The "no such thing as a good war" scene actually implies as much, IMO--Greg refers to the Gems as "aliens who invaded Earth," and he seems to be specifically referring to the Crystal Gems when he says that, given the context. The idea that Rose was the one who led the initial invasion and later had a change of heart and turned on her own kind is seeming more and more likely. (And speaking of the extended opening, Pearl says "We were surprised to find your beauty and your worth"--implying that humanity really did change them for the better.)
i don't know if this makes any sense but... @roach's tumblr post about pearl reverting to factory settings + me reading boat trolls made me think of helmstroll!pearl. yeah... also, pearl reverting back to factory settings is an awesome idea, @roach!
Finished watching the episodes that are out and damn. I like everyone? I mean, some of the human characters aren't as interesting as the gems, but I see why they're there. Also I like Pearl now, and think she needs lots of therapy. Lots. As to identifying personally, maybe the most with Amethyst? Which is...interesting. Also so ready to fight Jasper-haters, so ready. I mean, big, grumpy, scary orange gem lady? Yes. *grabby hands* PS. I am also here for Rose who did shitty things.
I love the idea that Rose did some really shady shit in her past. Like, I think it fits the "no one is truly beyond redemption" theme the show has going. Plus, if Jasper respected her tactics, she was probably pretty goddamn brutal on the battlefield at the very least. Honestly that's one of the things I love about this show--the theme of redemption, and that sometimes good people do bad things but it doesn't make them Fundamentally Horrible People. Which, frankly, a lot of the fandom could learn from.
Soooo, has anyone read any good fanfics lately? I've been watching the SU archiveofourown, uh, archive(?), but sorta casually, so I might have missed some really good stuff. Insert segue, original flavor stuff in this fandom tends to run kinda screwy, I think. Maybe cause SU is Steven Universe POV focused, so lots of stuff gets suggested but not stated outright, cause Steven's a kid and he don't got the words for the screwy adult stuff the momsquad's got going on, but fanfic is understandably into taking a closer look at their junk(haha, double entendre). Trying to aim for that kind "innocent" tone in fics about grown ups and wars being experienced by grown ups doesn't really work for me, but then again, I think the weirdest stuff is the stuff that tries for the OF and has a plot like the OS and still ends up somewhere slightly to the left of it. Like you can see the good old SU charm, but it's got a weird, artificial tang to it. / end ramble, fuck what am I even saying.
I wrote a fluffy little Rupphire one-shot. This Pearlmethyst fic, while falling somewhat under the smut header, is also one of the most heartbreaking things I've ever read. (NSFW.) Finally, this one is pure terrible OOC crack and one of the funniest goddamn things ever. (Warning for drugs and a bunch of dumb shit.)
@tinyhydra even the stars refuse to shine (pearl/garnet, past pearl/rose, involves sardonyx) is a fave of mine other than that, i'm not really sure and hmmm, i've never really noticed that before, with original flavor fic, though the tone of the show sometimes reads a bit screwy to me when i'm watching it. like, it sometimes reminds me of the tumblr uwu aesthetic and just... the innocence you mentioned... i dunno... stuff like steven insisting lars is his friend when it's pretty clear that lars doesn't like him - which i know is part of and consistent with steven's characterization but still is kinda screwy to me. and rose, goddamn rose! just can't really get a handle on her, which might for entirely deliberate show reasons or something to do with my own temperament but yeah... can't get a handle on her at all, at what she's really like. idealized, loves everyone apparently, kinda naive, yet... a warrior and formerly maybe a conqueror for homeworld. just yeah, it's weird. and hard to explain. though i do like su. it just sometimes jibes weird tonally for me. and interestingly, reading fairly oddparents fic written in the original flavour of fop, even when it is more adult than the show, isn't like that. 'cause timmy turner, whose pov fop is generally from, strikes me as less innocent and kind and uwu than steven is and fop makes those things less central, i think. like, the particular way of humour and the whimsical and reality-warping magic fop has are the centre of fop's essence, instead of the way of thinking about morality and whatnot plus the uwu aesthetic like su has as its particular thing. yeah...
Ooh, I really like this fic here: water wings Also, I'm currently working a fic wherein Lapis' mirror was released instead of Centipeedle's Gem in Monster Buddies. Because I want to write Lapis having people who care about her, dammit and totally haven't been working on a sad backstory of lost love and betrayal no siree
I think Rose being hard to get ahold of is definitely a deliberate thing! I mean, she's not there, yunno? All we get to see of her are the gaps she left in Greg and the Gems when she died. She's a memory and a symbol at this point, so of course we can't tell who she is or what she's about. Steven is definitely an uwu kind of kid, and cause it's his show it tends to have an uwu kind of feel to it, 'cept for the episodes like Story for Steven that aren't his or from his POV. So, yeah, when people try to uwu up a story for a character that's not uwu, it gets to feeling off. Garnet's not an uwu, she's more of a B|, and Pearl's a :^/ and Amethyst's a i dunno what Amethyst is, but here is a fish <*)))><
@tinyhydra yeah, i figure it is deliberate but it's still kinda frustrating, you know... particularly since i ship pearl/rose (for Identifying Hard With Pearl reasons, basically). yep. and i'm not particularly uwu either, which is probably part of why it doesn't really jibe with me. like, i do like pink and cute things and pastels and whatnot, some of the stuff that's associated with that aesthetic, but i don't think i really can get entirely into his innocent mindset when i watch the show. i'm basically pearl, haha. honestly, i wouldn't expect some of the stuff steven does to work, if it was on another show or in real life.
I think I might be uwu, but I dunno. I think, I think I'm whatever Greg is. Tangential to the uwu, and supportive of the uwu, and really really wants to uwu to be be okay and happy and ultimately right, but prepared to handle the fallout if it doesn't work out like how it should. I'm not fluent enough in emoji, tho, so who even knows what a Greg is.
I'm pretty sure Amethyst is a :V. And I actually kinda like the uwu in SU, primarily because it does clash tonally with what we're gradually learning about the Gems! It's interesting to see all these horrible things viewed from the point of view of a very sweet and very optimistic child, y'know? And I think the juxtaposition, the clashiness, actually really works. But I'm a sucker for horror/tragedy/angst juxtaposed with happy cute fluffy things anyway. :P
I've noticed the uwu is also kind of gradually starting to disappear a little as Steven learns more! Such as in Keystone Motel, when Steven kind of finally broke a little bit. Which in my opinion is GREAT. It feels like the story is progressing! And Steven is developing! I mean, it's kinda heartbreaking, but it makes Steven feel like so much more of a PERSON.
I think that music might be my favorite element of fandoms. :3 Like, I only got into Homestuck cause of the huge outpouring of fanworks, same for MLP, and what really fuckin got me for both of those was the songs people made. Like, writing and drawing are time-consuming and take a lot of energy and effort to do right, but music, man, music. You gotta care a whole lot about a thing to make a song about it, I think.
I found a fic to rec in return for all the delightful stuff y'all showed me! :D http://thesketcherlass.tumblr.com/tagged/su-bad-experience It's a Jasper and Peridot focused fic, about 200+ years after canon. Basically, Malachite unfuses long after the battle for earth ends, and Peridot drags Jasper, who is suffering from "fusion withdrawal", back to a ruined Homeworld. It's only got three chapters so far, and the author hasn't posted anything for a while, but I think it's worth a read, so. Yeah!
