this really is like the evil version of korrasami night

destiel canon apparently but more pressing issue: 

why is this edited and acted SO weird. like they both shot their scenes separately lmfao

#ive never seen someone look so visibly homophobic; im losing my mind

the notes on this post are GOLD

I’m DYING

Full offense but Blue always going on about how much Pink meant to her only to time and again reject, scorn, and abuse her whenever she stepped a toe out of line for probably thousands of years and after she finally “got her back” and then Steven point-blank asking her “How many times did you make her cry?” was absolutely superb

Steven Universe “Change Your Mind” ramblings ahead that I thought might be worth sharing. Spoilers ahoy!

So it’s been a great episode but the one thing that’s been bothering me since the episode came out is the bit before the two Stevens fused.

This part.

Why was he able to do that? What’s so special about pink?

And then I remembered a fun fact about colors.

Gems are physical manifestations of light. White Diamond’s speech over the impurities in Yellow and Blue put it very simply: colored objects absorb all other colors but themselves. White considers herself perfect because white objects reflect all colors without absorbing any. White light is essentially all colors. (probably why she control other gems after eye beaming them. She does describe it as “her light” sparkling through them)

But let’s get back to the first question again: what’s so special about pink? Specifically pink light?

It doesn’t actually exist on the spectrum of visible light:

Pink (Magenta in particular) is an extra-spectral color. When you see a mix of blue and red light but no green, your brain just makes up a new color.

Pink Steven couldn’t be controlled by White Diamond because he literally exists outside of her domain of visible light.

Which also probably explains why White got so confused when she started turning Magenta too.

Rewatching the special I was admiring Blue’s expressions in this scene, and then naturally wondered what she was getting so excited about. Figured out it was her coming up with the idea to heal the corrupted gems by taking a bath together and asking if there was a place where they could do that since it cut to everyone at Rose’s Fountain in the next scene. The excitement in her face is just even more adorable now because it’s her realizing she’s gonna get to reexperience sitting together as a family again with White, Yellow, and now Steven while also healing the corrupted gems :’)

Some people think the turnaround with the Diamonds was too fast, but really, Yellow and Blue got hit with an exceptionally harsh truth:

Your daughter is gone and it’s all your fault.

Pink Diamond wasn’t murdered by some villain. She wasn’t playing a 5000 year long game of hide and seek. She’s never coming back, and it’s entirely because of you. I don’t think anybody could face that fact and come away from it completely unchanged.

The Steven Universe season 5 finale, “Change Your Mind”, is currently the all-time top-rated TV episode according to IMDB!

(x)

There’s a theme in Change Your Mind that I haven’t seen enough people reflecting on: the fact that White Diamond has to leave her own head in order to grow and change. 

The theme of the episode, and one of the show’s core values, is that you cannot self-isolate in an attempt to self-protect. 

Everyone is really loving the song at the end of the episode, with its message of self-love and self-reliance…but notice that in the world of Steven Universe, self-love is always expressed through actively advocating for oneself with other people, and engaging with people even when they are flawed or have even harmed you. 

It’s not just “I don’t need you to respect me, I respect me” … it is also “Know that you could get to know me, if you change your mind.” 

And, “you need to leave your own head” and get out into the world and make contact with other people. 

A lot of characters in the show initially try to find safety and independence via isolation. Lapis Lazuli runs away to the moon. Amethyst tries to run away from home. White Diamond lives locked away from all the other gems, too busy to engage with them, too devoted to perfection to try and befriend everyone. Pearl also has moments of trying to resolve her issues by isolating; Ruby also tried that in her last fight with Sapphire prior to the wedding proposal. Rose Quartz tried to be a strong leader by keeping massive secrets from everyone that loved her. 

But in the world of Steven Universe, that approach never works. You can’t actually be OK by just distancing yourself from the people who love you imperfectly. You cannot be free by being alone. Instead, you have to leave your own head, make yourself vulnerable, love other people, and help them get to know you. In real life, of course, this kind of vulnerability is often painful and doesn’t result in a person loving you the right way. But you still have to do it. You still have to take those chances. Because being in your head all the time is confining and damaging. 

White Diamond doesn’t just let Steven et al go. She follows them to Earth, fraternizes with gems in a way that she hasn’t in at least millennia, and is clearly very shy and uncomfortable while doing so. But she takes that leap. She puts herself in a vulnerable spot. and that is how she is able to heal everyone and begin to heal herself. 

*SU spoilers I guess if you haven’t seen Change Your Mind*

Recognition of the Self and the Trans Experience

The metaphor of Steven fusing with himself works on so many levels that it’d probably take an academic paper to dissect it all. Besides being generally applicable to self-love while also completing Steven’s story arc, it is also about parental heritage. It affirms that you’re not your parents and you don’t have to be. You’re not the mess they left behind, you’re more than your blood or genes, more than your ancestors, more than the abuse that runs in your family. You don’t have to perpetuate their mistakes. It is also, however, a beautiful allegory for being transgender.

The way that the diamonds try to negate his identity, calling him by the  wrong name and pronouns, mirrors what trans people have to go through  in their every day life. Family not accepting them, denying that things are broken, trying to control the trans person. White Diamond literally forces Steven to convert into the  person she wrongly believes him to be, harming and almost killing him in the process. Of course he is not going to be that person, because he can’t be. He’ll be Steven. Only injured and weakened because of her actions. There is this moment where Steven looks at himself and realises that he should have been certain all along. He wasn’t confused. The diamonds were. The emotions spill over as he experiences a deep recognition of the Self. An unbelievable joy created by finally knowing yourself, accepting yourself, loving yourself! Connie helps him get there. She delivers Steven to himself but she never directs the narrative. She carries him where he can’t go, but he tells her where that is. She is a shining example of what being an ally truly means. Without her, Steven would not have survived. And especially after this incredible weekend of outpouring support in H.Bomberguy’s livestream, the power of trans allyship becomes ever so clearer.

”I don’t need you to respect me, I respect me I don’t need you to love me, I love me But I want you to know you could know me If you change your mind" Even though the real world is a much more dangerous place and this can be considered a naive attitude, it struck me

This is a beautiful and encouraging message for all marginalized groups, this is an episode for the Other. It is a utopian vision which we sometimes need. We need the reminder that even though there is cruelty, there is also love. And we need to love ourselves, too. We deserve it.

I love this because I need hope.