much as possible from that part of her. it's never clear how far apart episodes are chronologically but storm in the room probably didnt happen that long ago
Spoiler I wonder if that's possible... I feel like Steven has struggled with this issue a few times, like with Jasper and Bismuth but these circumstances are comparatively small. He let Ronaldo lecture him, went for a walk and asked himself what was wrong with him. So he might be more pliant! I wonder if he thinks Rose's mistakes are her not being agreeable or pliant enough or just a separation from any aggressiveness being read into him whatsoever... Being separate from that is already a big deal to him so I wonder. @Technicality thank you very much. he's a good but slightly bitter boy.
@Charlie Asriel was actually my profile picture until Ruevian drew me this one (which was super duper nice)
Spoiler in storm, iirc, his specific issue was with Rose's hypocrisy - that she imprisoned bismuth for shattering a gem and then turned around and shattered a gem. maybe he's zeroing in on the "you have to treat everyone fairly and kindly, even people you don't like" tenet, cause he's obviously not that comfortable with ronaldo's whole thing or Spoiler it's just funnier that way
