Not another fangirl

About this…

If you’re someone affected by the platform’s definition of what they’re going to be banning, I strongly suggest you back up your Tumblr blog. RIGHT NOW. Info on how to do that is here.

I can’t think why my own Tumblr would be affected, but I’ll be backing things up too… because in situations like this one might expect the algorithm to get a little out of hand and make mistakes that one might or might not be able to recover from. (See this article.)

For safety’s sake – because I’d very much dislike losing the content I’ve shared with other people here – I’l be embodying my Tumblr content in a new Wordpress blog over the coming days. I’ll share the address here when it’s ready, for those who might be interested.

And this confuses the bejesus heck out of me. I never once got the sense that anyone was “forgiving” them.

Let’s just break this down super quick.

Let’s look at Reunited.

First off, we have the spark. Blue Diamond is addressing Rose Quartz, talking about Pink Diamond and how Earth is her world.

“Come! Answer for what you’ve done!”

The gems gear up, ready to take this bitch on no matter how entirely hopeless it is, but Steven says no.

“There’s no reason to fight.”

Now, no one says it outright in this moment, but I always assumed everyone knew that fighting would be… almost more for the principle of the thing than in expecting any decent outcome. She’s a Diamond for crying out loud. It’s been pretty well established that even poofing one is almost unheard of. Not to mention Yellow’s presence, the cluster already out, chaos already beginning to rain down upon them (metaphorically speaking).

It was hopeless. Who would think Steven just… what, doesn’t want to hurt them? Nah, man. Nah. He doesn’t want his friends to die.

So then we have Blue going all pity party on us. They cannot fathom how she’s mourned, blah blah blah. She makes them all cry.

But not only does she make them cry, not only does she express through magic how in pain she is.

If that was all she was doing, I might have seen this action as one of those “the villain is a person” moments.

But nah. Because she says this.

“You deserve this. All of you!”

Genocidal murder bitch says what?

No. Nononono, NO. She does not get to say that. I mean, really? Really? This isn’t her lashing out, being emotional. Oh sure, she’s emotional, but this is malicious.

Look at her face when Garnet gets genuinely emotional.

This is more than an attack. It’s more than “oh I want them to feel my pain.” You think she’s going to look for empathy from rodents? That’s what they are to her. Vermin. Rats. And not the cute kind.

This is deliberate psychological torture. You think she gets pity for this?

Nah.

“She won’t listen. She just wants to fight.”

Guys, Steven knows fighting will not end well. They do not have an upper hand. They are literally doomed.

Well, until Lapis comes in.

(Look at Peridot’s cute little run!)

Everyone knows how powerful Lapis is, especially with the ocean right there.

And listen, okay, the whole “I’ve felt worse” thing? I get it. I totally get why people would take issue would that. “Oh, is she saying she’s the ultimate victim? Are we supposed to believe she’s the most tragic of characters with what she did to Jasper?”

Hold up for a sec, ‘cause I got news for you about the person whose pain she’s comparing her own to. Actually, I don’t. You know who it is. She’s ruminated on one loss, just one, for thousands of years. Of course it’s going to hurt, but seriously? I bet most of the people reading this right now have had more instances of grief in their lives than Blue Diamond. I bet anyone with depression and anxiety as afflictions would be able to stand in her presence. You know how many times I’ve had to function when I thought I would die right there where I stood? You get used to that shit. After not only the traumas of war that, yes, the other Crystal Gems had to go through, but also thousands of years of solitary confinement, and the guilt we know she feels for what happened with the ocean, with Jasper, with Peridot, with just not being able to do the things she should have been able to do (see: Distant Shore, my favorite Steven Universe song)? Guys. Guys. Come on. Come the fuck on.

Blue is grieving, and her feelings are valid, but fuck her. If she had empathy for any living thing, this stage of grief would be over by now. She thinks she’s the only one in the universe who has ever suffered a loss? FUCK that.

Anyway, tangent aside, Lapis is stronk and can function under Blue’s emotional influence.

So okay, we got some hope.

Hope to maybe

maybe

defeat

one Diamond

“With all our strength together, we can take her down!”

- Garnet

Cool! We got hope! You wanna notice something I noticed?

Steven is all on board now.

He’s not holding out hope that they’ll change her mind. He doesn’t care about hurting her or any of that bullhonky nonsense, like he doesn’t realize she’s a genocidal bitch who wanted to shatter Garnet’s Ruby. Have you been watching the same show I have? Steven’s not an idiot. He done grown up. He’s on that love and emotional maturity shit.

Anyway, fight ensues, the cluster seemingly destroys both Blue and Yellow, and we have a moment of

PHEW

RELEIF

But ya kno

Double Diamond.

I don’t think I need to explain why we’re back to square one on the whole How much hope do we have? thing.

Especially once Peridot is poofed.

“STOP!”

“Listen to me! I’m the one you’re missing! I’m Pink Diamond!”

Okay, so I didn’t quote Steven’s last attempt, but we all know it was not that direct. Back to square one. Back to desperation. Back to this is literally the only thing that is going to keep us alive.

This is NOT out of a desire to make the Diamonds “good.”

This is NOT out of a desire to make friends with them.

This is survival.

Obviously.

Freaking

durr

And it

it’s pretty bad, guys.

There is literally nothing Steven can do to fight back.

He really needs to get them to stop.

”I need to you know who I am!”

If you saw this as “guys come on let’s be family because I love you so much,” then I don’t know what to say.

This entire thing has been a desperate, hopeless battle.

Literally the only hope they ever had was to get the Diamonds to choose not to fight.

All throughout Legs From Here to Homeworld–

(I just realized the images may have been affected by my laptop’s night mode. Not… not going to go get those screenshots again.)

They were not happy.

They barely even spoke.

And look at Pearl! She’s acting like… a Pearl!

But what are you supposed to do when your enemies, who are entirely unbeatable by the way, have decided to call off destroying you and your home if you let them act like one of your own is their own?

What do you do when the lions call a truce?

You don’t stand up to them.

You don’t stand up to this:

Never, at any point, did I get the idea that the Diamonds were “forgiven.” Steven wants them to heal corrupted gems. He wants to have them as allies.

and

What

may I ask you

WHAT

ELSE

could Steven have done?

Yes, he’s naive. He’s a little too optimistic, perhaps, but at the same time… they’re doing what he wants. He can’t ruin that by antagonizing them.

WHAT ELSE IS HE SUPPOSED TO DO?

And what else are the other gems supposed to do? They can’t antagonize the Diamonds. They can’t talk back. The only thing pacifying these giants is the idea that they’re in the presence of one of their own kind.

Bismuth put it best with her lion metaphor, but I’m gonna mix in that rodent metaphor I used earlier. Lions aren’t going to listen to the rat colony their cub has decided to protect for some reason. The Crystal Gems can’t do anything.

…

Was no one else extremely tense while watching this episode?

Why do so many people think it’s a redemption thing? Sure, maybe they’ll redeem Yellow and Blue Diamond eventually, but right now?

Freaking

I tried to draw a few drinks as anime dudes + water!

Would probably draw other types of drinks to add to this in the future haha. Good Afternoon! It’s based on a gijinka reward poll I did on patreon in which drink gijijnka won.

Full sizes +bonus wallpaper and transparents available for download there:

  LINK