Sick Sad World

What a journey. Thanks for reading!!

Isaiah 65:17

Yeahhh. I mean, at the end of the day, I'm not gonna judge a person over what character they like/relate to. Sometimes you can like a character for the idea of them rather than how they're actually handled in the show? But I will say that this whole narrative is so botched. Jax stans (not fans, important distinction because stans are intense) will criticise you for rejecting Jax or thinking that he is irredeemable. I've heard people use phrases like 'he's still a person' and 'there's a reason he is the way he is' and honestly???? What about his mum then? That's right! You wanna defend this shitty character and downplay his actions? You sympathise with him? Sympathise with his mum then. You don't know *her*. You don't know what *she's* been through. Why does she deserve to die?

But they'd never extend that same amount of sympathy to someone like Jax's mum, and that's where the argument falls apart completely. This isn't about trying to save lost souls or believing in second chances. Someone doesn't like your blorbo, and you don't like that. If Jax stans were really so committed to their second chance philosophy, they wouldn't be so quick to demonise his mum and assume she's irredeemable. But that's never been the core of this discussion. And the show has created this audience response (which imo, is much worse than any Jax stan). The show *wants* you to demonise this random woman and it uses her death as a prop. You're not supposed to give a fuck about her dying. It's all about Jax. The show deliberately omits as much detail as possible about this woman and frames her in a very deliberate way. Don't ask questions - don't ask who is telling the story (Jax, manipulative and an unreliable narrator). They could've given us ONE detail about this woman, anything at all to show she's a person - but they won't. Because that would *humanise* her too much. And we're not supposed to think about Jax's mother as a human being.

"you don't like the finale because you weren't paying attention"

"you're only mad because you wouldn't have written it the same way"

all of these takes are willfully ignorant of people like myself who did pay close attention, didn't have much in the way of headcanon at all, and didn't expect the story to match the exact ways in which I would have written it.

"Hmm, sad backstory. You're still an abusive shithead that actively makes others' lives worse and refuses to change."

it’s always funny as heck watching people ALMOST hit the nail on the head about the problems and flaws in TADC amongst their glazing. like people are saying “oh this show was always about the characters and their dynamics” and then mention “the complexities of Jax and Pomnis characters” in the same breath and you’re just sitting there like hmm…interesting…so you’re not gonna mention the rest of the cast there buddy?

Some context for what I said in the comments. (Daisy = transfem Jax)

(Comment for context:)

You guys are good at latching onto little tidbits I give you. I knew this was going to be asked, so I didn’t bother elaborating in the post itself, because I have a lot to say. Also, this is gonna be really negative, so read at your own discretion.

Basically, ‘A Single Pale Rose’ is a well-written single episode. However, it has an issue in the very core of the episode, and that core is present in the entirety of Steven Universe’s run: The Legacy of Rose Quartz. Because of A Single Pale Rose, it no longer mattered whether or not Steven Universe had good writing, when the character its ideology is based around, Rose Quartz, was a pretender, a fake.

The series constantly shoves it into the viewer’s face how the Crystal Gems were a way for Gems to rebel against the Diamond Authority’s tyranny, how joining the rebellion was a way of casting aside the love they are programmed to have towards their Diamonds. This message is the clearest in Pearl’s character, who was Rose’s first freedom fighter compatriot. “Who do you belong to?” Pearl’s friends would jokingly ask her. “No one,” Pearl would respond, full of confidence.

Except it was a lie. Pearl belonged to Pink Diamond the moment she was made, and she belonged to her still years after she was dead for good. Pearl never broke free from the Diamond Authority, but the viewers were led to believe that she did, and the show never acknowledges that Pearl was still a slave after Earth was “freed” from the Diamonds, all the way up until 'Mr. Greg’. To make matters worse, 'Mr. Greg’ was framed as a sweet, romantic episode about letting go of lost love. It was only that for Steven and Greg. For Pearl, it was finally letting go of the shackle that her slaver kept her in. Pearl was never freed by the Crystal Gems, she was freed by their leader dying and her son helping her find true freedom and even then she never truly understood what Pink Diamond put her through because she was in love with the person enslaving her.

Pearl joined the Crystal Gems to be with her Diamond: “Why would I ever want to go home, if you’re here?” and Pink Diamond knew Pearl was only saying what her programming was telling her to: “I know you do (want to fight with me).” Pink Diamond had her slave serve as her second in command and function as a symbol of how liberating her rebellion was, when it was merely exchanging one slaver for another.

And then Future has the gall to show off Pink Pearl, who Pink Diamond treated even worse, to show how much better she’d been with our Pearl. Disgusting.

Gems are basically robotic life forms. They are programmed with knowledge to do their jobs and a deep devotion for their leaders so that they’ll never rebel. How conscious is this adoration? Did any of the Gems actually join the Crystal Gems to buck against the Diamond Authority, or did their programming tell them to worship the Diamond asking them to fight with her without them realizing it? Pearl, Garnet and Amethyst were all devastated to lose “Rose Quartz”, they loved her, and it might very well be like a Gem loves her Diamond. The similarity to Jasper’s behavior over the same gem, only in her true identity, is there. The only Gems we know for a fact rose against their Diamonds were Bismuth, for opposing “Rose Quartz”, Lapis Lazuli, since she went fully rogue, and Peridot, for insulting Yellow Diamond to her face. These three are the true Crystal Gems. Everyone else was a victim of the Diamond pretending to be a freedom fighter.

The Crystal Gems built monuments for “Rose Quartz”. They worshipped her. Everything Pink Diamond owned was associated with roses, the symbol of her cult of personality.

Steven Universe pretended for years and several seasons that the story of the Crystal Gems was one of liberation. It never stopped pretending because, when the truth of Pink Diamond’s duplicity came out, her victims still called themselves after the name she gave them: Crystal Gems. The Crystal Gems stand for the Diamond Civil War at worst, and Pink Diamond’s Teenage Rebellion Against Mommy Dearest(s) at best. They were nothing more than a tool for Pink Diamond.

I hear what you’re saying in terms of the character reactions, but my beef is with how the story, aka the writers, frame the betrayal. And they (the writers) don’t treat it as the big deal it is. It’s fine that the Crystal Gems want to forgive Rose, since, as you said, they love her (like all Gems are programmed to love their Diamonds, but the love doesn’t have to be genuine. Ruby does question whether or not her and Sapphire’s love for each other is true, but no one as much as raises the question whether or not they truly loved Rose or if they’re just all following the programming to love Pink Diamond). I think it’s less fine that we didn’t get an alternative view from anyone, like how Fruits Basket gave us a character who chose not to forgive Akito, the main abuser in that story. The Pink Diamond reveal itself was presented too simply for being such a complicated issue. Especially since Bismuth is right there, and could choose not to forgive a Diamond. It would be in character for her to do so.

Also, you know, Rose Quartz placed her personal slave, who was still enslaved to her, as the icon of the Crystal Gems uprising. It doesn’t matter if Rose told Pearl she could go anywhere, she was a slave literally programmed to worship her and follow her anywhere. And follow her she did. And Rose used her as a symbol for freedom. And, since no one points it out, and the relationship is instead treated as a simple unrequited love affair, it’s clear that the writers just didn’t realize that they’d accidentally written the Happiness In Slavery trope.

I doubt the writers of the show actually wanted the message of the Rose/Crystal Gems relationship to be “slavery is okay as long as your slaves love you!” so I’m gonna say it wasn’t the point. So, really, my issue is not that I wanted a simple story, but that the show treated a complicated aspect of the story as something simple. I wanted the aftermath of the reveal to be more complex, not more simple. “We love her, so we forgive everything she did” is the simplest solution to the issue. It is the solution to most issues you might have with your real-life loved ones, which is why the show chose it, but your real-life loved ones have probably never enslaved you, where the problem lies in the relationship presented in the show.

You guys are good at latching onto little tidbits I give you. I knew this was going to be asked, so I didn't bother elaborating in the post itself, because I have a lot to say. Also, this is gonna be really negative, so read at your own discretion.

Basically, 'A Single Pale Rose' is a well-written single episode. However, it has an issue in the very core of the episode, and that core is present in the entirety of Steven Universe's run: The Legacy of Rose Quartz. Because of A Single Pale Rose, it no longer mattered whether or not Steven Universe had good writing, when the character its ideology is based around, Rose Quartz, was a pretender, a fake.

The series constantly shoves it into the viewer's face how the Crystal Gems were a way for Gems to rebel against the Diamond Authority's tyranny, how joining the rebellion was a way of casting aside the love they are programmed to have towards their Diamonds. This message is the clearest in Pearl's character, who was Rose's first freedom fighter compatriot. "Who do you belong to?" Pearl's friends would jokingly ask her. "No one," Pearl would respond, full of confidence.

Except it was a lie. Pearl belonged to Pink Diamond the moment she was made, and she belonged to her still years after she was dead for good. Pearl never broke free from the Diamond Authority, but the viewers were led to believe that she did, and the show never acknowledges that Pearl was still a slave after Earth was "freed" from the Diamonds, all the way up until 'Mr. Greg'. To make matters worse, 'Mr. Greg' was framed as a sweet, romantic episode about letting go of lost love. It was only that for Steven and Greg. For Pearl, it was finally letting go of the shackle that her slaver kept her in. Pearl was never freed by the Crystal Gems, she was freed by their leader dying and her son helping her find true freedom and even then she never truly understood what Pink Diamond put her through because she was in love with the person enslaving her.

Pearl joined the Crystal Gems to be with her Diamond: "Why would I ever want to go home, if you're here?" and Pink Diamond knew Pearl was only saying what her programming was telling her to: "I know you do (want to fight with me)." Pink Diamond had her slave serve as her second in command and function as a symbol of how liberating her rebellion was, when it was merely exchanging one slaver for another.

And then Future has the gall to show off Pink Pearl, who Pink Diamond treated even worse, to show how much better she’d been with our Pearl. Disgusting.

Gems are basically robotic life forms. They are programmed with knowledge to do their jobs and a deep devotion for their leaders so that they'll never rebel. How conscious is this adoration? Did any of the Gems actually join the Crystal Gems to buck against the Diamond Authority, or did their programming tell them to worship the Diamond asking them to fight with her without them realizing it? Pearl, Garnet and Amethyst were all devastated to lose "Rose Quartz", they loved her, and it might very well be like a Gem loves her Diamond. The similarity to Jasper's behavior over the same gem, only in her true identity, is there. The only Gems we know for a fact rose against their Diamonds were Bismuth, for opposing "Rose Quartz", Lapis Lazuli, since she went fully rogue, and Peridot, for insulting Yellow Diamond to her face. These three are the true Crystal Gems. Everyone else was a victim of the Diamond pretending to be a freedom fighter.

The Crystal Gems built monuments for "Rose Quartz". They worshipped her. Everything Pink Diamond owned was associated with roses, the symbol of her cult of personality.

Steven Universe pretended for years and several seasons that the story of the Crystal Gems was one of liberation. It never stopped pretending because, when the truth of Pink Diamond's duplicity came out, her victims still called themselves after the name she gave them: Crystal Gems. The Crystal Gems stand for the Diamond Civil War at worst, and Pink Diamond's Teenage Rebellion Against Mommy Dearest(s) at best. They were nothing more than a tool for Pink Diamond.

by popular demand, i have taken his leg

also some made the joke the rocky just needed a translator and it was all a misunderstanding. ha. no. this rocky is not fucking around, you need to run

the only people having a good time is Simon and Eel/Elli

Decided to go with Project Sulfur for the au's name. i had a look around and iron maiden is already being used and i like being a special pebble.

no matter what au it is, they'll always be sad little gay men

markiplier knows these things exist

i think about that constantly