This isn’t a real sequence of posts, as such; it’s a collection of tweets, carried over and plopped in order in part for the sake of readability and in part to keep them from vanishing into the aether. So! Let’s talk about Steven Universe, huh!

I guess people don’t like season four that much? People are weird. I can understand how its scheduling must have been annoying, after getting all of season three in, like, a month, but season four is where the show really starts to become the psychologically intense thing it is.

A thing I’ve heard a few times is that it’s the only season without a plot. And, uh, what? The entire season is about Steven’s mental breakdown. It’s about his trying and failing to cope with all the things that have happened, the things he’s learned, and what they mean for him.

But then the same people who dismiss season four are the ones who describe “Storm in the Room” as a pointless filler episode. Which is… I mean. The actual fuck? I really don’t get how people interpret art, more often than not. Or, well, rather, don’t.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cmpprrp365g

Strikes me that too many people I’ve been close to, they’ve based their sense of right on whether a thing meets their expectations — as opposed to basing their expectations on whether a thing is right.

I take a special interest in art critique, as I… kind of have noticed that the way people respond to art is almost identical to the way one can expect them to respond to people. And, in particular, to me. You open them up to empathy for weird perspectives, you’re doing well.

I notice that some people, their notion of empathy is… it’s kind of like a sociopath’s concept of respect. Actual respect is about acceptance. Authoritarians will insist it’s about obedience. Actual empathy is about understanding. They’ll say it’s about meeting expectations.

Etiquette. To the authoritarian, empathy is the same thing as etiquette.

To the authoritarian, respect is a social game of doing what’s expected and empathy is a social game of saying what’s expected. Both are forms of manipulation, with end goals of winning in some way.

This, incidentally, is part of what growing up rich will do to a person.

To a person like this, empathy means you memorize this series of rules and follow them exactly, or else you’re demonstrating that you don’t care. As opposed to, you know, listening and validating one’s experiences, relating to them. Getting that people are people.

This twisted idea of empathy, it all cycles around shame rather than love. About performance. Ritual. Never putting people out, offending them, by breaking the rules of behavior put upon you. As opposed to… you know, being kind?

Which is, I guess, how you get here.

(Yes, I am speaking from experience, if you’re wondering.)

So what I’m saying is, White Diamond must have a really long TubeTube rant out there about season four.

It’s worth stressing that in a way, the show’s real hero is Greg. When you first see him, you’re probably tempted to dismiss him. The show sure sets you up to. A washed-up middle-aged rock musician, living out of a van. He let himself go years back.

And it’s not like the Gems are wrong. He clearly is a mess. He didn’t have much direction to start with, and since Rose died he’s pretty much given up. But as becomes clearer, the more one sees of him, he’s also preternaturally kind. And it’s his kindness that saves everyone.

Through the vehicle of Steven, mind you. But he didn’t get that from Rose, and he didn’t get that from the other Gems, who basically have no clue how to relate to others. When Steven talks down a family of intergalactic fascists, he’s working with the humanity he’s been handed.

If Rose had never met Greg, and Greg had never made such an impression on her, and then formed the basis of Steven’s understanding of the world, this conflict would never have been resolved. The Earth would be just gone. The Diamonds would still be expanding their empire.

In hindsight, this scene may be one of the most central to the entire story. This is where Greg saves the world.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fC3UVEt-7G4

Smash that Diamond Authority, Greg.

Greg is kind of an ancillary character through most of the show, only popping up to spout advice or provide comic relief. In dramatic terms, he doesn’t want much. His main breakthrough is no longer feeling shunned by the people he’s closest to.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06PIH5lTm1k

It’s a smaller arc for his smaller screen time, but it’s pretty distinct from the start. What’s interesting is that the Gems are themselves a group of misfits and outcasts, and never mind wider society, he’s an outcast even from the outcasts.

He’s a flawed character like any other, and this neediness (if that’s what we call it) helps to explain his one really big, selfish blunder, in “House Guest.” There, he’s just… Well, for context, check out the extended intro, and that last look before he hands Steven over.

“Okay, Greg. Thanks for building us this house. We’ll take it from here. Bye.”

Something else weird. So people rag on season four for having no plot, when it actually… is kind of the turning point for the story to get intense. But they also consider season three the show’s pinnacle. Yet it’s, like, all townie episodes. Which, they continually whine about?

I’m not saying I expect fan blargh to ever make sense. I’m just scratching my head at another aspect of its nonsense. “Obliterate all townie episodes! They are the plague!” “What, the best season? The one with all the townie episodes, of course!”

Well, anyway. Regarding season four…