WARNING: TODAY'S STEVEN UNIVERSE EPISODE HAS BEEN LEAKED Thankfully I saw the episode first thing when I opened my dash and not a mountain of spoilers (since I don't black list tags) EDIT: I watched the episode oh nooo now I need to refrain from talking about it until the rest of the world catches up D:
oh my god why did I check the tag there is already bashing of certain characters and their behavior this episode edit: and now I'm hitting posts from last night's episode and I just want to yell that the show is about flawed characters who do bad things, but learn from these things with patience and the power of love. Why on earth does such a chill, hippie cartoon have the most reactionary and judgmental fandoms? Is it because it passed enough SJW litmus tests? It's "unproblematic" nature making every bully swarm into the fandom to talk about how whatever elements that aren't pure and perfect and good are the most terrible things ever?
The law of reactionary fandoms. People take for granted what is in the show, and prioritize the elements that take reading into it. MLP, a show intended for young girls and friendship, was coopted by adolescent boys to use as fetish fuel. SU, a show that depicts people growing well and happy by working together (fusion is magic?), is coopted by adolescent fans to use a judgemental bludgeon against characters and people who haven't attained the levels of development they demand yesterday.
hahaha I just went on the tag again and this is like, the perfect picture to describe the tumblr SU fandom in a nutshell: Yes because as we all no, there is no possible way you could watch the leak and then watch it officially online or on TV later. Because watching it several hours earlier than intended makes you "a shitty person" who is "absolutely disgusting" and obviously ~not a real fan~
i finally watched it and. damn. ive been hit in the feels really hard and i cant wait until we can openly talk about the episode also, like, if im going to wait until the episode airs on cartoon network brazil i might wait until next millenium. i dont think they even aired jailbreak yet
what's the stance on theworldofstevenuniverse.blogspot.com? afaik it's the show's official announcement blog and it also has all the episodes approximately 3-4 hours after they air on TV but does it COUNT towards official vewership statistics? (btw unless i install a proxy to simulate a US American IP I cannot use the cartoon network page to watch the episodes. And I'd rather not because the CN website is cluttered and overstimulating as fuck. I think we don't have CN in Germany? iirc the licenses for CN stuff gets sold for translation around here so who the heck knows when Steven Universe would ever get officially aired around here :c)
I'm not sure if it counts, but then I don't think that should really matter because most people's TV viewing of it won't count either. Ratings are collected from people who have a certain thing(can't remember what it's called) hooked up to their TV. Also there's an app called Watch Cartoon Network that might be better and more acessible for you(hopefully?) and they usually have the episodes up within the same amount of time. And I believe that does count toward views. You might also be able to buy them on itunes. I know they're there, but I have no idea if they're there for you because different country.
I have been afraid to delve into the Pearl and Amethyst tags for so long. I mean, the Jasper tag gets judgey, but at least it's judgey about a relatively flat character who showed up, was mean, and then got dragged to the bottom of the ocean by a fan favorite. I mean, it's not fun to watch, but at least all I like about Jasper is potential, so until she shows up again, if she shows up again, it's hard to take rudeness about her seriously. But Pearl and Amethyst? People relate to them, like super hardcore. Hate in those tags has to get personal as fuck. Spoiler: I am maybe an idiot One of the very few posts on my tumblr is a response to a post in the Jasper tag that said something like "@Jasper fans: Why do you want an abuser to be redeemed so badly, huh?" And I took that personal as fuck, and I'm not even 100% for redemption. I'd be equally happy if Jasper stayed stubbornly terrible to the last breath. I responded with something like "@Such and Such: Why do you want an abuser to keep on abusing people so badly, huh?", and I'm kinda wondering if that was mean or rude or uncalled for? The OP never got back to me.
I have not a single apple product and don't know how to go around using iTunes without one :c I am confuse by technology and also broke as shit I can look into the app tho! I really want to support the show as actively as possible!
Spoiler Ha. Yes. "Why do I want to see an abuser redeemed?" Because my compassion includes hoping for everyone to be be the best selves they can be. Because the myth that abusers are irredeemable monsters keeps people in abusive relationships because they don't see the ones they love as monsters. Because I hope for better than abuse for everyone. There's a reason that my tag for sjws who focus on the warrior part and neglect the mercy side of justice is, #those for whom the fight is what matters. As in, not making the world better, just the opportunity to hurt the people designated as unclean/monstrous/deserving. It's almost like that worldview is what makes monsters or something...
hiiiiiiissssssssss, the entire SU fandom is not a fucking hive mind, so you can stop making your twee little "wow SU fandom is not for pearl and also for jasper/lapis?!??!?!??!??!>???!!!!!" posts, like yesterday, pls. Goddamned, I am roughly 110% done with this bullshit. I am literally growling and it is hurting my throat, pls stop being stupid for like five minutes. Spoiler: bathing in salt and vinegar "Ya'll love to sin" GRAAAAH. HATE. HATE SO MUCH. Fucking self righteous twatwaffles.
Spoiler: would you like some fries with that salt I have literally never once seen anyone call Jasper a dynamic character. I have heard people pleased to see a beefy, brutish female character who is genuinely threatening and not the butt of a joke. I have seen people praise her design. I have seen people excited about what might come of her. I hate it when people complain about things that DON'T EVEN EXIST, in this case people who think Pearl is a one-note character and also that Jasper is a stunningly nuanced and compelling villain. Sorry for bitching so very hardcore. Should probably move this somewhere else.
Curious, @tinyhydra--what exactly is your complaining in response to? Is it stuff on Tumblr, or stuff here? Sorry, just a bit confused. Also, We Need To Talk was precious and made my heart melt, and that's all I'm gonna say for now.
Tumblr stuff. There's a couple people in the Jasper tag painting the whole SU fandom as uniformly hating on Pearl and adoring Jasper, and it is making me really mad. It really ticks me off whenever people post complaints about the fandom as if it's a singular being that thinks whatever the poster of the hour is miffed about, especially when it's about an attitude I've never seen before. Or is just plain not literally true? Like, the posts I'm busily bitching about have like twenty notes a pop, and that's not a lot but it's twenty ish fandom peeps who think the same as the poster, who is also a part of the fandom, so?????? Why say thing that is not literally true, why say thing that is so broad as to be useless, why not aim your hate hose at someone who is actually doing the thing and not just shaking your head disapprovingly at the fandom in general? And now I will stop. Sorry again, I'm being stupid, should have kept it to myself.
I also really liked the episode (the second time around) too. What really struck me upon rewatching was Spoiler Just how dismissive Rose is of humans, which is a flaw that is rarely if ever talked about in fandom spaces. She has loved several humans before Greg, but she still basically treats him like a pet. Talking about how "fun" and "entertaining" he is, and how she "likes to play along". So this was all basically a game to her. No wonder Pearl called him "a phase" and "a novelty at best" (though it was obvious that she was still feeling very jealous and threatened by him). I actually felt really bad for Greg because it was very clear that he knew she didn't see him as an equal and was really upset by that. At the same time it's something I can't really hold against Rose either. People keep complaining that the gems (Well, specifically Pearl) need to learn how to respect humans but from their perspective what makes humans so special or different than any other animal on the planet? They are space rocks that are thousands upon thousands of years old so I can see why they think humans as lesser creatures. They have no magical powers, they live incredibly short lives, but still have such incredibly big ideas about who they are and what place they have in the universe. I can see how that would from Rose's perspective make them an amusing novelty, and from Pearl's perspective just plain silly and annoying. Rose struck me as just being really insensitive instead of mean though. She's "playing a role" without really understanding humans and their feelings. She get's hurt when she realizes that this is hurting Greg but is also really confused because things weren't going according to script. ............I got some serious aspie vibes from all of the gems this episode ok. Edit to add: Spoiler The version of "Love Like You" with the lyrics is played at the end of the episode, which pretty much confirms my hunch that it is supposed to be Rose singing the song: If I could begin to be, Half of what you think of me, I could do about anything, I could even learn how to love. When I see the way you act, Wondering when I'm coming back, I could do about anything, I could even learn how to love like you. She's singing the song to Greg.
Sworn to the Sword: "You just think about the life you'll have together after the war!" We Need To Talk: *Rainbow Quartz* ... What's better than this? Gals bein' pals.
Between those two episodes people who think their relationship was 100% platonic are going to have a run for their money. On that note: Spoiler I am almost wondering if their fusion had 4 eyes meant that they were a little unstable together because Pearl's codependency was/is unhealthy? Off topic but I googled "rainbow quartz" and now I wanna stare into pictures for forever damn if I ever get married that's gonna be what's on my ring
Mmm... well, the only perfect fusion we've ever seen is 3/4 non-gem, and the other closest to perfect fusion has three eyes, and that fusion is together 100% of the time. I mean... She seemed pretty perfect to me. I don't know what more could be expected unless they were going to go the whole hog Ruby and Sapphire style.
Spoiler: more spoipers I think the ending of the episode was especially sweet, since it seems like Greg's relationship with Rose actually caused her to mature in a lot of ways. Compare what she says here to what she says in Lion 3, about how human lives are so simple, yet so complex. She seems to have had a very naive, condescending view of humans at first, but I think actually being close to one taught her that they're more than just some novelty--that they're beings with real lives, real feelings. That they deserve respect. Also, I am so refreshed that they portrayed their relationship as having been more than love at first sight, since that did kinda bug me in Story For Steven. They acknowledged that their relationship wasn't initially perfect, that they rushed into things at first and really had to take a step back and examine things, and that what really brought them together was communication and, in the end, mutual respect. That's huge. I do think Pearl was a real ass in this episode, but not like...irredeemably so? I honestly think she's (mentally) a lot younger than is generally assumed, that she was probably closer to Amethyst's current age at the time and is still probably trying to figure things out. (For what it's worth: I headcanon Amethyst as being the equivalent of 16-18, Pearl as being the equivalent of her mid-to-late 20s, and Garnet as being the equivalent of thirtysomething, just going off of maturity.) Also, I do think Rose and Pearl's relationship was platonic...on Rose's end. It's possible that it wasn't always that way, but I don't think Rose had any romantic attachment to Pearl by the time Greg came along, and definitely not by the time she died. That said, Pearl was pretty unambiguously in love with Rose, and the fact that people try to spin her devotion to her as platonic is so confusing to me. And @liminal, I actually agree there, and I saw a possible elaboration on Tumblr: that the instability was represented by her having four eyes (one pair being Pearl's and one being Rose's) because the biggest issue was that they never actually saw eye-to-eye! It's a brilliant design choice.
