Let's Talk About Steven Universe

that’s true, i remember rebecca or ian commented on the fact that being a fusion, stevonnie’s dream is also a fusion of their thoughts and experiences… 

but the key question is a different one altogether: where is the diamond stuff coming from? we’ve all accepted that this is based on real events… but how is it “reaching” steven?

this dream operated outside the usual limit on his magic, which is as follows: he’s experiencing a connection with someone he knows / someone is experiencing a strong emotion and it “reaches” him. 

with every other “mind connection” dream, in other words, there has to be a mind for him to latch on to. he’s not a sapphire, he can’t just “see” the future or past. in this case… that’s pink diamond. he wandered into the mind / memories of a “dead” person. right after questioning whether he’s been here before. 

All that being said, you’re one hundred percent right that a more compelling question is “What did Stevonnie’s power latch on to to evoke that particular dream?”. 

Everyone is posting their theories on who shattered Pink Diamond. I’ve seen it going every direction: Yellow Diamond did it; White Diamond did it; Pearl did it. And while I’m a big believer that Pearl was, at the VERY least, involved in her shattering, I also have an alternate theory.

Consistently, whenever Pink Diamond’s demise has been mentioned–in her presence–Pearl has always shown great distress. At first I assumed it was grief; if you subscribe the the theory that Pearl belonged to Pink Diamond, it might be caused by any residual feelings she might have about her Diamond. Perhaps it has been because the act has ruined Rose’s name or because of how Steven found out.

We don’t know why, but Pearl has always shown great duress whenever Pink Diamond’s shattering is brought up.

The Crystal Gem rebellion was only as successful as it was in great part due to Rose’s healing abilities. So long as they weren’t shattered, she could bring her comrades back from mortal injury with her tears. It’s very likely that, particularly during the early stages of the rebellion, that their chances were dismally low.

Lots of people have pointed out that only a diamond can break a diamond, which has been one of the big reasons why people believe Pink was shattered by another diamond. The only problem is why? We’ve seen that Yellow, though she manages her grief well, is still very torn up by the loss of Pink Diamond.

Though she was hasty in The Trial and most of her actions could easily be perceived as an attempt to cover up her own part in the shattering of Pink Diamond, Yellow has never been a patient gem. She is quick to anger and though she may keep a calm facade, she has always been quick to lash out.

In Message Received, even when Peridot is still obeying respectful protocols, when she tries to convince Yellow to abort the Cluster and preserve the Earth she lays into Peridot. 

This is before Peridot outright disobeys her orders and calls her diamond a clod. She probably would have given Peridot the same treatment she gave the Zircons if she had been physically present. I really don’t believe Yellow had anything to do with what happened to Pink Diamond.

A lot of people have been concerned by White Diamond’s failure to appear at the trial of the gem who was believed to have killed Pink Diamond. It is very suspicious, especially since we know nothing of White Diamond. We only have the very barest of ideas of what she looks like because of the murals on the moon base.

We of course see something of her likeness on Homeworld.

Blue Zircon mentioned during The Trial that Rose Quartz had already been an established threat for a few hundred years. This means that Pink Diamond wasn’t shattered until a few hundred years after the start of the rebellion.

What if the Crystal Gems were losing the war? What if they needed something to turn the tide in their favor? What if they could get their hands on a bargaining chip? In the early stages of the rebellion, there likely weren’t many gems on Rose’s side. It seems possible that, even during the events of The Answer, that Rose and Pearl were the only rebel gems. After all, if they wanted to wage an assault against Blue Diamond and her court, wouldn’t they want to bring more than two gems?

What if they knew they didn’t stand a chance? So they wanted to level the playing field. If only a diamond can shatter a diamond, it’s unlikely that Rose or Pearl would have been able to deal the killing blow. However, that doesn’t mean they can’t destroy a diamond’s physical form.

What if Pearl and/or Rose managed to destroy Pink Diamond’s physical form and took her gem? What if they brought her gem to the diamonds and turned the war into a hostage negotiation? Pink Diamond could be safely returned but only if Homeworld abandoned the Earth. This doesn’t seem like too desperate a tactic, especially if there are only two gems standing against the might of their planet.

What if they tried to bargain with White Diamond? A diamond’s life for a single planet seems like a fair trade. But what if White Diamond wasn’t willing to negotiate. What if White Diamond forsake Pink Diamond, shattering her when her gem was put up for ransom?

After all, we’ve seen a mural depicting a gem of a very great visual similarity to White once before. A mural illustrating Rose Quartz standing before White Diamond, holding something very pink and diamond-shaped between them. All while White Diamond lashes out.

I feel like my reaction to this has two sides here, and one of them is kinda bitter so bear with me

Side 1: the legitimate

Lapis is a multifaceted character and in some ways a misleading one. At her most bitter, hurt, and vindictive, she still spent the day making fart jokes with Steven. The thing about Lapis is that she’s both a very good actor, and in some ways, her emotions tend to surge and move very rapidly. If she’s in a good mood, that shows, and she comes across light and approachable and amiable for the most part. 

If she’s in a bad mood, then she comes across a bit like a fairytale witch who has arrived to curse your newborn and burn your castle down.

This is part of why I see a parallel between Lapis and Ruby- it’s that sense of very fast-moving emotions that tend to vent without too much in the way of a filter. If Lapis is trying to play subterfuge, her response is to more or less package off and try to avoid the entire feeling- better yet, just don’t bring the thing up at all, or acknowledge it even when it’s what everyone around you is talking about.

So yeah, it can be hard to get a single decisive read on Lapis because she’s someone who has a lot of feelings and they can shift very suddenly (see, Lapis in Mirror Gem, where she goes from “you actually talked to me! You helped me! :D” to practically chanting about ancient sins and ready to personally destroy the Crystal Gems in less than five seconds)

Side 2: buckle your pants, kids, because Clockie’s here and I’ve been bitter about this about as long as I’ve been in this fandom

There are a lot of people who write and board for the show and for characters who don’t get a lot of screen time different hands being at the wheel, so to speak, might become more apparent than for characters who get more screen time.

There’s a post on Lauren Zuke’s tumblr where she talks about the bias she brings to the characters when she writes them, and where other writes may not do the same. I’m suggesting that detection of this bias by the audience can be a factor in how consistently a character is written.

Lapis has only appeared in 14 episodes out of the 119 that have aired as of this posting, that’s only 11%. I went through and checked who wrote/boarded her episodes and here’s what I’ve discovered:

Combat heavy episodes are all W/B by Joe Johnston and Jeff Liu (Ocean Gem, Jailbreak [with Rebecca Sugar], Super Watermelon Island).

Silly/lighthearted episodes are all W/B by Raven Molisee, Paul Villeco (Mirror Gem, New Crystal Gems), Lauren Zuke and Hillary Florido (Barn Mates) and all four for Gem Harvest.

Our serious/exposition episodes are split: Same Old World is W/B Lamar Abrams and Katie Mitroff. Alone at Sea is Hillary Florido (one of the ‘silly’ writes) Katie Mitroff (one of the “serious” writers) and Rebecca Sugar. Chille Tid, though light on Lapis does reflect on more serious aspects of her character, is written by Lamar Abrams (serious) and Lauren Zuke(silly).

That leaves us with four episodes left: The Message; low on Lapis but we do have Lamar Abrams again (along with Hellen Jo, who hasn’t worked on any other Lapis episodes). The Return; also low on Lapis, but interestingly, for this data, written by Raven Molisee and Paul Vlilleco. Back to the Moon, low on Lapis, is Lamar and Katie. And finally, Hit the Diamond, again, low on Lapis, and written by the combat duo of Joe Johnston and Jeff Liu.  

I’ve been mulling this song over since I’d first heard it. For one, it confirms a lot of things about Homeworld and the Diamonds that I’ve been harping on for a while now. But this post isn’t a sermon about how to sympathise with the Diamonds better. I’m not too big a fan of that perspective. Rather, it’s the power that we receive when we empathise with them.

The thing about the Diamonds is that they’re all powerful, huge, and “human.” They err and have feelings, not necessarily in that order. So when they irrationally do something that hurts a lot of individuals and even entire planets, the answer isn’t to excuse them because “they’re sad.” The answer is to reach out to them in a way they understand so that they don’t do it again, and more appropriate to our context, make amends. 

Because the two very polar sides of “forgive” and “punish” aren’t constructive. To side with either doesn’t do justice to the people and gems who’ve already been lost or still are losing. It doesn’t make things better for anyone. 

This post will analyse the perspective Homeworld has of Earth and human beings. At the same time, the song reveals a lot about how gems view themselves and one another. I’ll round it up with how PD’s death impacted both Blue and Yellow Diamond and how their respective coping strategies led to the way things are now. And I’ll speculate on the immediate future of Earth in that regard.

So let’s get to it!

1. The song implies a falling-out among the Diamonds before PD’s shattering

Why would you want to be here? What do you ever see here That doesn’t make you feel worse than you do? And tell me, what’s the use of feeling, Blue?

When the Steven Bomb opens in Steven’s Dream, we get a rare moment of hearing Blue’s thoughts. Bent over PD’s palanquin, she expresses deep regret. She says, “If only I had done more.” 

We know that Blue is sad over PD’s death. And we know from the first verse that visiting anything related to PD makes both surviving Diamonds uncomfortable. But we can find, within the lyrics, something specific about why instead of just sad, regret is interspersed in their mourning of PD.

In sharp contrast to Blue’s lament of wanting to do more, later on in the song, YD says, “Now there’s nothing we can do.” That implies at one point in time, the Diamonds were in a position to do something that could have prevented PD’s shattering. And they didn’t do it.

I want to bring back one of my older posts regarding the circumstances of PD’s shattering. In it, I mention that there’s been some sort of historical scrubbing of PD’s memory from Homeworld, such that only older gems are aware of her or feel any affinity for her. The Great Diamond Authority Logo, colour schemes, and even gem factions show no sign of PD’s ever existing, when this wasn’t the case for older structures on Earth. 

But in a slightly contradictory manner, we know the truth to be the opposite. The Diamonds didn’t take PD out of Homeworld’s memory because of the fight. Rather, they erased her because it hurt them personally to be reminded of her existence. 

When we look at the circumstances of their argument, there are a few theories I can posit. The main one being this: PD had an unconventional relationship with her Earth gems. I say this because now we have two Homeworld “subordinates” as examples in contrast.

I brought up before that Jasper felt a deep personal affinity for PD. And this may be even without having met her personally, even with the possibility of her being created after PD was shattered. On the other hand, Peridot and Holly Blue talk about their Diamonds with a sense of detachment. There is a great divide that Peridot puts between herself and YD. YD is perfect; she is not. YD is the most objective; that is what she aims to be. YD is a great decider; she was there to reaffirm the logic of the former’s decisions.

It’s much the same for Holly Blue. BD decides to maintain the zoo; she is grateful for the opportunity to serve. BD is arriving; she wants to assure a pleasant visit for her.

In both these cases the gems don’t feel like they’re coerced into serving their Diamonds. They openly acknowledge that because their Diamonds are superior in different (and at times all) aspects, they’re worth following. It’s very similar to idolising someone and hoping they’d mentor you, or even that you could contribute to their cause in some way. This cause being the betterment of Homeworld. 

2. PD’s close relationship with her gems

so we know that Jasper popped out of her hole perfect. she is the Perfect Gem™. the biggest. the strongest. the toughest. the quartziest. even her hole is perfect.

and i realized, i know what that feels like.

i was a Smart Kid™. sure, i didn’t pop out of my hole perfect; i was also a Weird Kid™. but i was constantly told that i was smarter than other kids. that i was even a little bit better than other kids. i always heard “you’re too smart for the public schools!” “you’ve got the vocabulary of a kid twice your age!” “other kids don’t know as much as you.” “you shouldn’t correct people (but you are right).”

and i’d bet dollars to dolomite that that’s what Jasper heard too.

because Jasper, as we see her after Alone At Sea, is obsessed with strength. she’ll do anything to feel strong again.

beg back the gem who imprisoned her and tortured her? yup.

assemble an army of insane monsters? yup.

fuse with an insane monster just for more power? yup.

and that reminds me of things i’ve done. to me, this doesn’t look like a Jasper Is Obsessive thing. to me, this looks like someone who was constantly told they were good at something being confronted with a problem that they can’t solve.

Jasper couldn’t defeat the Crystal Gems, despite being the Perfect Gem™ (because her strength wasn’t the right kind of strength necessary to defeat them). i struggled since i hit my sophomore year of high school, despite being a Smart Kid™ (because my intelligence wasn’t the right kind of intelligence necessary to solve these problems). like hell i turned to external aids and used every underhanded trick i could in order to maintain my status as Smart. Jasper reminds me of myself, in that she is doing everything she can to maintain her status as Perfect.

i don’t think it’s just the Rubies who were so impressed with Jasper. i think all Homeworld was impressed with Jasper. “The Facet 9 Kindergarten Quartz That Could.” “popped out of the ground with her helmet on.” “took out eighty Crystal Gems before the sun went down.” that’s what she heard her entire life.

What would happen if you sang the full version of Rebecca Sugar’s “We are the Crystal Gems” into a voice to text program… and then sang the translated lyrics?

THE GRANDLES ARE HERE