A Clear MidWinter

Overshoots and Mini Anticipations lecture from my Complete Introduction to 2D animation package.

All I wanna do 

This was an absolutely, no holds barred, insane conclusion. The amount of love and effort that was put into this is felt all the way through. This special feels like it could never be topped. Everything was firing on all cylinders and hit perfectly.

Blue and Yellow Diamond coming over to Steven’s side was done very well. You can understand their pain from hurting their beloved Pink for some many years and wanting to escape from the tyranny of White Diamond. You would think you couldn’t empathize with them for what they’ve done but you easily find yourself hoping they make it out okay.

Steven discovering that he can fuse with the gems, even in their gem forms, was a well done surprise. It plays into the uniqueness of Steven and adds a little more to his abilities. The new gem forms are to die for. I love Peridot and Lapis’s new look and don’t get me started on Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl. Those are just the perfect looks for them.

All the new fusions were just plain great. Sunstone being a reference to the too cool for school attitude of the 90s was too funny. Her little fourth wall PSA had me dying.

The reveal of Obsidian was majestic. She is the absolute best fusion. It was great to finally get confirmation of her existence since it’s been hinted at from the beginning of the series. I almost shouted when I saw her pull her sword from her mouth. That was just too awesome.

The final confrontation with White Diamond was done beautifully. You could feel the tension in the air and the suspense as White took over the Crystal Gems. You get a sense of hopelessness from Whites speech to Steven. You can almost agree with White saying that Pink only helped out the gems and earth for her own selfish reasons but Steven brings everything to light by reminding White that he is not Pink Diamond. When White removed the Diamond from Steven’s stomach my eyes widened. My heart sank when I saw Steven trying to get back to his gem. I thought that Steven was practically done for but the major revelation and how it was animated was something that I loved the most. The gem forming into Steven showed that Pink is gone and there is only Steven. That was something White needed to see for herself to know she was wrong in her assumptions of Steven. The scene of Steven fusing back with his gem half was the most gorgeous the show has ever looked. Everything moved with such fluidity, you don’t even get that type of animation in most anime’s, it looked that good.

I very much appreciated Steven’s sass at White, it was a definite ‘oh snap’ moment. White seeing that even she can be flawed was something that made sense for her. She was so determined to make everything perfect like her that she needed to know conformity is never a good option and flaws help make people unique. Her redemption felt like a necessary means and something that fits right into the series. Not everyone is just a cruel monster unworthy of redemption. Some can see how their actions can have negative effects on people. That’s a lesson that Steven Universe thrives on and it’s executed flawlessly here.

The ending was well done with the Diamonds fixing up all the corrupted gems and even leaving a bit of their imperfections in. This special was the best conclusion to this arc. It begs the question of where does the show go from here? If this was a series finale it would be fitting but seeing that there is more in store from the crew I cannot wait to see what’s next. This had the most effort put into it. You can feel all the blood, sweat, and tears that went into it. It was the perfect wrap up to the most emotional arc of Steven Universe… so far.

Obsidian (Steven Universe) 

Steven Universe | “Change Your Mind” 

me:

people are just misunderstanding White.

When White finally shows a flaw, it’s a downhill battle, because what she’s been trying to do for so long was maintain perfection. No doubt she was the creator of all Gems, and the one who determined how society would run. She needs to do her best, always, lest things fall apart.

But she hasn’t always been a perfectionist.

This is perfectionism. Shoving yourself inside other Gems so that they can’t think for themselves—so you’re the only one making decisions.

It’s easy to be perfect if nobody can think for themselves.

But she wasn’t always like that. Blue Diamond says so herself—they all used to spend time together, and even laugh. Which doesn’t sound much like the White Diamond we knew, does it?

That’s because White’s perfectionism was a response to Pink’s death.

We’ve seen the other Diamonds’ reactions to Pink’s death. Blue’s is the most obvious:

She became incredibly depressed all the time—so much so that she weaponized her sadness.

Yellow is a slightly more complex Diamond: her response to Pink’s death was to bury everything. Don’t feel anything. Move on like nothing happened. Yes, she’s sad. But she can’t show it.

She’s cold. Calculating. She’s weaponized her anger over Pink’s death.

Which brings us to White. How could a leader, the one Gem who holds Homeworld together, show any sort of emotion? She can’t be angry. She most certainly can’t be sad. What effect would that have on her Gems?

So she keeps everything perfect. Because if everything’s perfect, nothing like Pink’s death will ever happen again.

She weaponizes her perfectionism. She robs other Gems of their being. She extends her will into anyone who shows deviance, because the Empire cannot crack again.

Until it does.

White gets embarrassed, and she shows color—she shows a flaw, for the first time since Pink has died. And the world doesn’t fall apart.

And that makes her realize: if she can blush, and be sad, and flustered, and nothing bad will happen, maybe she can go back to being herself.

So she does. Begrudgingly, but she does.