#su analysis

This is him right before he moved in

This is him right when he moved in at 8 years old.

And then he remained looking that way for SIX YEARS.

Gems dont grow. They're born the way they are. If a gem is childish and small they will remain that way for the rest of time. Change is an abstract, even taboo concept for Gems and subconsiously the Gems enforced this belief on Steven. They treated him like he would never change and he didnt.

Until Connie came along.

Steven had been surrounded by people who never expected him to change. Sure he had some human contact, his dad, Lars, Sadie, Onion, The Pizza Family, The Frymen family. But they weren't close to him. Not really. The only one that could've done anything was his dad, but he had already accepted Steven wouldn't be normal.

It was Connie that really introduced Steven to the human experience. Who introduced him to the concept of school, to reading, to learning, to growing. He gave him the expectation that he should change.

So he began to grow alongside her. Despite the fact that he was around 2 years older, he grew up with her and at the same pace. He finally had a reference, something to live up to.

He still wasnt growing naturally though. He was still the expectation of what he should look like. And while it was never shown in the show, we can see that eventually Steven did start growing naturally. That he began growing stubble, that he began caring less about a color scheme and became more and more human

i wish we saw more of pink and yellow's relationship outside of jungle moon. it couldn't have been like that all the time, not if yellow looked THAT haunted after the line "don't you know i miss her too? but tell me..."

yellow did say that pink always knew how to make her laugh. what if pink was the ONLY one who could make her laugh? imagine going thousands of years without laughter because the one person who made you feel that way is gone. we know yellow blames herself for pink's "death", so imagine living with thousands of years of guilt on top of that.

blue wasn't the only one who mourned pink to her own detriment. yellow mourned just as self-destructively, just... differently.

It shows that many of the things that Steven went through in the main series were in fact, traumatic and he never fully processed those events until very recently. It presents the idea that if a kid went through all the adventures Steven went through, these situations would end up to be emotionally draining for them.

The idea of Future came from the creator trying to potray how it can be tiring to be after a huge fight against someone, that you may end up winning but it can leave you scars in the aftermath. It is also somewhat intended to be a deconstruction of anime shonen (the ones characters fight huge battles) by showing how it is hard for the protagonist to adapt to a normal life after the big adventure is over.

Because Steven has been exposed to such violence as a child- and frequently on top of that- now his mind (and gem) react violently to more simple mundane situations since he is in constant ¨flight or fight¨ survival mode. His gem powers are connected to his emotions, and they react in different ways to either defend Steven or eliminate what it could be considered a threat.

It is also worth of pointing out that some of these extreme reactions that Steven has present themselves when he is alone with some gem that has really hurt him or his loved ones in the past, such as it is the case of Jasper and White Diamond in "Homeworld Bound". These two characters also act as parallels to Steven in this series, something i'll get to a bit later in this analysis.

Another thing that Future does that is tied to Steven's trauma is show the consequences of how Steven was raised by the gems and Greg. Growing up, Steven felt like he had to be like his mother, Rose Quartz, which made him tie a lot of his identity around her. In the early seasons he would get worried a lot about his powers not working correctly and feeling useless as part of the Crystal Gems team. This changed over time but it left a general impact on his character.

Steven's parental figures had a lot of emotional baggage that came from the loss of Rose giving up her gem to have Steven or from the gem war when it came to the gems. Because of this, Steven often felt gulity and felt that he had to ¨fix¨ the gems and Greg to some extent, and they would vent their problems on him, not fully realizing how they were pressuring Steven in a situation of feeling that he had the obligation dealing with their own issues.

This is called parentification, and it means that when a child is forced to ¨grow up¨ way too soon and take adult responsibilities that shouldn't be for a child. Kids growing in this type of families are forced to take care of their parents' well being, for one reason or another. It could either be due to trauma the parents have or them being neglectful, for instance.

When you grow up in a situation like this, it is likely that you get used to push your own feelings and needs down for the sake of your caregiver. You feel like your feelings don't matter or they aren't important as others'. You believe that it is your job to make other people happy or having to fix them in some way. Emotions like anger or sadness (mainly the first) are dismissed nor really treated as valid for the child.

So Steven put himself into this role of having to fix others, his identity became tied to be the ¨helper¨, to be useful to others, often as a way to get proper attention. And his more ¨negative¨ emotions like his anger or sadness were things that he felt that he had to hide or bottle them up inside of him.

The problem is that in SU Future Steven finds himself in a reality that the gems don't longer need for him to fix them nor he has that many problems left to solve. The main bad guys have been defeated and they are working on paying for the atrocities they commited. There are some gems that antagonize Steven but they aren't exactly a real threat from what it is shown. Steven can finally live more or less in peace.

And that terrifies him.

It terrifies him because he doesn't know who to be without being the helper, without having to fix other' people problems. He doesn't know how to make relationships work without having something to solve. And for so long he tried to be like his mother, only to find out that she wasn't as great as everyone told him she was, and now that he is free to be whoever he wants, he doesn't know how.

And all this really stresses Steven out, making his trauma symptoms way worse. He goes through this identity crisis, feeling like he is losing the ones he cares about as he feels they don't longer need him. Everyone is moving on to new places, except for him.

One character that shares a lot of parallels to Steven in Future is Jasper. She goes through similar identity crisis of not knowing who to be, she keeps ¨training¨ since fighting is all she knows to be as a quartz soldier. She isolates herself from others, just like Steven, she believes that she doesn't deserve to be helped. She is stuck in a similar state to the one Steven is in Era 3.

It isn't a surprise to see why Jasper is the one that makes Steven learn he has these new powers in "Little Homeschool" and why thematically it fits Steven coming back to visit her in ¨Fragments¨.

¨Fragments¨ would be the turning point of the series, where everything that has happened in the mini series comes together. Steven feels like he can't tell the gems what is happening to him, so he goes to Jasper to hide away from them.

Jasper, with all the issues she has, decides to help Steven by doing ¨training¨, which would be a very unhealthy way of dealing with his problems. Steven grows to be big and tall as Jasper and is constantly glowing pink. The two having a sparring match... which culminates in Steven letting his power out and shattering Jasper.

Steven returns home and it is able to get Jasper's gem back together, but the thing is Jasper comes out telling Steven that now she sees him as her diamond.

Steven is horrified by everything that happened. He accidentally shattered a gem and was able to repair like her like it was nothing, almost becoming god like. He has been called and compared to what he feared the most: a diamond.

As result, he sees himself as terrible as the Diamonds are and decides to visit them to find a way to ¨cure¨ his issues by them using their powers on him. He has been avoiding them for so long because they are an important source of his trauma, specially White Diamond.

Something that is fascinating to me is Steven seeing that the Diamonds are doing well and are happy with fixing the damage they caused and him getting frustrated by that. These gems who have mistreated him and attacked him and his family are thriving while he is getting worse each day that passes by. It is uncomfortable but the thing is that people who hurt you can change and get better while you can get worse at the same time.

One moment i really like from this episode is when White Diamond tells Steven how unique he is: He is part gem part human. I think this is important because it highlights how isolated Steven feels in his situation- the gems can't fully relate to him because he is human and the humans can't exactly understand all this mini war that Steven was exposed to during his teenage years.

This is highlighted in episodes like ¨Bismuth Casual¨. In this episode Steven tries talking to other kids from his age and act normal, only to realize he feels so out of place around him since he grew in very different circumstances from them.

White Diamond tries helping Steven by ¨letting him talk to himself¨ which makes Steven confused and have an intrusive thought, almost making White Diamond crush her gem into a pillar by controlling her.

Terrified, Steven runs away again. He tries to pretend everything is fine. He goes to Little Homeworld but only causes a mess with his powers around the place until the gems, Greg and Connie confront Steven, which leads him to confess that he shattered Jasper and almost crushed White Diamond's gem into a pillar.

He sees himself as an irredeemable monter because of this, which makes him freak out and turn into a giant kaiju monster. It is important to remember that he turns into a monster like form cause that how he views himself now. He calls himself a ¨fraud¨ since he feels like he has been lying to everyone about what was really going on with him all this time. And as long as he views himself as a monster, he keeps being stuck in that form.

It isn't until the gems and his friends come and embrace him in a hug, calling out for him, by telling him that they still love him and will help him through his issues that Steven goes back to normal. I believe it was important for Steven to transform into this monster like form since his family and friends needed to see Steven at his worst for Steven to understand that he doesn't have to hide this more ugly part from them. That because he presents these symptoms in a complicated or more serious case, it doesn't mean he isn't worthy of love nor help. He still deserves it just as much as the gems and people he has help through the series.

‘The Test’ is the most classic example. 

As a standalone thing, it’s just a sweet episode about Steven learning to accept that his caretakers are also flawed and confused and figuring this shit up as they’re going along just like he is, and then doing a nice thing for their sake.

But looking back at this episode, it is quite obviously the nadir of Steven appointing himself as the Family Therapist and repressing all of his problems so he could better help the Gems’ with theirs. Like, there have been some early warning signs for this Complex, but this episode is the one that really cemented that idea in his mind and probably the reason it took him like the Entire Rest of the Show Including a Post-Finale Season to really untangle it.

But… also, I’ve been thinking a lot about the episode right after that, ‘Future Vision’. I think it’s also a very important ‘Not Quite Right Lesson Episode’ for the character of Garnet, and to some extent, the Crystal Gems as a whole. In many ways, it is to the CGs' character arcs' what 'the Test' is to Steven's.

So in this episode, Garnet reveals to Steven the fact that she has Future Vision. She hoped that telling Steven a little bit more about herself and being honest with him will lead to a greater understanding and a greater bond between them… but it backfired. It just led Steven to become a total paranoid, terrified wreck stuck in a total existential crisis.

And it seems like the lesson Garnet learned is that… she should’ve never taken that risk at all. That it would’ve been better for everyone if she just kept Steven ignorant of the truth forever.

Extremely reinforced with the ending of the episode, where Garnet chooses to once again hide an uncomfortable truth (that he just came very close to dying again) from Steven, for the sake of his own ‘peace of mind’.

So, like, the Gems were already hiding uncomfortable truths from Steven since day one. “If you could only know what we really are” and all of that. But I think… With the actual truth of Homeworld encroaching on them more and more at this point of the story arc, this would’ve been a great time for the Gems to reconsider their attitude and actually Explain to Steven What the Hell is Going On. 

But instead, I think Garnet saw the events of ‘Future Vision’ as a reinforcement of the idea that there’s just some things Steven is Better Off Not Knowing. Actually being frank with him about Homeworld and the Diamonds and the War right there and then, that would have just overwhelmed Steven with fears and worries and would’ve ended up doing nothing but hurting him. And Garnet can’t accept that possibility, not again.

And so, Garnet, alongside Amethyst and Pearl, keep all these truths from Steven as long as possible. Only revealing bits of information when they have to. For Amethyst it’s about her emotionally-evasive attitude (also, she legit doesn’t know all of that stuff herself). For Pearl it’s about how she learned to romanticize Rose’s own fucked-up obsession with secrets. For Garnet, with her usually very direct attitude and preference for the most straightforward solutions, I think it’s very much the events of ‘Future Vision’ that were still playing in her head every time she had the choice to actually Explain something to Steven and decided not to. 

But that, indeed, was Not Quite the Right Lesson. While being bluntly and directly told by Garnet all about the Many Ways He Could Die caused Steven to go into an anxiety spiral and an existential crisis for an episode - the way the Gems have been consistently secretive and evasive with Steven ended up causing him so much more emotional grief to him in the long run. As all of these secrets ended up revealed to him in the most surprising, dramatic and traumatizing way possible.

And the secretive attitudes ended up driving a wedge between Steven and the Gems. 

Even after they promised to be more honest with him. Because the sight of Steven crying on the roof that day is one that Garnet can easily move away from. Because Garnet’s Not Quite Right Lesson was almost as difficult for her to unlearn as Steven’s own. 

But after the big confrontation at the start of the Zoo Arc, Garnet ended up being the most upfront about the Crystal Gems’ history. Almost overeager to share what she knows about the past.

I mean also, again, Amethyst just has less to tell and Pearl is hiding secrets for reasons beyond her control - but I think it’s also important to consider from the perspective of Garnet’s arc.

Because the fallout of the Pink Diamond Reveal is very much centered around Garnet (or, well, Ruby and Sapphire). That was the Truth that was hidden from her 'for her own good'. And at the end of the day, despite all the grief that unveiling that truth has caused

It has also brought them, all of them, a lot closer.

There's a reason why 'the Truth' is Garnet's Final Missing Piece in the movie. It is as central to her character arc in the series as Lesbian AngstTM grief over lost love is to Pearl.

And still, some remnants of the Trauma of 'Future Vision' remained...

After all, even the very last episode of 'Future' was centered around the Gems once again trying to hide things from Steven (at that case, their turmoil about him leaving) for his own sake

Even though it once again just caused Steven a whole lot of grief.

It's maybe notable that at the end of this episode, Garnet, once again, tells Steven what's waiting for him in his Future...

I don't think of Steven Universe as one of those overtly "message"-oriented shows. And sometimes it'll even "teach" a different lesson in one episode versus another (e.g., sometimes Steven's patience and willingness to trust earns him a new friend, and sometimes it bites him right in the ass--very true to life, that!). But it does just so happen that shows with less conspicuous "moral of the story" setups also tend to have more holding power with the lessons we do learn from them on a more subconscious level.

Three of my favorite lessons from Steven Universe that I don't see discussed super often are Garnet's messages about love in "Love Letters," Amethyst's reaction to an apology in "Too Far," and Peridot's character growth as assisted by fandom in "Log Date 7 15 2."

Love Letters

My blog is named after the "Love Letters" line for a reason. Despite not really being one of my favorite episodes, per se, "Love Letters" has some of my favorite subtle messages.

This episode differs from the common storyline of "boy likes girl, boy pursues girl, girl is hesitant but decides it's kind to give him a chance, girl finds out the boy was right to pursue her against her will and they fall in love."

Instead, Garnet's got her own stuff going on, and when Jamie suddenly becomes fixated on her after seeing her once (and mistakes it as love!), she finds it completely inappropriate and writes him a message with a very blunt "no." She already knows he doesn't know her. She already knows a lot about HIM based on the fact that he's supposedly "in love" with her because he looked at her. Even if she wasn't already in a romantic situation that, for her, couldn't include him, she wouldn't appreciate some guy approaching her that way. It's a non-starter, and she said so.

The kids Connie and Steven, soft-hearted types who sympathize with Jamie and don't want him to feel rejected, try to soften Garnet's message, but he misinterprets it as the opposite and believes Garnet is into him too. She then DIRECTLY tells him she is not and will never be interested. Jamie falls apart, neglects his job, and later begs Garnet to go on a date with him anyway despite that she's said no. He just fundamentally does NOT get it.

Garnet shouldn't have to do this, but she chooses to set Jamie straight. She tells him he is NOT in love with her, that love takes time and love takes work, and that you have to at least KNOW the other person, which he does not. (He doesn't even know she's an alien, or that she's not a woman in the traditional sense despite using she/her pronouns, or, more importantly, that she exists as a living embodiment of Ruby and Sapphire's relationship.) She then proceeds to not accept any responsibility for his romantic future and tells him to pursue his acting career. And throughout the rest of the series, Garnet never engages meaningfully with Jamie again.

This episode lets her do that.

This episode shows us that "no" is enough, and though the children tried to soften the blow, they at least did not ever blame Garnet for not c'mon just letting Jamie take her out. Nobody tries to teach Garnet--or the audience--that Jamie's poor broken heart is now her fault and her responsibility to heal. Some may have seen her as unnecessarily gruff or blunt, but Garnet's like that about most things. And honestly, I feel her on that; being a woman who's had far too many men try to make their crush my problem, it is infuriating sometimes that you're just trying to live your life, happy, with your own stuff going on, and suddenly there's this dude standing in your path forcing you to make time for something that's going on in his head only.

Being kind is great, but where is the consideration for how the woman feels being pursued by some dude who knows nothing except that he must have her? Our society encourages men to bother women incessantly, to "be persistent," to assume women are incapable of knowing what they want and must be forcefully guided back to their purpose (which is to be led and controlled by whatever the hell men decide they want without women being consulted whatsoever). Our media is partially at fault for teaching men that it's romantic to be persistent in a way that actually would make them a freaking stalker in real life. Jamie showed up outside Garnet's HOUSE and was yelling up at her in the rain at night, insisting that she said she loves him too! That ain't cute!

This episode lets the opposite message live. It shows Jamie as misguided, falling like a ton of bricks just because he thought she was hot. It didn't validate his attraction or saddle Garnet with an obligation to go to the Crab Shack with him just to humor him. It gave Garnet space to declare an echoingly obvious "no," and it let her walk away to more important things after telling him he doesn't even understand how love works.

"Love Letters" is to be praised for having that message at its center: "You aren't obligated to entertain other people's romantic notions just because they expressed them, and 'no' is a complete sentence."

Too Far

In this episode, Peridot is being forced by circumstance to work with the Crystal Gems despite her Homeworld alignment, motivated by fear and the need to save her own skin. She's slowly developing relationships with each Crystal Gem, and now that she and Steven basically trust each other and Pearl is somewhat reluctantly working with her, she's on to gaining Amethyst's trust. And she blows it. Big time.

She goes too far making jokes about Amethyst's origin, making fun of her height, poking her in a sensitive spot, and then she's unable to read the room well enough to understand that she's really hurt Amethyst. Peridot claims she "was being cool" (as she understood it), and to be fair, Amethyst is definitely in the "can dish it out but can't take it" stage of her journey. But Peridot was definitely wrong to do it, and instead of apologizing when Steven explained why her actions were harmful, Peridot dug her heels in and doubled down. Amethyst dealt with it in a way we've rarely seen: she got sullen and quiet instead of exploding, leaving Peridot with little idea of how to help.

Something happens. A dangerous incident puts Amethyst's life in danger and Peridot is in the right place at the right time to save her. She does it, hardly without thinking, and Amethyst isn't injured by the giant out-of-control drill head mowing over her.

And what's really, really important is that this doesn't fix things.

Peridot saving Amethyst was great, but it doesn't address what Amethyst was mad at her about. Too often in media--especially kids' media--a person who has transgressed decides independently on a path to "make it up to" the wronged party, and then the wronged party is supposed to be happy and forgive just because, I don't know, the transgressor made them a handmade gift (even though the "crime" involved saying something mean about their brother).

Amethyst was right to still be mad, even though Peridot had made a grand gesture.

You don't see a lot of media that gets this right. Peridot still had to figure out the source of the hurt, initiate a heartfelt apology that acknowledges the violation and expresses a desire to do better, and not spend the whole apology defending her actions or making excuses.

I have apparently “hurt” Amethyst’s “feelings,” which was not my intent. If I’ve damaged my standing with the best Gem here, then I’ve made a serious mistake. I’m still learning. I hope you understand. I want to understand. I’m sorry.

It's not a perfect apology, and it's delivered via prepared statement through her voice recorder, but Peridot has declared that she's ready to try and that Amethyst is worth that to her. She likes Amethyst. She regrets hurting her. She did not understand what she was doing, but she wants to. Saving her life didn't address the harm she had done. Apologizing to her did.

I love that Amethyst wasn't bullied into feeling indebted to Peridot or making nice with her after she rescued her. I love that Peridot needed a little push to get it right--one that she initially rejected (from Steven)--but that she took that perspective into her silence and gave it her respectful attention, coming up with this apology at the end. And I love that this was the foundation of them cultivating a special bond, which turned into the Shorty Squad and involved these Gems supporting each other through hard times.

"Too Far" is a great example of a genuine apology, and of a character being allowed to still have her feelings about an unresolved violation even though she was also a recipient of a good deed. This episode lets that complex interaction breathe.

Log Date 7 15 2

Airing shortly after "Too Far," this episode completes Peridot's incorporation into the Crystal Gems. By this point, she has connected with every other Gem in the group on some level--trusted and encouraged by Steven, grudgingly respectful of Pearl, developing camaraderie with Amethyst--but she's still having trouble with Garnet. She just does not understand Garnet. Why the hell is she fused all the time?

We come to find out that where Peridot comes from, fusion is only used for fighting. Peridot can't fathom any other reason for two Gems to stay fused, and Garnet's just walking around as a Fusion of two Gems for no apparent reason. Peridot can't help but take that as a threat. Seeing a Fusion means there's gonna be a fight. She takes it as an aggressive posture. As a warning. And she's not wrong that Garnet's got her eye on her. Evaluating. Not letting her get away with too much.

It just so happens that her being a Fusion has nothing to do with that.

Garnet stays fused because her components, Ruby and Sapphire, are in love, and they want a shared life. Becoming an entirely new person together is a possibility for Gems, and that's what these two have chosen. Garnet is the result of that. And nothing even in the neighborhood of that kind of relationship has ever entered Peridot's experience. So even when presented with evidence to the contrary, Peridot still sees Garnet as an embodiment of violence.

But then Peridot watches a cheesy show called Camp Pining Hearts: a program Steven introduces her to so she can understand Earth a little better. She immediately fixates on the show and becomes a superfan, intimately familiar with the content she's seen and developing super in-depth theories about camper characters' compatibility. She's got charts and illustrations. She's got STRONG feelings about who should be together (and it's NOT the ones the creators of the show have written, that's for sure). Percy and Pierre are the objectively correct couple! Who cares if Paulette likes Percy on the show? He's meant to be with Pierre! PERIOD!

Later in the episode, Garnet tries to level with Peridot. She tries to help Peridot understand fusion. One way to learn is by doing. Garnet proposes fusion to Peridot.

She is initially open to this, but for her own reasons, Peridot is not able to go through with fusion. However, Garnet congratulates her anyway and says she's proud of Peridot for trying to understanding her.

"But I still don't understand you!" Peridot shrieks. "Why are you fused all the time??"

"I'm Percy and Pierre," Garnet says quietly.

Peridot's reply?

"OHHHHHHHHHHH."

She softly pounds one fist into the other, punctuating her realization.

THIS is what helped her get it.

Not hearing an explanation from Garnet. Not doing it herself. Not interpreting from real-life cues or asking others to spell it out to her. It finally all made sense when Garnet compared her relationship to one Peridot understood through fiction.

Peridot more readily absorbed ideas and concepts from a SHOW than she did from seeing it in the real world! She was one of those people who needed it in a box, in a fictional context, to make sense of it and develop feelings about it. She saw that the creators had their own intentions for Paulette to be with Percy, but she knew in her heart that Pierre was the right camper for Percy. Garnet saying "I'm Percy and Pierre" put it completely into context for her. Garnet is also a relationship that exists in defiance of her creators, but objectively speaking, nobody can deny that they're the best for each other.

Sometimes it's fiction that helps us understand something we didn't previously. Maybe we're first exposed to the concept through fiction and then later when we encounter it in real life, we have context. Or sometimes we had one opinion about a lifestyle or a population only to see it portrayed differently (more sympathetically? more realistically?) in our media and we start to get a different set of opinions, a different insight. Sometimes seeing it in an organic context in the media we consume does FAR more than would a lecture in a class or a callout from a stranger.

I think the Beta Kindergarten is the biggest potential example. Peridot mentions that while the Prime Kindergarten was super well-planned and organized, the Beta Kindergarten was a messy rush job. Something that had the potential to work, but was too small and poorly run to ever generate worthwhile soldiers. Peridot says that’s because the Beta Kindergarten was built in a hurry to generate extra forces for Homeworld during the rebellion, but…

…what if instead it was meant to generate extra forces for the Rebellion? What if it was flawed and messy and churned out countless off-colors and just one perfect Jasper not by accident, but by design?

If Pink Diamond/Rose Quartz was strong-armed by the other Diamonds into creating another Kindergarten to crush the Rebellion, then it being defective and poorly planned could’ve been a choice made by Pink deliberately.

If Pink planned Beta and planned it poorly on purpose, then the location makes sense. Small, situated in the middle of a desert, poor growth conditions, and terrible organization all make sense from the perspective of a rebel leader trying not to make her cause have to fight any harder.

Plus, where the Prime Kindergarten tore up a beautiful pasture, the Beta one kinda blends into the desert. Obviously deserts are still full of life, but…if Pink/Rose didn’t yet appreciate all of Earth’s biomes, she might not have realized that. She might not have been as worried about destroying an ecosystem by building a Kindergarten there.

Plus...if the gems from Beta came out off-color, they’d have an incentive to join the Rebellion. They’d never fit in or be accepted on Homeworld, so instead of Pink they might swear loyalty to Rose right out the gate.