I am so invested in this that it verges on embarrassment.

Yeah, that's probably the best option right now.

I feel like it would be bad form to explore a character who has such a fundamental misunderstanding of boundaries and consent without having them learn something eventually.

This episode didn't really work for me, but there are a few things that piqued my interest. When Jasper says "We could fly", it's inflected with such a sense of wonder that it makes me wonder whether she can't learn after all. That's a new possibility for her, and her interest in it isn't totally divorced from the way…

I feel weird, because Peridot's definitely the character who I am the most like (I'm annoyingly social, have weird vocal and physical tics, and am autistic fandom trash) but at the same time I wouldn't say I like her more than any of the original Crystal Gem characters. Her character, especially at the beginning end…

please stop posting

All aboard the S. S. Sugar!

Yeah, I feel pretty bad for Hellen Jo. She got a lot of flack from the fanbase that I don't think was entirely deserved. (Some of the sloppy boarding was her fault, but there was a lot of trashing of her personal art and blaming her for stuff that was the fault of the writer's room.) I genuinely love her original art,…

Tomorrow: the first episode with a Rebecca Sugar boarding credit in over a year!

I think Pearl, Rose, and Pink Diamond have an Anthy, Utena, and Akio sorta thing going on.

Prior to "Message Received", I mean.

I don't think Peridot's actually seen any of the Diamonds in person, even Yellow.

Also, Steven asking the Gems how to write "I'm sorry" in their script as the camera focused on Centi's picture of the Diamonds? Saddest moment of the episode.

Now, if he really wants to, Steven could fix the Galaxy Warp and go to space!

By the way, it's been 65 episodes since Steven lost his healing powers, which he had for only four. This has been a long time coming.

I get where you're coming from. It means something in the context of the show, but I think "Coach Steven" and "An Indirect Kiss" are a lot more diverse in tone and interesting in message than "Monster Buddies", to pick a few others from the same era of the show.

My destiny is gay space rocks?

It's not one of my favorite theories. But there is some evidence for it. Take a look at this bit from the "Message Received" outline, which is a lot more explicit about things than the final version:

One of the bigger theories about the Diamonds is actually that it's just Yellow at this point. Remember how surprised Yellow Pearl was that someone was on the Diamond Line?

I never really liked "Monster Buddies" all that much. It has a fascinating idea for a story, and it has an emotional resonance that seems to hit a certain sort of SU fan very hard. But, while I like the premise, at the end of the day it's 11 minutes of Steven at his most guilelessly sweet, and that gets repetitive to…