Su Theory - Tumblr Posts

The Return of Lapis Lazuli

We’ve recently seen this short promo, aired as usual on Cartoon Network, which shows us Peridot giving Lapis a gift.

We don’t really know what episode the promo was from, but many speculate that it’s from Barn Mates, judging from the synopsis:

We initially thought it was going to be Peridot and one of the Crystal Gems, but the promo suggests otherwise: it’s actually Peridot and Lapis Lazuli.

There’s one problem: as of now, we don’t really know how Lapis is going to get back. Malachite is still there, as far as we know, chilling on the ocean floor or something, with the usual internal battle going on.

One of the other future episodes we know about is Super Watermelon Island. It’s the first in the list, actually, and one of the only three to have a synopsis.

Do you remember what happened to those Watermelon Stevens? They went into the ocean.

This really makes me think that those very same Watermelon Stevens are going to be the key to finding Lapis/Malachite, making them finally plot relevant! (Thank you, Chekhov’s gun.) They could possibly search the ocean floor, or just know where she is. Heck, maybe she’s on “watermelon island” with them.

The following episode (that we know of) is Gem Drill. Obviously, it seems they’re going to deal with the Cluster, but well, there’s one logistic problem: I think drilling a freaking mantle-deep tunnel with just a drill, even made of whatever gemkind technology, is not very feasible. It’d take an impressive amount of power to do something of that sort.

Luckily, we have a character who’s done impressive stuff before. She stole an entire ocean and built a water tower into freaking space. It’s Lapis Lazuli. She would at the very least be tremendously helpful, for example by helping the drill not overheat (an actual concern for real life drills, where muddy water is used as a coolant).

tl;dr: The Watermelon Stevens are going to be the key to Lapis Lazuli’s return, and she’ll be crucial to drill to the Cluster.

WHUP, JUST REALIZED SOMETHING BIG We all know that Pearl has always loved Rose, but upon remembering a certain scene from Now We're Only Falling Apart, I wonder if that's even true, or at least if it's STILL true. So, we know how in A Single Pale Rose, Pink Diamond ordered Pearl to never speak of the fact that she was Rose all along, right? And afterwards, we've seen that she physically COULD NOT ignore the order. Now think about Now We're Only Falling Apart, the moment where Pearl openly admits to her imaginings. Pearl: But I've been imagining things. Even when you haven't asked me to, I imagine that I ran away and met you here on Earth, a Rose Quartz. And I'm not yours, but I make you so happy anyway! Isn't that ridiculous? Tell me to stop! Rose: Please don't ever stop! I really do think that Pearl once loved Rose; she still might. But considering how she is programmed to listen to her Diamond, my question is whether or not those feelings are still legitimate or the result of a casual suggestion that she took to heart, as an "order." She literally cannot stop thinking about her and Rose being together.

steven universe is structural

one thing that often bothers me about other media is that it’s thoroughly morally individualistic. instead of being skeptical of authority, it’s only skeptical of the Bad People having authority. nothing wrong with the system itself, only the individuals within it. we didn’t need to dismantle the fire nation, we just needed a Good fire lord. we don’t need to challenge the audience’s perception of the status quo, we just need to make sure the “right people” are on top of it.

this is a huge reason i love steven universe. it is consistent that NO ONE should be a diamond. not a single person. steven isn’t here to be the good prince - neither him nor rose were above causing harm through that role. 

none are above becoming worse through power over others. 

instead, steven universe is here - the show and the person - to find how we can dismantle those mental and material hierarchies. it looks as people as they’ve been shaped through millennia of socialization. it change people’s circumstances rather than thinking they should pull themselves up by their bootstraps and just magically know what’s right. 

in short - it knows you weren’t born good.

but that’s why it also knows you can become better.

whether it’s through realizing the power you held over others was never justified, no matter how little you understood your own privilege…

or whether it’s through realizing how others hurt you, in turn, molded you in such a way where you felt justified in taking it out on others…

or whether it was through realizing that you were expressing toxicity that you had never fully unlearned, no matter how much you tried to disavow it.

every gem is shaped by their circumstances. as is every person. 

until steven could look at this as a network of circumstances, rather than individuals making choices based on some “individual morality” seemingly handed down by the stars, he couldn’t truly forgive his mother. or himself. 

but just… putting things in perspective, understanding how circumstances and power shape decisions and relations in ways that are too big for any one person to control - for anyone to try to control - helps you appreciate the immense power of simply accepting yourself. 

even if you weren’t made perfect, you can become a good person. you can bond with others to collectively reshape those societal ills. you can find it in yourself to forgive, because even if others didn’t understand what they did wrong, well, neither did you, once. and it’s okay - we’re all shaped to take the blame ourselves, even for things far outside our control.

if it’s one thing white diamond and steven have in common, it’s the flaw of thinking their responsibilities and faults are individual. that they must perform a role, because everything in the entire world seems to point towards that being their destiny. knowing better, being better, even if you don’t say it out loud.

that’s why steven could understand white like no one else could. instead of realizing the way the world around them had hurt them, they were both socialized to take individual responsibility. if something goes wrong, they’re “to blame”. they have to make the decision for everyone. they have to make the right decision, or it’s no one’s fault but their own.

they bought into individualism, again and again and again… until steven was faced with the truth - he’s just himself. being forced to take responsibility for his mom and the crystal gems was socialization he needed to unlearn to accept that. he cannot fill the shoes of his mother, she was always barefoot.

that socialization impacted him in countless ways, instilling him with guilt over everything that goes wrong… so it’s fitting that the most radical thing he can do is simply love himself. not because, but in spite of what the world told him to be.

SU Au/Headcanon Idea

In which Smoky Quartz’ special ability is to amplify Steven’s healing power enough to heal corrupted gems.

*Steven’s healing power could be “watered down”/weaker than Rose’s because he’s half human. Which is why Stevonnnie wouldn’t have this amplifying ability.

*Smoky Quartz could amplify his healing power to be even stronger than Rose’s since they might end up being Steven’s most stable fusion with another gem.

*If Smoky Quartz could heal corruption, the first gem they could heal is Jasper. Amethyst would be able to be a part of the fusion that helped her “sis” and they could all three get a good head start on making amends/getting along.

This probably won’t happen in the show, but it’s really cool to think about! ^ u ^ Please let me know what ya’ll think. < 3

Mini Steven Universe Theory : Lapis’ Next Fusion?

Now that they've become a solid trio, what if Lapis' first healthy fusion is actually a three gem fusion? 

Maybe to help her feel comfortable enough to fuse again she'll need the support of not just one but two people she trusts and loves: Peridot and Bismuth? 

(This could also be Peridot's first fusion, which could have been foreshadowed when Garnet offered to fuse with her. Garnet and Peridot would have also resulted in a three gem fusion being her first fusion. But it wasn't the right time for her yet...and perhaps...not the right other two gems?)

I know everyone hates Rose Quarts but I don't. I watched an interesting video forever ago about how part of the reason everyone hates her is because we watched her character progression backwards. And so we saw the best of her first and her absolute worst deeds last, without ever hearing her apology, or giving her the time and opportunity to make right. But I still like her, the one solid critism I hear is that she died to have Steven without ever cleaning up her mess. But may I make a theory that could possibly exonerate her of some of her suckiness?

She thought that once steven died, she'd come back.

Hear me out, a gem has certainly never done half the things Pink Diamond has done. She had no clue what was going to happen, she might have felt confident she could do it. Keep herself even while being part of steven. Maybe this could still be happening! So that her plan was, once steven had died she would come back and fix her mess.

But I hear you, your voices come to me like a prophet receiving visions from an angry god. She should have fixed her crap before she did this. And yah, you're probably right, but let me lesson her sentence of guilt. It had been centuries since the war right? And what was she to do. Her armies were destroyed, and she wouldn't be willing to start new kindergardens; how in the world was she suppose to stop the diamonds. It was a miracle they corrupted the planet and then just left in shame. It been centuries since the war, since anything had happened. How was she to know that she was only 14 years away from their return after so long of nothing.

Should she have instead of doing this, been working with the other crystal gems to come up with a war strategy? Yes. Should she have continued to experient with her immortality granting tears and mass producing spaceships and weapons of war? Yes. But is Greg Universe a total hotty and a catch? Double yes. I don't think she was a mastermind knowing her whole plan from the beginning but probably as she got to know Greg and love him and see his love for children(perhaps he even asked her for a kid). She saw her opportunity. In the eyes of immortals a 20 year old is on their death bed; his and her time were short.

She probably convinced herself that she could do it. That she could come back after stevens death, even if it now seems that she was wrong and that isn't happening.

In conclusion. Rose like any leader ever, has lead countless souls to their death, as well as done more good than those of the time could have ever imagined. That while her actions were never really the best ones possible, she tried, and she tried hard to rebel against her natural instinct to be a child. That while the decision to have steven was a frankly bad idea, she could have had relateable justifications, even if not sufficient justifications.

Uh yah... so thanks for coming to my Tedtalk.

I’m just gonna make a list of things that have to happen by the end of SU and some stuff that’s probably gonna happen, enjoy

Stuff that will happen

-Jasper redemption

-Lars returning to Earth

-Off colors and stuff

-Our Pearl’s relationship with WD

-Why White pearl has PD’s gem placement and our pearl has WD’s

-Why PD is the way she is

- escapism

-What happens if Steven’s gem is removed

-What’s in the box in Lion’s mane (or it could be like fnaf and never open it)

-Every corrupted gem either being cured one by one or all of them being unbubbled for a reverse corruption song

-Mind controlling minerals in the water supply

-Rainbow Quartz 2.0

-Lapidot fusion (iT WILL HAPPEN)

-Temple fusion

-S N E O P L E

Stuff that probably will happen maybe

-Steven talks to his mom in some form or way

-Garnet and Steven fusion

-Gem language lesson

Okay I can’t find any videos of it but there was this Steven Universe thing on NPR. Rebecca Sugar referred to how the gems found joy in the simplicity of human life as a ‘reverse escapism’

so...

someone who seeks out the diamond life, that would be escapism?

So Steven, seeking out the diamond life, that would be escapism?

Steven sings Escapism???

Okay

steven universe time

In the trailer for Battle of heart and mind, the last shot shows White Diamond opening her eyes and her power, aura, whatever streaming out And Pink Diamond/Rose Quartz resurrected people by crying on them

So one of Pink’s powers are tears that give life

and White’s supposed power is tear that bring death

Just sayin’

Also blue diamond has her power of depression and Yellow diamond has electric powers

Electric is super effective on water

Tears ARE water

Just sayin’

Okay

steven universe time

In the trailer for Battle of heart and mind, the last shot shows White Diamond opening her eyes and her power, aura, whatever streaming out And Pink Diamond/Rose Quartz resurrected people by crying on them

So one of Pink’s powers are tears that give life

and White’s supposed power is tear that bring death

Just sayin’

Okay SU theory time

So Diamond Days, it’s shown that corruption was supposed to shatter gems. But without Pinks powers it just led to corruption

What if when a gem poofs from stress that’s what happens to them? A mini form of the Diamond blast thing that was meant to poof/shatter all of the gems on Earth

Now Steven has Pink Diamonds gem. What if he gets so stressed out to the point where he would poof but since he has Pinks powers he doesn’t lose his form. He just gets distorted.

Maybe this would lead to how White is all Pink and stuff in the intro, her form could get messed up just by being near him

I feel like that mild fever bit is gonna come back as something later

Also just wanna say that the scenes that Steven thinks about during Full Disclosure are some of the ones that he mentions as being traumatic during Growing Pains. Specifically when Garnet gets poofed, when he wakes up in a jail cell, and when he sees Malachite go into the ocean

Yo what if the episode is called fragments because he shatters Jasper and that shot where he has his hand in his pocket is him hiding her gem

And he goes to homeworld because his power ain’t working on it or something

His hand is shapeshifting and he seems surprised about it

Hmmm

WHAT THE CLIPS SHOWN IN THE FINAL PROMO SAY

Here’s a list of each of the moments from past episodes that are shown in the trailer

Steven with the gems after Change Your Mind. They’re all happy and Steven knows he’s himself

Pearl asking Steven if he has his mom’s memories. There is also a shot of them putting Rose’s sword in Lion’s Mane

Steven about to pull out Rose’s shield, and saying that this is his home and the gems are his family.

Steven and Connie fusing for the first time.

Steven pulling out his shield to save himself and his family from Lapis

The diamonds realizing that Steven has Pink’s gem

Pink Steven yelling at Jasper in the battle that he ends up shattering her in

Okay so I’m gonna go over common themes between these.

1,3,4, and 5 are about Steven, his loved ones, and his home. This will probably come up in the finale as the divide between Steven and the world grows, but also because he needs to talk stuff out with the people he loves

4 suggests that his relationship with Connie will also be very prominent in these episodes

1,2,3,5,6,7 are all about Steven and his connection to his mom. He’s pulling out Rose’s shield, gems mistake him for his mom. Him being his own person seems to be contridicted by what others are saying. Steven gets contradicted a lot in this trailer

2 is especially interesting. Pearl wonders if Rose is still in his gem. Then they pull her sword out of Lions mane. There’s still the chest inside of there, maybe it has something to do with Rose and whether or not she still exists

What I’m gonna say is that Steven being like his mom and Steven’s relationships with his loving family are going to come into play a lot on the finale.

More theories later woohoo

Lapis

- when she saw Peridot outside of the hand ship she behaved in a way that seems needlessly aggressive considering Peridot wanted to help her.

- however much of her anger is based in past trauma

- ran away from Earth in fear of the diamonds

- felt she couldn’t go back to earth after all that she’d done

- eventually Steven found her and tried to convince her to come back. While at first she ran away again, she eventually returned likely due in part to Steven’s influence

- Might’ve ended up shattering the two lapises in a fit of trauma based emotions. At the last moment Steven stops her

Steven

- ran away from earth fear of what he thinks are ‘Diamond powers’

-felt he couldn’t go back to the gems

-actually shattered Jasper and arguably tried to shatter White Diamond (though it’s not entirely clear if he was talking to her, his mom, himself, or a mix of all three)

- Seemed needlessly aggressive towards White Diamond considering she wanted to help him

-However she did traumatize him and literally roped out one of his vital organs

So yeah they kinda similar

Why Steven is not corrupting

1) The growing things he’s been doing resembles unstable fusions falling apart more than corruption

Here’s some example of failing fusions

The faces are malleable and deformed. It’s like an internal battle represented with their forms

Also in this one where Jasper forces fusion on a corrupted gem, it looks like its trying to escape

And here’s what the one corruption we’ve seen look like

It’s more like a disease that spreads throughout a gem’s body, like a disease

And here’s Steven

It’s very similar to the first example, only slightly different. It could be that his bones are making the changes in his light more rigid and stiff

2) The internal mind field of an unstable fusion

With Malachite, an unstable fusion, what did it look like when Steven astral projected himself in there?

A dark, ominous place where the two gems fought with each other

What does it look like when Steven talks to himself through White Diamond in Homeworld Bound?

Very similar, both of his halves don’t really seem to like each other

3) The final trailer

In the trailer, there’s a frame where Steven’s arm is glowing

A trademark of the prior unstable fusions is that they glow as they unfuse. And we see that right here. With corruption, color spreads and horns pop out; there’s no glowing.

4) My opinion hehehe

I think that the worm wouldn’t be Steven’s human half; if he’s unfused without gem abilities then he wouldn’t be able to shapeshift. However, all of the diamonds are needed to reverse corruption, and Steven got rid of all of the diamond essence (a move too deliberate to just be an artistic choice). And Steven needs to work stuff out with himself in order for stuff to get better. So I think that his gem half will corrupt but his human half will need to make the mental connection for the corruption to be reverted. That way all of what the Diamonds said in Homeworld bond is true

The problem isn’t physical

Steven needs to allow himself to be happy if he wants to be happy

Steven needs to talk to himself

Tldr I’m right and my theories are god goodnight

New fusion will be Lapidot I’m calling it

- neither of them have fused yet

- they both have complicated feelings on fusion, peridot having been confused for a long time on it and Lapis having been trapped in one

Checklist for these new episodes

- little homeschool burnt down

-lions mane chest addressed

-Steven unfuses/corrupts

-Jaspers arc resolution

-Steven arc resolution

-Bismuth fusion?

-Spinel fusion?

-Lapidot Fusion

-Parallels between Spinel and Steven, and maybe between he and Lapis addresses

-PARALLELS BETWEEN STEVEN AND HIS MOM ADDRESSED

-Something with Steven’s eye

-PTSD addressed by his family

-Here we are in the future reprise and/or Change Your mind reprise