So not related to recent events, but I had a thought. In So Many Birthdays, it's shown that Gems don't really do birthdays, but Steven celebrates his regardless. So that raises the question of how the Gems know absolutely nothing about birthdays until that episode--surely they'd pick up some info about them from Steven, right? And then it hit me. Steven's birthday--the only birthday they, specifically, have any reason to care about--is also the anniversary of Rose Quartz's death. It's heavily implied (possibly stated, I forget) that Steven celebrates his birthdays with just Greg, and that the Gems are uninvolved there. It's probably a tough day for Greg as well, but since he's human, he'd understand that it's important to celebrate his birthday. And given that in Joy Ride, Steven expresses his concern that the Gems blame him for Rose dying, it's quite possible that Greg really tried to make birthdays extra-special for him, as a way of helping Steven deal with things and showing that he doesn't blame him. There's also the temporal issue. Steven seems to be somewhere between ten and twelve. Greg's clearly still not over Rose's death, obviously, but it's been long enough that he's able to accept it to some degree. But since Gems are practically immortal, a decade is barely a blink of an eye to them. Rose may as well have just died a few weeks ago from their perspective--the wounds are still very, very raw and fresh. They're likely still largely stuck in the irrational denial-filled stage of grieving (LOOKIN' AT YOU, PEARL), and having that reminder crop up every year can't possibly be easy for them. And maybe Greg realized that, and kept Steven's birthday celebrations as far from the Gems as possible. ...I made myself sad. :(
Someone put all the ones we have so far together into one!! http://crystalgems.tk/post/128862691626/oathkeeper-of-tarth-if-i-could-begin-to-be But yes I really hope they release the full version x__x
@Acey Grief is actually rarely divided into distinct stages or a set chronological order. It's more like people who are grieving experience all the "stages" all jumbled together.
Not that greif isn't a thing Pearl & the other Crystal Gems are still experiencing, that's pretty clear.
Aaaah so fusion is partly a metaphor for how the stability of children is in part dependent on the stability of their parents and their parent's relationship and that's fucked up this fucked me up
Spoiler: even more spoipers I agree with you about the Maheshwarans but I don't know that I think Connie is autistic because even though she only has one real friend she's pretty good at reading people in ways that most of the autistic people I know don't seem to be? But I'm no expert on that. I do know that overstructuring kids' lives is a common tactic some Asian parents use; I know the Maheshwarans aren't Chinese but I always thought Connie's parents were on the "Tiger Mom" train. I have had a bunch of Asian friends who have had this type of parenting.
*hugs* My mother and I haven't really talked since the whole "I'm sorry for what you think I did to you" conversation. (Watching Heroes years ago, I didn't realise that I was triggered by the scene where Sylar killed his mother until my best friend told me I was...because the conversation between Sylar and his mother seemed perfectly normal to me up to the point where he psychically stabbed her with scissors and I suddenly stopped hating him.)
http://katedrawscomics.tumblr.com/post/129018137527/diananock-pathwalker-i-can-show-this-to-my This is one of my absolute favorite things right now.
OK SO This is gr8 thank you I promise you I would have had to rewatch the whole series to find this. I was actually thinking fusion cause of the battle axe but there have also been multiple non-summoned weapons shown, like Pearl's armory and all of Rose's weapons including the Light Canons. So. Idk. YES THAT'S WHAT I WAS THINKING or maybe her "cheep tactic" line was her speaking from experience. Maybe like a superior in the line of command or something? Actually I don't think it's possible for a gem to get this big w/o fusion. Unfused gems seem to go up to Rose's size and no further.
I've been taking her "cheap tactic" comment at face value, mostly. Like, gem society seems to care mostly about what peeps can do for society at large. Placing value a gem for acting within a predetermined role, which leaves gems that can't or won't out in the cold. So, Jasper was probably designed to fight, she's made for it and all her value as a gem lies in her ability to deal out and take damage. But fusions fuck that up, yeh? Fusions are more than just the sum of their parts, and they appear to get a huge ass combat boost from fusing, even if combat was not their designated purpose. So, it makes a huge as mess of the neat little structure Jasper's been working within and benefitting from her whole life. If two clerks can do a little dance and suddenly be better at what she does that she is, then that's gotta piss her off something fierce.
Agreed. Homeworld's view of fusion in general seems to be very different from how the CGs view it (see also: the Clusters, the reason Garnet gives for fighting in the extended theme); it seems to be viewed as purely something done out of necessity or for practical reasons. (Basically, as an analogy, I kinda think Homeworld would be the kind of society where marriage is A Thing, but it's purely done for political or strategic reasons--for instance, trying to cement alliances--with Ruby and Sapphire being those two ~*nutjobs*~ who married for love. Not a perfect analogy, but yeah.) But yes, I definitely see Jasper's comment as being more or less a face value thing, especially given her "You only beat me 'cause you're a fusion!" line.
