#steven universe criticism

[funhouse-mirror-barbie]

Looking back at Steven Universe I had a lot of criticisms, but there were also a lot opinions and discourse that REALLY didn’t sit right with me—one of the biggest ones was the discourse surrounding “Storm in The Room”

I remember there being a lot of posts about how “Rose” was gaslighting Steven by asking him if he really believed she purposefully made him to run from her mistakes.

And I just. As someone who is close to their parents BUT also has had a lot of fights with them, and has had a lot of moments where I felt EXACTLY like Steven does during this scene, it was always very clear to me that this whole conversation and episode was Steven working out his complicated feelings about Rose on his own.

The “Rose” in the gif above is not real. It’s not actually Steven’s mom. That’s like. That’s the whole point.

Steven asking Room!Rose if she just created him to run away from her mistakes, and her responding by asking him if he really believes that, is Steven having an internal dialogue. He is talking things out with himself. It’s something I’ve done myself MANY times when I get in arguments or need to untangle my own feelings about something.

Steven’s fear and anxiety is that he wasn’t created to be his own person, but to fix Rose’s mistakes. However, on some level he doesn’t really believe that, he knows rationally Rose loves him and did not INTEND for him to be hurt by her past actions. But regardless of her intent, Steven was still hurt. And that hurt is real and important.

This room manifests Steven’s desires, feelings and thoughts. I always interpreted that scene as Steven coming to terms with the fact that his mother isn’t perfect and wonderful like he previously believed her to be. It’s him realizing she’s a PERSON who had flaws and did bad things.

He has to let himself feel the anger and hurt and betrayal and be upset before he can think rationally again and realize that no, he doesn’t really believe that his mom only made him to hide from her mistakes. But it’s still upsetting. It’s still hard. And as he says in this scene, he has to pick up the pieces of everything Rose left behind.

THAT is the point of this scene, and of “Storm in the Room” as a whole.

Something that I haven’t heard or seen talked about in regards to Steven Universe’s themes is the fact that, in life, you will hurt the people you love sometimes. And that you will be hurt by them in turn.

This happens multiple times through the series, and I personally think it’s done so well because the way the characters are written feel very true to life. The relationships in Steven Universe rupture and break, but the characters come together to repair their relationships again and again.

That is what a healthy relationship actually looks like—they are not devoid of conflict. Instead the people in the relationship work through conflict when it arises.

The reason the conflict in Steven Universe is so engaging to me personally is because its focus is on interpersonal relationships and how they take hard work and time.

This is something that is so important to understand, for kids and adults alike. That the people who love you become a part of you, and that they will hurt you—and while that doesn’t make them evil or malicious, that pain is still real and deserves to be acknowledged and those feelings should be treated seriously.

#steven universe #su #rose quartz #rose quartz su #su criticism #I guess??? #su critique #Steven universe critique #media literacy #? I guess???? #steven universe criticism #sorta? #funhouse convo #media criticism #media critique

[gartenofbanny]

Let's talk about something different today. Jasper from Steven Universe is my favorite antagonist and I'm just going to casually explain why. So starting off with why I love her as an antagonist is that, Jasper is a huge threat, while she wasn't really much of an active threat she was still a huge threat ngl.

In her debut episode, Jasper managed to solo the Crystal Gems, poofing the strongest gem (at the time) Garnet and imprisoning the two other gems, Pearl and Amethyst while knocking out Steven in the process. When I first saw that when I was a kid, I was REALLY surprised because the crystal gems are extremely powerful in their own right but realizing that one gem took down the crystal gems with minimal effort shows how threatening Jasper is and how more threatening Homeworld as a whole is.

While Jasper was later on defeated by Garnet, it's still impressive because no other gem in Season 1 was really able to hold off Garnet, who was the strongest crystal gem at that time. So it takes a fusion between two gems to defeat Jasper which was shown consistently throughout Steven Universe. Not to mention the iconic battle in Steven Universe that somehow has fewer views on YouTube than the Undertale parody lmao. 💀

But then we move on to Steven Universe Future. After training a teenage Pink Steven for a while, Jasper with no hesitation fights him after Pink Steven challenges her. Let it be known that Pink Steven was gaining powers from his mom's gem who is Pink Diamond and despite the fact that Jasper was shattered in the end, she was still able to hold her own against a Diamond essentially.

Jasper is definitely the strongest lone gem I've seen since she's able to mop the floor with other ordinary gems and only loses against Fusions or Diamonds. But it would be really interesting to see her fight against Spinel or Bismuth.

Another reason why I like Jasper is that to me, she's a foil to the three main characters Steven, Garnet, and Amethyst.

Jasper is big, tough, and strong while Amethyst is small, not as durable as Jasper, and definitely not as strong as her. Jasper is the perfect version of Amethyst, physically even Jasper points out multiple times in "Crack the Whip" and "Earthlings".

She constantly looks down on and berates Amethyst for being physically inferior to her, but Jasper doesn't have the meaningful relationships that Amethyst has. So Jasper has power, but no friends, and due to her lack of teammates she always loses against others who have teammates.

In Garnet's case, Jasper forces gems to fuse with her in order to become more powerful which can hurt the gem she's fusing with in the process and even herself. Garnet is a fusion out of the love of two gems and she's able to handle that form for a long amount of time as opposed to Jasper who was able to withstand a fusion with a corrupted gem for like a few minutes at most.

Jasper does not know that fusion requires consent or love, when she fuses with another gem she's essentially using them to gain power which led to gems not wanting to fuse with her or forcing themselves out of the fusion with her.

Steven's case, she's a foil to his belief that everyone can change. Jasper in Steven Universe Future was the only character who for the most part did not change, she still remained a gem who worshipped their diamond regardless of the other gems aren't doing so anymore, she still remained violent and alone because she trained nonstop in a forest in isolation, and she still viewed power over everything.

She's also the opposite of Steven in one way because she tells Amethyst "Fighting is my life!" And Steven Universe isn't much of a fighter more like a pacifist.

So yeah that's really why I love Jasper and why she's my favorite antagonist in Steven Universe as a whole...but there is one thing I will say that I don't really like.

I don't like the fact that Jasper was brought back from being shattered just to do nothing after she was shattered. It immediately removed the tension that Gems can be erased due to the fact that Steven was able to repair and revive Jasper hours after he shattered her.

It would've really been disturbing if they just kept Jasper shattered because not only is the danger of shattering still..dangerous, but it will also somewhat work thematically with Jasper's character. Jasper is the only gem who didn't change their violent tendencies from the start and because of that, Jasper's fate couldn't be changed after she was shattered. But then again SU Future also showed that Yellow Diamond was able to repair shattered gems so it's possible that Steven doesn't even need the essence of all the diamonds to repair a shattered gem.

Would I be sad if Jasper stayed dead? Definitely, but it was pretty underwhelming to see her again just not do anything after she was repaired but then again what could she have done when she was repaired? Y'know?

Anyway, that's all for today. Thank you all for reading and I hope you all have a nice day! ❤️

#steven universe #su #steven universe jasper #jasper #antagonist analysis #villain analysis #steven universe criticism #steven universe critique #jasper steven universe

[emma-o-yt]

The Diamond Authority is not a metaphor for abusive family.

I don't understand why Steven Universe fans are so pretentious, do they think a basic figure of speech makes Steven Universe deep or something? So metaphors are a comparison of two separate things or concepts by calling one thing another, example: "She was a lion, roaring at the crowd". The woman's shouts at the crowd are compared to the roars of a lion in order to exaggerate, create interesting prose and imagery and also give depth to her action.

SU fans argue that the Diamonds are just a metaphor for abusive family. But, that's not what a metaphor is since they quite literally are just an abusive family. They aren't exactly like a human family but they are the gem equivalent.

But what about them being a fascist dictatorship? That's not a "metaphor" for abusive parents (and it would be a terrible one anyways). Remember, the other gems are not treated as family but as subjects, so they are automatically left out. They're like Ozai, abusive parents and dictators.

The "abusive family" thing isn't even a thing until like season 5. Before that, they are the manifestation of society's ills (eugenics, homophobia, genocide), and the impact they have is mostly on the other gems, not Steven. They are two separate thing (and neither are done well https://www.reddit.com/r/CharacterRant/comments/1aupslu/steven_universe_the_victim_blaming_of_rose/).

Also, Steven Universe has the racist relative already in the form of Andy Demayo, the fact that they addressed this archetype already leads me to believe the Diamonds are more than that.

You can't complain about "media literacy" when you don't have any yourself. It's a kids' show for fuck's sake.

Side note: So glad Encanto and Turning Red came out and blew SU out of the water with their stories on abusive family and interpersonal relationships.

#steven universe critical #steven universe criticism #su critical #su criticism #steven universe #rebecca sugar #the diamond authority #media criticism #media literacy #metaphor

[adhdbisexualramblings]

Say what you will about Steven Universe and Steven Universe Future being “awful” and “inconsistent” and a “bad representation of PTSD” but Future means a lot to me and I saw myself in Steven so many times so maybe all it takes for a show to be ‘good’ is that it touched someone and meant something idk

#Hot take people who make completely serious analyses of kids cartoons and expect their issues to be solved like adult ones in realistic ways #Are so mid and are just so filled with unrelenting hatred #Like what ARE you DOING acting so serious about a show not for YOUR target demographic 🤨 #Not everything is for you or meant to be seen through your lens #Steven Universe #Steven Universe Future #Steven universe criticism

[originalavenuefox]

“Steven Universe” is definitely a special show to me. Make no mistake, some years later it was constantly on my mind, with its great characters, interesting relationships and wonderful lessons. It honestly made me a bit more open-minded. But at the same time, looking back, its lore could have been better.

It’s all but stated that the Gems colonizing Earth actually changed its continents, but we never actually see the other effects they caused. We have hints that the human society in the show was actually influenced by the Gem Empire, but it never gets discussed. Not only the inhabitants of Beach City easily accept the Crystal Gems’ activities, but considering how Connie and her parents react to them, it’s fair to assume the existence of the Gems as a whole, or at least of magic, it’s widely known in Earth. So, what does the government think? If everyone is okay with the Gems why didn’t Greg ever take Steven to a doctor? Are there places with people biased against the Gems on Earth? 

And how about the planets the Gem Empire conquered and destroyed? Are humans and Gems the only sapient species in the whole universe? Or were there entire societies of individuals wiped out by the Gems? 

And the thing is, “Steven Universe” was never a show about lore. It was about healing people and relationships, becoming better and learning to be human. And it was great at handling those themes! But the problem isn’t only the interesting concepts that are never explored, but the fact that some unanswered questions of the show hurt the narrative. The biggest example are the Diamonds. Is it fair to expect us to accept that they have changed when we don’t even know for sure how much people they actually hurt?

#again I love this show #but its universe could have been bigger #steven universe #steven universe criticism

[tshortik]

The traitor duo absolutely nobody has ever asked for | og meme

#this is the stupidest thing ive drawn #steven universe meme #starscream #essek thelyss #there is a theme my fav characters have and its that theyre all fucking liars #critical role #transformers

[spop-romanticizes-abuse]

“catra is a complex poc” fuck that. here are some ACTUAL poc animated characters who are just as, if not more complex than catra.

grace monroe (infinity train) • black american

connie maheshwaran (steven universe) • indian-american

katara (avatar the last airbender) • inuk

wolf (kipo and the age of wonderbeasts) • black american

suhara/shadowsan (carmen sandiego) • japanese

korra (the legend of korra) • inuk

jesse cosay (infinity train) • indigenous (apache)

lars barriga (steven universe) • filipino

azula (avatar the last airbender) • japanese

ryan akagi (infinity train) • japanese-canadian

luz noceda (the owl house) • afro-dominican american

(there are a lot more, so i'll be making a part 2!)

#spop critical #spop salt #spop criticism #spop discourse #spop #she ra #anti spop #the owl house #toh #infinity train #tlok #the legend of korra #korra #avatar the last airbender #atla #kipo and the age of wonderbeasts #carmen sandiego #steven universe #steven universe future

[autistic-ben-tennyson]

Still Salty About the Flanderization of Steven

Many SU fans have had to see these memes and are probably tired of them. I really hate the way people who have never even watched the show and probably just LO’s video flanderize Steven into a bumbling wimp or take scenes like him crying about wanting to be friends with Connie or trying to talk down Spinel out of context. People hate him for not killing his enemies on sight and act as if all he does is talk no jitsu. People act as if he’d die trying to redeem Big Jack Horner from Puss in Boots even though he’s met villains like Jack with Aquamarine and Eyeball and not only did he kick their asses but accepted that they were beyond help. Steven prefers to talk over fighting but isn’t stupid and knows when he has to get serious. Even during his “I can make a change” song that’s twisted out of context, he was still fighting defensively against Spinel. He just wasn’t fighting to kill. As for the meme above, did the creator watch Alien Force? The way Ben handled the Dragon, Reiny and the Highbreed would be pretty similar to how Steven would. The idealistic hero who teaches violence isn’t always the answer has already been done so why does Steven get the most hate for it?

I reblogged a post about this but I really am tired of how TOH is propped up as the anti SU when Dana is friends with Rebecca and praised the groundbreaking work Rupphire did. The Owl House crew doesn’t hate SU and wasn’t doing a “take that” by killing its villain or claiming not everyone can be talked down with a hug. They’re two different shows with different stories and themes. Steven would also know that some like Belos can’t be redeemed and he didn’t actually redeem the diamonds. He didn’t like them and acts uncomfortable around them in Future but he needed them to cure the corrupted gems. The point of the diamonds as well as Andy was not that you have to accept bigoted family members but a wish fulfillment where queer people could get their families to accept them. I saw this on Reddit but I think Steven gets so much hate because he teaches the idea that retributive violence isn’t always the solution and because he got a good life with a loving family, girlfriend and adoration of everyone without being a self centered sexist asshole. Internet Dudebros hate the character who showed healthy emotion, treats Connie as an equal and taught stuff like acceptance, boundaries and kindness, as they hate the idea that they don’t have any of that because of how bigoted, self absorbed or toxic they are.

#steven universe future #steven universe #steven universe the movie #su spinel #ben 10 #the owl house #anti su critical

[heritageposts]

It's a shame you've fallen for authoritarian propaganda.

i already said i was sorry for watching steven universe i didn't know about steven's knife :(

#su critical #steven universe tw

[rookflower]

on one hand yeah this is the kitty cat book fandom where at least 95% of the people here are just here to draw funny cats or for nostalgia reasons and it's really not that deep, there is nothing wrong with taking a critical backseat on this one. but on the other, the amount of people in the fandom who seem to genuinely believe that children's literature and xenofiction are both somehow inherently unworthy of any form of criticism whatsoever, to the point where random tumblr posts casually identifying shit like.... themes.... and narrative trends... is looking into things way too deeply and makes you a bad or stupid person in some way because "they're just cats", gives the literature student in me such a headache

#im literally writing an academic essay on picturebooks rn you draw the line at warrior cats??? #im sorry to tell you that any book ever is gonna have writing strategies and biases in it. and you can analyse em. it's how it goes! #if it helps stop reading critical posts in an accusatory tone towards your enjoyment of something specifically #i had 'steven universe critical blogs dni' in my about page when i was 13 i do remember what it's like

[sjbattleangel]

The Virgin Lily Orchard:

Sides with abusers

Lies about having Indigenous heritage

Is horrifically abusive to friends and family

Always sides with corporations

Writes awful revenge-fics out of spite

Fetishizes black women

Dismisses an entire cultural animation medium (anime) as "spankbait for perverts"

Wrote the worst writing advice ever

Has a pathetic vendetta against Rebecca Sugar for simply existing

Sends death threats to creators

Throws marginalized creators under the bus for not being "woke" enough

Lied about being a "highly sought-after writer" solely to spite Rebecca Sugar, ND Stevenson, Darron Nefcy, Dana Terrace and her sister

Hates Asians

Hates Jews

Holds nothing but contempt for animation

Wants all of animation to be nothing but slice-of-life romantic comedies

Wants the Hays code back

The Chad Rebecca Sugar:

One of the nicest people working in the industry

Has fought hard for diversity and representation in animation

Is incredibly talented

Is friends with Alex Hirsch (Gravity Falls), Matt Braly (Amphibia) and many others

Paved the way for more diverse creators

Has won multiple awards

Wrote and sang songs for Adventure Time

A non-binary, bisexual Jewish woman whose background and experiences influence her work

Created one of the most groundbreaking, inclusive, LGBTQ+ friendly shows of all time

Fought against higher-ups when they tried to censor the queerness of her work

Helped normalize discussions of kids' mental health

An uplifting inspiration to a generation of queer kids growing up

Influenced by both western animation and anime

Married to Ian Jones Quartey

#lily orchard #rebecca sugar #steven universe #lily orchard is a hack #anti-lily orchard #screw lily orchard #lily orchard critical #lily peet #cartoons #animated series #animation #virgin and chad #virgin vs chad #memes #meme #funny #jokes #anti-su critical #su critical critical #lily orchard is toxic

[pinkypastal]

Fandom please...

#meme #fandom #fandom critical #bnha #genshin impact #childe #tartaglia #batfam #Jason todd #fandom discourse #my art #doctor who #eleventh doctor #raiden shogun #Steven universe #raiden ei #talia al ghul

[gartenofbanny]

I live in a day and age where Charlie Morningstar from Hazbin Hotel is an even worse pacifist than Steven Universe. Why is she apologizing for defending herself against Exorcists who want to kill her? Why was she apologizing for attacking them?

#vivziepop critical #vivziepop #vivziepop criticism #hazbin hotel #hazbin hotel criticism #hazbin hotel critical #hazbin hotel critique #steven universe

[emma-o-yt]

lol we get it, you like lily orchard, sure she writes plenty of fascist dictatorships to but its different when its a fetishized black woman isnt it? you gonna end up being some sort of sicko like your heroine lily to?

When have I ever shown myself to be a Lily Orchard fan? I've watched like a few of her videos. Oh, you're one of those deluded sickos who think she made people hate Steven Universe when her video got 8 million views because people did not like Steven Universe. It just bundled the most common critiques in one place. SU critical was made mostly in response to SU's anti-black racism, LO was just one of them.

Not sure when Lily's ever "fetishized" black women. I'm a black woman myself.

You're one of those that think the inclusion of a trope makes something good or bad when it's the execution. SU handled fascist dictators poorly, get over it.

And you hide behind anonymity because you can't make any good argument against my SU critique. Fuck off.

#anonymous #steven universe #steven universe critical #steven universe criticism #su critical #su criticism #steven universe stans are insane

[chemicalarospec]

Looking for the person with the other half of this necklace

You actually were the one who made it. We were best friends in 3rd and 4th grade before you moved back to the state you came from.

At the time I knew you, your name began with P and we were both girls but I bet that you're queer now so I don't know if that's still true. You had an older brother. I have a younger brother. My name is Isabelle.

You had a Cartoon Network comic book of three stories in one: Steven Universe, gender-swapped Fionna and Jake, and one with Marceline and Princess Bubblegum. (This is why I think you're queer too and hope that you might be here on Tumblr.) I will tag this post with things I knew you liked/predict you would like. (Sorry if you're a random person in those tags & this annoys you.)

If you think this is you, please contact me with what our mutual favourite animal was. I just miss you and want to see if you're out there doing alright. We were such good friends.

update: I have written a letter and found their address, now I just have to actually post it. Will update again when doing so.

Update: the address I had doesn't exist, soooo... wish me luck!

Update: the letter returned home "not deliverable as addressed, unable to forward" today :(

#ranboo #bee and puppycat #minecraft #lovejoy #steven universe #adventure time #cartoon network #the umbrella academy #our flag means death #heartstopper #osemanverse #the owl house #miraculous ladybug #critical role #lore olympus #nimona #good omens #studio ghibli #bubbleline #TXT #... just picked a kpop band i'd heard of before from a list... i'm not into kpop #i said this #personal #changed up some of the tags with the thrid edit btw #current lead: asking my mom if she has P's mom's email. i feel really awkward emailling somone about their grown child so i'm still debatin #whether i'll go for it

[saiscribbles]

Lily Orchard STILL Doesn't Understand Steven Universe

I decided to round out the year by ending Lily Orchard's whole career.

Fair warning: I swear. Alot. Alot alot.

About a month ago I decided to react to Lily's two most recent Steven Universe videos from 2023 on my weekly art stream. The reacts ended up going so well I have now edited them down into one comprehensive video with visual aids and gags along the way.

So if you ever wanted to hear me clown on an SU hater for 2 hours while giggling incessantly, making gremlin noises, explaining SU and info dumping all of my own headcanons... well now you have that!

Here's to me becoming more of an unleashed gremlin in the new year.

#Steven Universe #Lily Orchard #SUCrit #SU Critical #Sai Scribbles #Youtube