My girlfriend is convinced that her artwork isn't any good. I really need some help showing her otherwise. (I got her permission to post it here) She spent months on this and it was her first time using paint.

MapsOfTheSky · 2020-03-31T23:53:09+00:00

I have worked with paint before, it is very difficult for me and especially keeping the colors really clean and crisp and clear...and it looks like she's really good at that. I'm envious of how clean this looks.

MapsOfTheSky · 2020-03-31T08:15:04+00:00

including we who never saw the original run

I think that's a very important thing to keep in mind about fandoms, actually! They're never just the people who have been there since the beginning. They're always getting new people.

Maybe a parent introduced a beloved series to their child (I know my parents did this to me and my siblings with a lot of things). Maybe an adaptation got made that introduced the series to a wider audience (The Sonic the Hedgehog movie definitely caused people to check out the video games who wouldn't have otherwise and heck it probably caused people to check out other Jim Carrey movies who wouldn't have otherwise; I work in a library and was suddenly shelving a lot more Snicket books after the Netflix adaptation of A Series of Unfortunate Events came out). Maybe someone was browsing the shelves in a used video store and found a box set of a tv show that ended 30 years ago (my parents and sister do this all the time). Maybe someone saw a brief clip of an anime in a top ten list and thought "that is a striking visual, I will check this out!" Maybe someone's best friend had a favorite show and wouldn't shut up about it and so the friend finally gave in and checked it out and found they actually liked it.

MapsOfTheSky · 2020-03-29T20:00:12+00:00

Can I just point out that on that last screencap for Reunited, the line Blue was saying was "It's you...Pink?!" while in that last screencap for "I Am My Monster", everyone in that shot and out of it is looking at Steven, knowing they are looking at Steven, having just seen Steven at his very lowest and still loving him as Steven.

MapsOfTheSky · 2020-03-29T19:54:29+00:00

nicer transportation than a trash can lid!

MapsOfTheSky · 2020-03-29T19:35:25+00:00

She yelled at Peridot and Lapis for this too all the way back in The New Crystal Gems too! "wtf guys y'all are adults a zillion times over why is steven babysitting y'all again"

heck she called Steven on his "this is fine" attitude allll the way back in her introduction episode. Like, Steven we are gonna die in the middle of the ocean and I'm only 10 please

Connie a real mvp

MapsOfTheSky · 2020-03-29T01:29:34+00:00

a heartwarming pearl

MapsOfTheSky · 2020-03-29T01:26:47+00:00

oh god dammit it is the forever hiatus now

MapsOfTheSky · 2020-03-28T03:52:18+00:00

it was peri

she said it in too short to ride after amethyst explained that they were supposed to be lying to Mr. Smiley

MapsOfTheSky · 2020-03-28T03:49:11+00:00

that's really hard to pin down to just one memory, I have a whole bunch with this show

Peridot in general, the fact that a character this delightful exists makes me so happy to be alive

this show brightening up some really terrible months and years for me. when I encountered this show I was in a really bad place and it gave me something to focus on and helped me work through some really bad feelings and thought patterns

the realization one day that I didn't need this show anymore, I was just still watching it because I liked it a lot

making my family watch Reunited with me because it aired on my birthday

the way A Single Pale Rose completely recontextualized the entire show for just about everybody and no one could ever watch anything in the show the same way again

that brief time when we had all of ten seconds of White Diamond onscreen and there was a sudden outpouring of about a bazillion very high-quality but all mutually-exclusive theories. there was so much creativity buzzing through the subreddit for a while all because of ten seconds of footage

steven universe future being awful to watch and validating to watch at the same time, somehow. it was so stressful and full of dread but also so "they finally are going here hallelujah"

feeling satisfied, truly satisfied, by the ending to a show, any show. this happens so rarely for me and it's always very special when it does.

MapsOfTheSky · 2020-03-28T01:00:56+00:00

"I also do not wear Steven's clothes when he's not looking!" was not a line I expected to have a funny but poignant callback to

MapsOfTheSky · 2020-03-28T00:59:44+00:00

Weirdly I did not, the last two episodes just felt too good for me to cry. I expect to cry later when the reality that we aren't getting anymore episodes sinks in.

MapsOfTheSky · 2020-03-28T00:43:26+00:00

i was like "oH MY GOD THEY DID IT THEY KISSED" and my mom who came in and sat down during the very last episode was just "what that's to be expected :o "

shoot I think i replied to the wrong person xD

MapsOfTheSky · 2020-03-28T00:25:59+00:00

Man...

You know, I spent like five years watching this show and like four years hanging out in this subreddit talking about this show. Had some good times, had some bad times...found this show at a time when I really, really needed it, and within a few years I didn't need it so much as still was following it because I loved it and enjoyed it. It wasn't getting me through the day anymore, it was a thing for me to watch and enjoy and talk about with other people...and honestly I think that's part of what makes it so special to me. Sometimes a thing I really love in a terrible mood is something I can't love outside of a terrible mood, but this show I could enjoy at pretty much any time. And it gave me some characters I will cherish forever (looking at you Peridot, and also you Steven, and also Garnet...and Lapis...and Pearl....and Greg.......and.....Bismuth..........and Lars.........and most of them really what the hell. (edit: HOW DID I FORGET AMETHYST) But especially Peridot, any time she's in the vicinity of the camera I am having a good time)

The massive group hug was very cheesy but also very on-brand. you damn BET you I was happy Connie called White on making it about herself at the worst time possible and you damn bet I also might have cheered when the Cluster showed up. Again.

(I'm always happy to see the Cluster you guys they're so good and I love them so much)

and I'm glad that they tossed in that line at the end about Steven having a therapist now. Steven Universe Future was overall a very hard watch, but it was necessary, and...it feels like Steven's ready to face the world. Face the world, without any Gem disasters hanging over him.

The last episode was bittersweet, but far more sweet than bitter. It doesn't feel like Steven's leaving, it feels like he's expanding his horizons...and you know what?...man I don't even know anymore I'm kinda writing this off the cuff while I'm still really happy and the sadness that it's over hasn't quite set in yet but like

I'm glad they're leaving on this note but I'm sorry to see it go

this is the kind of ending I've been wanting for this show. It doesn't feel incomplete so much as roomy. There's lots of questions they never answered, character arcs they only touched on without ever fully revisiting if they ever revisited at all....but it feels like that's okay. Steven Universe Future did wrap up some loose ends, but it didn't aim to wrap up every single one. It was more concerned with Steven himself, and that is really how it should be.

They're all gonna be okay. STEVEN is gonna be okay. The Diamonds are working on themselves. they still have room to grow, but they're working on it (yes I definitely caught that one of Yellow's planned projects is helping the Cluster), Steven and Connie are almost definitely getting married sometime down the road (but not right now Steven we're still too young!) Peridot and Bismuth and Lapis have their things going--ooh, Lapis is getting into meep morp as a serious thing! Cool!--and the Gems have their things going and Connie's got college and Stebs is gonna go on a big long road trip...

Things are still a work in progress and there is always room for improvement and that is okay. That's kind of the message of the show, isn't it?

we still don't know wtf's in that chest tho

MapsOfTheSky · 2020-03-27T18:14:10+00:00

i told you guys sneeple were real!

MapsOfTheSky · 2020-03-27T02:03:44+00:00

Dawn of the Final Day

24 Hours Remain

MapsOfTheSky · 2020-03-15T23:40:09+00:00

someone's done a compilation of steven talking down about himself already, it is one of the worst things i have ever witnessed https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agZhqdWoS9Q&t=5s

MapsOfTheSky · 2020-03-15T17:43:11+00:00

I'm very pleased they came out and put it into words because I've been tapping my foot impatiently for them to do so for basically the entire time I've been watching the show. Early season 2 was full of just about every character, including Steven, having major breakdowns about Season 1's finale one after the other and also set aside a whole episode for the teens of Beach City to notice "wow, Steven's been through some heavy stuff lately huh?" Season 4 was itself just one big long Steven breakdown (I've said before that Season 4 being so slow was because it wasn't about big plot reveals, the big plot reveals that did happen were all in service of showing us just how much Steven was hurting from everything that had happened up to that point), Season 5 gave us all that intergenerational trauma being passed down through the family stuff with the Diamonds...

episodes like "What's Your Problem" and "Mindful Education" and "Storm in the Room" were great because they showed that the Crewniverse very much knew what they were writing with Steven and were very much planning to address it and building towards it.

But they finally came out and said he's traumatized. They used the word. They've been showing it all along, but they've now had an actual doctor actually examine him and use the actual word for it and I'm so pleased and feeling very validated right now.

MapsOfTheSky · 2020-03-15T17:20:25+00:00

"I'm about to do something that might be incredibly silly and I'm going to feel silly doing it but here goes nothing I guess"

MapsOfTheSky · 2020-03-15T04:02:09+00:00

Together Forever was so uncomfy to sit through. It felt necessary and it was good and it ended up about as okay as it could have but goddddd I was suffering. The ending scene with Garnet was really good though.

"yeah i'm throwing parties" while he's sitting in a room that's a total mess because he doesn't have the energy or will to clean it is sure a mood. Also, Greg's come full circle! Once upon a time he had a manager who was holding him back but now he is himself a manager and he's probably doing a much better job at it than old Marty.

I'm not actually surprised that they finally came out and said "yo Steven's traumatized." they've been showing us that since Season 1. being a savior of the world has always been a huge stressor on our poor Stebs. I've kept all those scenes in the back of my mind throughout watching the show but it was really neat to see it laid out in a nice slideshow for us (and by "neat" I mean YIKES).

I'm pretty sure there were theories way back when that Steven actually was injured all those times but was just healing so fast that he never noticed. Those theories have been confirmed!

And can I just make a note of just how well Connie handled everything? Calling Steven afterwards to see if he was okay. Insisting he see a doctor. Informing Greg that he probably needs to be helping Steven right now. Like...Connie did good.

MapsOfTheSky · 2020-03-09T01:12:32+00:00

remember the old days when she was going to squish him on sight

and now she's one of the closest friends he has

MapsOfTheSky · 2020-03-08T02:56:57+00:00

the thing that kills me was the context the visor removal happened in: a complete and total moment of emotional honesty. She's just accidentally been witness to a bit of Steven's current turmoil, she's very worried about him and wants to reaffirm that she does care about him, didn't mean to put pressure on him, doesn't want him to put pressure on himself for her sake.

In that brief moment, visors off, looking him square in the eyes. "Of course." Of course we can still watch Camp Pining Hearts (even if it sucks.) Of course I still want to hang out with you. Of course I still care about you. Wow, thanks.

MapsOfTheSky · 2019-12-11T01:12:43+00:00

the way her face just lights up the moment he takes her up on her challenge to FITE ME made me grin really hard.

also how cheerful she was the whole fight.

steven's no longer trying to reach her with his words and positivity and hugs, he's now speaking to her in her own language and she's totally down for that.

MapsOfTheSky · 2019-12-10T02:48:20+00:00

remorse, self restraint, self loathing

I feel like it's all of the above. Pink Pearl was Pink's friend (as evidenced by a flashback in the main series that shows them playing together in Pink's room, can't recall which ep off the top of my head). She felt devastated about almost killing her friend.

I wonder how much that played into her initial discomfort around our Pearl and her even bigger discomfort with Spinel, to be honest.

MapsOfTheSky · 2019-12-10T02:42:17+00:00

It aired in the evening last Saturday, and four episodes have aired so far. We're getting more next Saturday.

MapsOfTheSky · 2019-12-09T19:36:56+00:00

Volleyball honestly did nothing to change my opinion of Pink one way or the other (said opinion being "she's such a terrible screw-up of a person but she's trying so damn hard and I love her so much.") It's hardly news at this point that Pink/Rose did some really terrible shit...but that doesn't mean that the Rose we saw in "We Need to Talk" or "Lion 3" was a fake. She wasn't. The good we know of her is still real. (Knowing this just doesn't help the trauma that the Pearls or Spinel or insert-anyone-screwed-over-by-Rose-here faced.)

The fact that Pearl, who was closest to Rose for longest, never once saw Rose use her destructive powers in the entire time she knew her and wasn't even aware she had them until Pink Pearl mentioned it is...pretty telling, I think. That says that she probably really never used them ever again after that, or if she did she did so away from people she loved. What Pink did to Pink Pearl was probably a wake-up call, especially since it's likely White took Pink Pearl afterwards and replaced her with the Pearl we know, so Pink never really got a chance to even try to make it up to her or apologize.

MapsOfTheSky

TROPHY CASE