(1) I appreciate your balanced approach to discussing tricky fandom topics. I relate (as you may have guessed, lol) to Lapis. I have CPTSD from the long term abuse I experienced. However, my partner also felt that he had been a victim in our relationship. It's hard to see people who zero in on either Lapis or Jasper as the sole abuser in their situation, but it's also important to me that Lapis chose not to reinitiate the relationship/fusion under threat of violence. I carry immense guilt over

@bittergraceless said:(2) the things I did, and am still deeply confused over the feeling of having deserved all of it. He never expressed guilt and saw me as the cause of his abusive behavior. He died a year ago, and we never sorted any of it out. I feel like I’m one of a very limited set of Lapis fans who cares about Jasper’s redemption arc, because I never got to see my husband have one. All I have left is, for lack of a better analogy, a 4 year old Malachite who I’m trying to keep from turning toxic in the water

bittergraceless said:(3) this is more of a follow-up so you don’t need to post or respond, but I thought I would clarify that A) my husband’s death was unrelated in any way to our relationship, and occurred after our separation… it was just a crappy thing that nobody expected. Get your flu shots, kids; and B) The analogy regarding our small child was just a way of saying that I’m trying to raise them with healthy ideas about relationships, and a ref to the fact that malachite is toxic when exposed to water.

Thanks so much for sharing, and your story is really inspiring and I really have nothing to say in response as I don’t feel I am in the position to, and I’m so awed by your strength. It’s really a testament to how art touches our lives and resonates within us. While I’m sorry for your loss, I wish both you and your child all the best, and a life filled with the love and happiness you deserve. Thanks again for sharing.

#steven universe #su #abuse #lapis #jasper #relationships #submisison #thank you so much for sharing #and #being an inspiration #i hope you keep at it

poetofthepiano

Anonymous asked:

(Gaspar, ask 1/4) To contribute to the Diamond discussion and the theme of universal redemption, one thing I tend to note is that those who generally call the Diamonds irredeemable hold the belief that they're inherently bad people. In SU, it should be apparent that nobody thus far has been inherently evil. But the appearance of such (or the opinion of such) is predicated on accountability. To present a personal anecdote as example: I dislike Lapis. I understand she has her reasons for behaving

(Gaspar, ask 2/4) the way she does. Anyone can be antagonistic under the right circumstances. That does not mean I forgive her for her actions. I find it absolutely reprehensible that she acts so callously (crushing the tape recorder still seems like the most spiteful thing I’ve seen in the show). But in spite of that, she’s received absolutely no chastisement for her actions aside from “that was kinda mean”. Alone at Sea is the

(Gaspar, ask ¾) closest she comes to making amends with anyone, but she only apologizes to Greg for breaking his leg, which makes it hard to sympathize with her. She’s not held accountable for the damage she caused. When people rally around the Diamonds being irredeemable, it’s that same sentiment of wanting them to be held accountable for readily shattering gems that don’t fit the status quo, or creating fusion monsters, bombing their own troops, or attempting to destroy the Earth, etc.

(Gaspar, 4/4) I do believe SU will and should redeem the Diamonds. But to understand the reasons people want them shattered or even just put in a bubble to be forgotten about is that their sense of Mercy is being obstructed by their desire for what they view as Justice. In the end, it’s an ironic twist that their desire for justice ends up doing the show itself no justice at all. Thanks for hearing me out, I hope this has been insightful and not too personal.

I don’t find this was personal at all. It’s a very fair way to present the other side of the argument, the people who attribute the Diamond’s actions to their character instead of looking at the actions themselves.

And I think Lapis is a great example of this. Very early on, people have latched on to Lapis and have tried many times to portray her as the perfect victim, when there is in fact no such thing, and at times that means looking past actual things she has done in order to preserve the integrity of her character. I’ve received a lot of hate in the days when Malachite was still lost for talking about how what she’d done was still harmful.

But it proves the point that good people can do bad things for very different reasons, and I’d say the reason we haven’t seen Lapis acknowledge the things she’s done to the Crystal Gems is because at this point, she doesn’t want to.

Of course, we don’t know what occurs between Peridot and Lapis offscreen; we don’t know if she ever did apologise to Peri after the tape recorder incident, but I feel like that kind of development should happen onscreen and to me it’s proof that it’s not just that she’s unwilling to begin making amends, she’s not ready.

A lot of people pointed to the jokes Lapis made at the table in Gem Harvest as a sign that she was okay with her past. My take on it is that she wants to bring it up but is only dipping her toes in the water. Lapis can be very confrontational. She’s frank when she talks but she also holds a lot of things in until she’s ready to talk in the first place. That she’s joking about it shows it’s still on her mind. I don’t think we’ll see a full redemption until that conversation happens.

“Hey, it wasn’t cool how you started a war. It led to a lot of collateral damage. And why did you just bury me in your gem for thousands of years? You never at any point asked about my side; you just poofed me and of course I’d be angry.”

Because part of her still thinks she was wronged and she still thinks what she did was justified as a form of either self-defence or retaliation. But we can’t deny that what she did hurt people, including our protagonists.

And I think accountability is the right word for it. We don’t want to see people who do bad things go unpunished. I get that there’s a certain satisfaction in that, but it won’t change the person. The justice system is more than punitive. It’s supposed to rehabilitate too.

That’s what I mean by redemption. It’s not about saying sorry and calling it a day. It’s a continuous process. Sometimes people aren’t ready to make amends and sometimes people aren’t ready to accept them. There will be relapses and it’s hardly ever waking up one day and becoming a different person. And it’s not fun to hear but to see it through requires a lot of patience on the part of the people who are supporting them. No one has to be there for you, but having a support network definitely helps the process.

So it could lead to more frustration. Why are we being nice to people who have done bad things? But that’s a gross oversimplification. Shifting the narrative of justice from punishment to rehabilitation is something that can be considered in light of how our justice system works. It’s being more productive instead of destructive. It’s not about letting criminals go scot-free. It’s about creating social institutions that lower or eradicate recidivism while doing something about criminals at present; it’s about preventing petty criminals from graduating into high-ranked ones.

And in our everyday experiences with other people, it’s about retiring the eye-for-an-eye rhetoric, and making people understand we shouldn’t be taking eyes in the first place.

poetofthepiano

On Gems and Colour

(i hope it’s ok to ask through submission, because i’d have to split it up into several asks)

I’m not sure it can be called a theory, but i’ve been thinking about how much gems can and cannot influence the color pallet of their pysical forms.

Tbh i don’t remember if you were the one making a post about this, but i remember someone pointing out the fact that there seems to be a difference in color shades and/or intensity depending on the age of the gems. I’ve been looking through your Ruby posts again and you said that in Hit the Diamond it was Leggy’s first mission, so she’s probably the youngest. Leggy is the darkest of the Ruby squad. Then there’s Eyeball who is the oldest (if i remember correctly) and her colors are the most faded. So, this is something they probably don’t have any control over. Then there’s the thing that gems are usually similar colored to their Diamond or share a color in some variation with them. (eg: Peridot – YD, Sapphire – BD, Rose - PD) My theory (kind of) is that Pearls are the only ones (maybe Bismuths too) that can change their colors according to their Diamond (or whoever their respective owner is). Real life pearls do shimmer in all kinds of colors after all. This would explain why our Pearl looks so different from Blue and Yellow Pearl, who stick strictly to the color of their respective Diamond. Could it be that our Pearl changed her color pallet to show that she doesn’t belong to anyone? I think this might be another way to show her struggle of understanding change (as seen in Three gems and a baby) and her willingness to try for Rose. We’ve seen Amethyst change the color of her clothes multiple times, but her color pallet always stays the same. Pearl on the other hand is the only one who uses very different colors. Looking at her everyday outfits from before Steven was born up until now, she seems to move further away from pink everytime, and her current outfit even has quite a lot of yellow in it. She is basically a mix of the colors of Y, B and PD.

So, to conlude, I think Pearls can change their colors more drastically than other gems (and even if all gems can, none do it except Pearls)

Can I get your thoughts on this? Did I miss something here?

Hi there! Of course you can send in submissions, and thank you for your comprehensive submission here :D

If I could summarise your main points, it’s that:

Gems’ colours fade as they age and they can’t control it
Gems’ colours reflect their diamond and faction
Except Pearls, who may be able to control their palette after regeneration

I think these are really interesting ideas! :D

1. Fading Colours

So far our only glimpse at gems of the same type is the Ruby Squad and our own Ruby. And you’re right in pointing out Eyeball has a lighter colours compared to the other Rubies. Leggy is the Newbie and has the darkest, almost purplish coloration. Navy, whom we’re assuming is young as well, has a lighter purple to her, while Doc, Army, and our Ruby have similar colours.

I like this idea because it shows that even if gems don’t physically, there are still signs of their years passed. And you’re right in saying gems can’t seem to control that. When gems regenerate, they maintain their colour palette and can’t change things like the colour of their skin.

I feel this can be broken down into two ideas. First, not all gems of the same type come out exactly the same. There will be little differences. Just like how some of the Rubies are more on the orange-red end of the spectrum while others are on the violet-red of the spectrum.

When we talk about intensity of colour though, that’s interesting too. In fact, Eyeball supports this statement in Bubbled. When she and Steven are careening through an asteroid field, Eyeball is still outside the bubble and she’s running, jumping, and dodging asteroids for her life.

At one point, she gets tired and pants: I think I'm losing my lustre...

Which is said in the context and tone of most people going, “I’m getting too old for this!”

So gems do have a concept of ageing in the form of losing their lustre. And it may be true that after facing a lot of battles or just being exposed to the elements a lot, a gem can have a lot of very small scratches, that make it appear dull, unlike the scratches on a phone screen after a lot of use.

But it’s very subtle, because gems, in reality, don’t actually age. They do feel time passing and the weight of the years on them though, and it would be interesting if it manifests in their physical appearance as well.

2. Reflecting their Factions

This is a topic that I’ve covered on the blog before, but it’s worth discussing again! Gem colours reflect the colour of their factions. It makes sense that in The Answer, Sapphire and the other gems aligned with Blue Diamond are different shades of Blue, even in their silhouettes.

One new thing to bring up is that we see some gems who are a definite mix of two Diamonds’ colours. I will be the first to say that Quartzes come in all colours, and that the gem colours in the show are definitely partly based off the kind of material the gem incubated in.

Nonetheless, it’s interesting that, say, the Kindergarten Control Room and Hand Ship are green, even though they’re areas for Yellow Diamond. That Peridot, the embodiment of technological development under YD’s faction, is green means that there might be room for collaboration between diamond factions in post-war Homeworld, particularly between Yellow and Blue Diamond.

3. Pearls’ Colours

This is something I also agree with! That Pearls cut across factions (gems of any faction seem to be able to own Pearls, who are given as merit awards) means that they might not be made with a particular colour in mind. When we see Pearl in The Answer, her colour is stylised as a light blue-green. And we get hints of that now when she blushes. But you’re absolutely right in saying that she has yellows, greens, and even pinks in her colour palette and these are things that she adds on as she regenerates. There was even a time Pearl had purple leggings in her leg warmers phase.

And it would mean that Pearls may come from the white faction. They’re malleable and sort of start out with a template, much like the White Diamond is a template or the archetypal diamond. As such, they’d be given the ability to change colours more easily than do other gems.

It’s also worth noting that Pearls are created through organic means, so they aren’t like other gems. That could be the key to making them able to change colours.

Submitted by gelbekritzelei