one thing ive noticed watching blind/live reactions to SU, particularly when we start learning more about Rose (and then Pink) in the latter half of the series, is this idea that Rose never really suffered consequences for any of the bad things she did. and yeah i suppose if youre going through the show for the first time - especially if you're not watching as it airs, so absorbing a lot of information in a way shorter time without processing it alongside other fans - it's easy to come to that interpretation of things. the show even brings it up, this idea that Rose's choice to have Steven was so she wouldn't have to face the consequences of all her past choices
personally, i truly don't think that's the case. but it made me start thinking about something in a new way, sparked by Rose's tape to Steven. she says, "We can't both exist. I'm going to become half of you. And I need you to know that every moment that you love being yourself, that's me! Loving you and loving being you!"
i take this sentiment to heart. in a way, yes, i do think Rose wanted to escape who she was, but again, that's a discussion for another time. what i want to focus on is the idea that this means Rose - in whatever way you'd prefer to interpret it - is WITH Steven throughout the entirety of his life, and the thus the events of the show. and if she can feel Steven's love for himself, for others, for existing just as himself... that means she also feels his sadness, anger, frustration, despair.
...this is difficult ground to tread without making it sound like anything resembling 'rose/pink = steven', although i hope the fact that the show itself handily refutes this is enough to undercut such a reading. what i mean to say is, in a way, Steven dealing with everything in the show is also Rose dealing with it. if we generously accept the idea that her 'spirit' or what have you lives with Steven, if not as Steven, and that she to an extent does experience what he does, then it kind of adds a new layer to the way you watch the show. a really interesting one!
because i think one of the most difficult things to consider with SU, especially once you get through it the first time, is the idea or feeling that Rose's story just... stops. and there's so much leftover that needs to be resolved. i mean, hell, that's the entire point of the show to an extent. Steven dealing with what she leaves behind. but i think there's something nice in the idea that Steven does not only inherit powers or thousand-year-old problems from his mother - he also inherits her love of freedom and life, of family and friends, and a heart that wants to find solutions to problems in a way that doesn't hurt anyone else.
i guess think of it in this way: if Steven is able to see his mother's memories, to feel what she felt in those moments, who is to say that Rose, in whatever way she continues to exist (even if only as a concept), does not also feel what Steven does?
i'll tell you, this has been an interesting way to re-experience the show. i think it adds a lot to the bitter-sweetness of Rose's relationship to Steven. i thinks she loved him so much, even if it was only the idea of him and what he represented to her. and i kind of love to think that, even if it is only some metaphysical concept of Rose that now rests forever inside her gem, dormant but for the power and life she's bequeathed to her son, Rose recognizes the trials that Steven is going through and aches for him. that she would hold him, if only she could.
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I think Sasha complicated feelings towards Marcy this ep was very interesting to see actually and ppl are once again missing all the hints of Sasha's true feelings towards her friendship with Marcy
First of all the ep started with Marcy showing her favorite movie to the girls and them (in her vision) ignoring her interests. It's totally natural for Marcy to be hurt and sad over this and hold a little grudge (even if subconsciously) over them and how they treated her
Sasha is changing and becoming a better person FOR SURE but we also have to remember that above all else Sasha is a child and human, she obviously has flaws and, while doing her best to control them, it doesn't just disappear so fast over years and years of having this behavior
Sasha is controlling, selfish, quick to anger and very hypocritical and even if she is making progress to make her qualities outshine more, her flaws are still something that she can't just let go completely. That's totally normal specially to a KID trying to change
But the thing is that Sasha even tho saying that she didn't cared about Marcy's movie, she still remember the plot that marcy told her perfectly!
Sasha even tho she said that she didn't know if she could save her friendship with Marcy, was worried about her and was the one that mentioned her THE WHOLE TIME. She was the one that brought the topic of her to even start all of this !
And look, I know it sounds really angering hearing Sasha of all people not wanting to forgive Marcy after spending the whole season talking about 2nd chances... SPECIALLY considering her own mistakes...
just because sasha made her own wrong doings this doesn't mean she isn't allowed to be hurt
BUT
And if she didn't care about Marcy why would she even mind and be SO bothered about the idea of their friendship not lasting anymore??
"Let's say you're right"
Sasha is very reluctant to accepting that she's wrong and that she committed mistakes and even with her redemption we know that she still has a hard time forgiving others (and herself)
Sasha truly cares about Marcy but considering her attitude in s2 with Anne's "betrayal", we should've know better and see this little stubborn part of her coming from a mile away.
But even with all her anger, all her resentment and all her sadness, Sasha can't help but worry about Marcy all the time!
Hell! Why would she even create this rebellion who's one of the goals is to rescue Marcy if she didn't CARED about her?!?! And this is her goal all the ep!!
.........
AND HERE COMES THE MARCY'S GRUDGE THAT I MENTIONED EARLIER!
The core knows how hurt Marcy was by her girls, SPECIALLY, Sasha's indifference to a lot of Marcy's ramblings and actions
And so does Sasha.
So that's why she's the only one truly hurt at this scene bc she KNOWS that this message was directly to her and how she treated Marcy (before AND during amphibia)
And THATS why their fight next EP is so perfect
Sasha trying her best to get Marcy back to show how much she meant to Sasha, how much she cared about her!! This has so much potential!
Look how Sasha has her guard down in this fight... Almost like she doesn't want to truly hurt Marcy... But also is going to make an effort to get her back.... Splendid!!!
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lines that made me cry in my 3rd relisten to the chaos protocol ep 32 (MAJOR SPOILERS):
- “brother heed me, as you ought.” something about the way connie says brother this time… i will never be ok about sing and seir
- i mean i could say the entire rest of the opening monologue. but the little hesitance on “lover, hold me”? OW.
- THE WAY VAL’S VOICE SOUNDS ON THEIR FIRST LINE. illegal.
- similarly, the sobbing after “it is lost. forever.” always catches me off guard and RIGHT IN THE HEART
- the way connie just moves on to lumiéra after val says “something snaps”. cause there’s nothing more to say. nothing that can fix it.
- “a door that had been so carefully pried open slamming shut, and… he doesn’t feel.”
- “and he just… looks at where he should have been a shield.” have i ever mentioned that cai is a masterful storyteller? cause cai is a masterful storyteller and god. i’ll never stop feeling things about xainan esch
- this whole scene with xainan crumbling into dust destroys me.
- “you have always been half dead, xainan esch”
- connie calling oblivion the most beautiful person you’ve ever seen as xainan is drifting away from his own life sure is something, huh.
- “i think im just exhausted with being a coward” no cause i have so many feelings about lumiéra waiting, waiting, always a little too hesitant and afraid to tell sing how she really felt, even though sing felt the same, because it’s too scary because it’s too complicated because lumiéra is literally just fucking HUMAN and it takes so much to make that step - only for her to finally do it and it’s just. a moment. too. late.
- the moment when we move from lumiéra’s flashback to the present. the imagery of happy, triumphant, hopeful lumi giving way to lumi crouched over sing’s body, tear tracks staining her face.
- and the imagery of seir holding up lumiéra with his sister. fuck me i guess.
- THE FUCKING PERSPECTIVE SHIFT
- ok being fully fr seir’s monologue here is when i actually started crying in earnest this time. what the fuck val. not one line. all of them
- “the knife that is xainan” always hits me a little bit
- “whelming it’s pitiable vessel” is just such a good phrase. didn’t make me cry but i love it
- the music cue when artemis appears did make me cry though
- “eyes that immediately fall upon sing’s body” if i think too hard about artemis’s relationship with sing (artemis singing the twins to sleep, artemis signing her transfer request because artemis can see right through her, artemis giving them all the warning she can, artemis knowing when they die and appearing right away but unsurprised, with grief that has always been there, artemis making a choice) i will break. and start making some not-yet-canon assumptions about artemis’s own emotional state. so we are not thinking about that!
- “a lance in her chest” “bleeding.” ow ow ow the multiple possible readings of this line. connie and sea kicking off their insane narration chemistry with a lance to my chest. ow
- “those warm, gentle hands, that do not touch, that are so careful with their love” ok so when i said we weren’t feeling things about artemis? i lied
- “and when her hands pass through your flaming horns, snuffing them out like a candle at the end of its wick, it is not violent. it is not to put a cap on your grief, not to quiet you, not to for you into a box or a body that cannot contain you -“ “it is a mercy.” “it is the sweet mercy of rest when you have no tears left to cry.” the actual reason i’m relistening to this episode is to memorize all the words. so i can hold them like precious things in a box inside me. btw
- and artemis sings you and your sister to rest one final time.
ok. *wipes away tears.* anyways.
- artemis wiping a tear from lumiéra’s eye and calling her the bravest girl in the room .
- we interrupt your regularly scheduled tears to bring you: i’m gonna pull an øka* and punch fate in the fucking face. “this pain has a design”. yeah it’s called fate’s a BITCH and a BAD PARENT. and you can quote me on this
*i have not yet watched the second stranger only seen the clip of øka punching fate. so many times. i replayed that clip quite a bit after this episode.
- “and you cannot hold on to your life much longer. you are a dead man walking and you can go no farther than this.” ok back to crying! this is the sequence i was originally most abnormal about. and you know what? it still hits. so much. xainan my beloved
- sea and connie narrative trading my beloved.
- “do you want to live?” “i don’t know.” “then why don’t you come with me, and you can tell me your answer later.” god what a line. what a perfect response. there are no words that can fix this, but maybe with time and love and care someday you will want to live again. why don’t you come with me.
- “and she carries you home.”
- i don’t think i fully internalized the imagery of sing’s sword being driven into the earth by the roots of the world tree and the roots growing up around it before, but this time i imagined wildsailors hundreds of years from now coming upon this site and approaching it with reverence and love, knowing that it was here that something bigger than their world changed forever, holding sing’s eulogy in the very heartwood of the wildsea—yeah.
- “i love my dad, ok?” thanks abasi already sobbing.
- “it is effortless, the care that they hold for you. it is a reality unto itself.” just. cause. this is what i was hoping the whole time in the lead up to this episode. i know it would be awful and crushing and it would break them, and i was so worried that they would have to just. find a way to push on somehow. make plot happen anyways. but this, nova being cared for and held and protected in their grief? someone carrying them home when they can’t do it themselves anymore? this was just what they needed. and what i needed. i cannot wait for arc 2.
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I’m sorry but
Pai taking Sky back to his place for the first time presumably since their tryst in Ep 8, the place that truly started it all at least for Pai,
Pai taking Sky all around the apartment and reliving memories with Sky without making the present heavy with sexual tension,
Pai showing Sky how his apartment is full of the good memories with Sky,
Pai giving himself up completely to Sky,
Immediately followed by Sky walking back to his flat post (apparent) disillusionment, and being haunted by the memories of Pai everywhere,
Being haunted by Pai looking at him lovingly, taking care of him, just being beside him,
Sky and Pai are both haunted by each other, but only Sky actually sees the ghost of Pai everywhere because in his mind they are dead to each other, or at least Sky is dead to Pai and Sky is trying to erase the Pai in his mind to be able to get over him,
Sky seeing the one person in his living dreams that he thinks he won’t ever be able to have or see again, and the version of him that he sees is happy and smiling and utterly dripping with love and adoration for Sky
Bonus:
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I’m rewatching Wander Over Yonder and, say what you will about s2 (which yes, has a LOT of problems, mainly with Dominator, some aspects of Wander and Hater/their slight flanderization, and the arguably failed attempt at a serialized narrative) but it still has a lot of solid episodes in this season - with one of the ones I appreciate the most being “The Black Cube”.
In addition to how well it balances a fairly serious story with a decent amount of good jokes (“He spent so much time working on sick burns that he never learned to swim!” asdfghjkl) and probably one of the best songs/instrumental scores of the series, I mainly just appreciate the episode for its lesson/theme - not just on how important it is to be empathetic towards people, but on how it’s OKAY to feel sad and frustrated.
How many times have you heard someone say “it’s not so bad, try to look on the bright side” or “having a positive attitude will help you feel better”? As important as it is to try and remain optimistic, sometimes the best thing you can do - both for yourself and for others - is to acknowledge that things are sucky and that it’s valid to feel sad and frustrated. To know that you’re allowed to let out your negative emotions in a healthy way AND to let others know that you’ll support them even when they “freak out”. It’s only when we properly acknowledge and accept our feelings that we’re able to start to move past them.
I can’t say it’s my absolute favorite ep, as there are other eps with either more laughs, a better story or are just more enjoyable all around, but I still can’t help but rank The Black Cube in my top 10 at the very least.
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