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I was thinking about why Rose Quartz/Pink Diamond is so hated.

The obvious answer is because of the horrible things she did.

But the other diamonds did horrible things too…worse things even.

Pink abandoned Spinel, which is wrong, but Spinel was planning to kill every living thing on Earth to spite the son of a person who was no longer even alive. Yet, no one talks about what a monster Spinel is.

So many Steven Universe characters have hurt people, but we forgive them and are happy to see them redeemed.

So why not Rose?

Then, it hit me: because Rose’s redemption arc is told to us in reverse.

The first time we see Rose is toward the end of her life when she is pregnant with Steven. We see her appreciation for life and how full of love she is for Greg and her future child. She’s willingly sacrificing herself to bring a new life into the world.

But then, we start learning who Rose used to be, all her mistakes, all the people she hurt.

The loving mother in Steven’s video becomes a distant memory.

For those of you who hate Rose, imagine her backstory unfolded a little differently for us.

We’re introduced to Pink Diamond: she’s spoiled, bratty, immature, irresponsible, and inconsiderate.

She throws temper tantrums when she doesn’t get her way.

Not exactly an endearing character, right?

But one day, her tantrum injure Pink Pearl, her best friend. From that day on, she keeps everything to herself. Now we see her dealing with a consequence of her bad behavior.

Then we see how she’s abused by the other diamonds. We start to sympathize with her.

We see her try to save Earth. We see her trying to do the right thing for once.

But it backfires horribly.

She spends the rest of her life trying to fix it, but she can’t.

She meets Greg. Here is where Rose has the most emotional growth as a character. She learns what is truly means to be a “real person.”

Finally, she grows such an appreciation for human life, that she decides to sacrifice her form to bring her son into the world.

The reason Rose is so much more controversial than other characters who have done problematic things is because her story is told in reverse, her redemption comes across as a fall from grace.

But there are plenty of characters who have a fall from grace who are still not as controversial as Rose. The reason why many people are less sympathetic to Rose is because we never see how Rose reacts to her mistakes. We never get much insight into how Rose feels about herself and the things she’s done. We get small hints:

For everyone who hates Rose, I get why. But I think we need to remember who she became instead of who she was.

U can watch Star Wars so many times and it doesn’t prepare u for how dumb Star Wars is. For one thing I think we gloss over how kenobi (who has definitely been at the club. Please.) describes the mos eisley cantina as the worst most villainous place ever and then u get inside and it’s a pack of muppets vaping

Sorry for infodumping about my special interest out of nowhere, you said a keyword and it activated my unskippable dialogue

I also think a lot of people just don't Get Chappell and think she's mean is because she is from Missouri. I'm from the midwest too, and she reminds me of many other lesbians and queer people I know. We grew up in a place that is 80% cornfield surrounded by men who wear steel toe boots are regular shoes, of course we dont take shit from anyone. All these vapid LA freaks and stan culture weirdos just can't handle a woman being midwestern nice

I say this with love and on the verge of a nervous breakdown from watching beginner cooks who don't know better yet: ALWAYS turn your pot and pan handles in so they aren't hanging over the edge of the stove

even if you don't have children or pets who might hit or grab the handles, it just takes one moment of it catching on your shirt or your hip bumping it in passing to send a bunch of hot food and oil right at you

this speaking as a cis person. Nothing brings me more joy seeing people find gender euphoria in becoming a mediocre representation of humanity. And I mean that so genuinely. Local boy finds joy and fulfillment wearing a cargo shorts and t-shirt combo. Local girl has transitioned to look like someone's disheveled aunt, has never been happier. Local person experiences gender euphoria rocking the world's worst bowl-cut. Without a scap of irony, this shit makes me see the wonder and whimsy in just, being a human. An average, person going through their day-to-day, is a wondrous thing? That's amazing. And heteronormativity has stripped these experiences of their joy. Like you're right, wearing a basic girlypop skirt should make my heart sing. Why not? Why are these expressions lesser because they're normal? All this to say. Shoutout to all the basic bitches out there. Yes that polo shirt does make you look like a divorced golfer dad. Yes, that too is kind of a slay, now that I think of it.

I’m so sick and tired of people pretending Scott Summers isn’t a hot piece of ass. “Jean should leave Scott for this X-Man, Jean should leave Scott for this X-Man” I will gut you like a fish— have you SEEN HIM? Cyclops is fucking hot and I’m tired of y’all pretending he isn’t.

I mean:

Just that should be enough.

Spoopy Season Safety

In the game Jedi Academy, when a character falls a distance, they have a short little gasp or yell. It's mostly the same for every avatar.. except if you play as Luke. Then you get this OMG-dramatic-unforgettable scream that is amazingly and laughably over the top.

"Luke Skywalker isn’t like the old Jedi. He saves Vader with his attachments!”

Wrong!

Luke Skywalker, at the end of Return of the Jedi, after his confrontation with the Emperor drags Darth Vader through the destructing Death Star. He’s desperate, knuckles white under the heavy weight of his father’s body, a little boy dragging his dad to safety. He sets Vader down for a moment, to catch his breath or maybe to get a better grip. He goes to grab Vader again, but Vader, uncomfortable and in pain, asks Luke to take off the mask. He wants to see Luke through his eyes instead of the eyes Palpatine built for him. Luke refuses, says that removing the mask is a sure way for Vader to die. Luke doesn’t want Vader dead, he wants Vader alive. Not to hold him accountable for his many evil acts, but for the same reason why Luke Skywalker can’t kill Darth Vader; Vader is his father and Luke loves him.

And yet, after a moment, Luke removes Vader’s mask. He doesn’t want to, he hesitates, but he removes the mask with enough slowness to allow Vader to take it back. In that moment, Luke sets aside his desire for Vader in his life, sets aside his desire to see him live, and sets aside his entire mission, the reason he was even on the Death Star in the place. In his compassion for his father, Luke stays with Vader until he dies. It is this moment where we see him be the best damn Jedi he can be. I’d even argue that this moment is the greatest example of non-attached love we see. Because Luke lets Vader go! He lets his father die, and in some ways, by removing the mask, he too kills Vader, he stays with him until his last moment, gives him the kindness of granting his last wish and finally chooses Vader.

And Luke doesn’t have to do this. If Luke Skywalker’s love for his father was an attachment, he would ignore Vader and continue dragging him to the escape pod, put his desire for a father as his central focus and ignore Vader’s wants and discomfort. Maybe he would even save him. But he doesn’t. Instead, he watches as Vader dies.

He builds a Jedi burial for his father and watches it burn the remnants of Vader and Anakin Skywalker away. He mourns Vader, he mourns what they could’ve had as father and son, considers what ifs and maybe-if-I-did-this. Vader/ Anakin is released from his mortal body, from his ‘crude matter’ and Luke lets him go. He says one final goodbye to Anakin. Then, he joins Leia, Han, Chewie, Lando, and the rest of the Rebels and celebrates their victory. He lives in the present and celebrates what he has instead of what he lost.

Luke Skywalker is THE Jedi. Everything about Luke Skywalker serves as the foundational cornerstone of the Jedi, everything about the Jedi as a culture and philosophy is reflected in his character. Luke’s desire for the New Jedi Order isn’t to throw away the values of the old Order, but to vitalise them, breathe life back into dying lungs, and rebuild a path that people set out on their way to destroy. (Yes, his Order is different from the Old, but that’s because it has to be. He doesn’t have the resources or the safety of the Old Order.) The philosophies of the Jedi are difficult and they aren’t for everyone, and like the perfect Jedi that Luke is, he struggles and stumbles and sometimes he even rejects it. But, no matter how far he falls, it is a way of life he chooses again and again and again. It is a way of life that welcomes him back each time

A visual parallel I have noticed throughout SW is the image of a Palpatine goading his new apprentice to kill a defenseless person. He does it with Dooku and Yaddle, Anakin and Dooku, and finally Luke and Darth Vader (Anakin). Each time he encourages them to do something that goes against their morals (killing a friend, a defenseless person, or their father) and the choice they make is telling to who they will become in the future. Luke is the person to break this cycle when he refuses to kill his father after seeing Vader’s mechanical hand. He looks to his own hand and realizes that to destroy his father is to become him. He holds fast to his ideals in the face of Palpatines attempts to change them. It’s a nice way to keep consistency with Palpatine’s character and form of manipulation.

The Star Wars Original Trilogy is peak fiction because they took a fairy tale and set it in space, then they gave the princess in distress a GUN. But even better they gave her a sharp tongue and the power of revolution. They made the “dragon” a depressed cyborg father with asthma who doesn’t understand his own emotions and does murders because of it. And they made the knight a blond Barbie boy who attempts to solve problems with the power of love like he’s Sailor Moon or something.

And then they said, “oh yeah they’re all related btw. All the galaxy’s problems are this one family’s fault. Hope this helps 😘”

The Star Wars Original Trilogy is peak fiction because they took a fairy tale and set it in space, then they gave the princess in distress a GUN. But even better they gave her a sharp tongue and the power of revolution. They made the “dragon” a depressed cyborg father with asthma who doesn’t understand his own emotions and does murders because of it. And they made the knight a blond Barbie boy who attempts to solve problems with the power of love like he’s Sailor Moon or something.

And then they said, “oh yeah they’re all related btw. All the galaxy’s problems are this one family’s fault. Hope this helps 😘”

Logan waking up from a nightmare with Mary Puppins impaled on his claws for once instead of Wade and instantly having to drop the “I hate this rat dog” act because they don’t actually know if Dogpool regenerates or not

(She does) (Logan still fucking cries like a baby and holds her while she slobbers all over him)

I do consider Wolverine's interactions with Jean and Scott in the first X-Men movie to be sort of an inverse unicorn hunter scenario. sometimes the unicorn hunts you. aggressively.

I’m thinking about the gender identity/sexuality of various fma:b characters (post pending) and that brought me to Alphonse, and like-

I feel like Alphonse would be male the way trans men are male, the way Gomez Adams is male - with a delightful amount of decisiveness, of intent. He’s been stuck in a body that isn’t his own for ages, A huge slab of metal that doesn’t reflect how he sees himself and how he wants to be seen at all, and so when he gets his body back he also gets to be a boy, and then a man, in a way he never could before.

He cuts his hair and it’s nice and trimmed and gently masculine and clean, he wears slacks and button-ups and vests and probably, like, a nice pocket watch and a handkerchief in the breast pocket. He gets to be soft and cheeky like a boy and people see him like that, instead of like a soldier in threatening armor. He gets to be a gentleman, to be caring and warm and to grow tall and remain gentle. He gets to carry Mai’s books for her and tell Winry she’s very fetching today (she has motor oil smeared across her nose) and hold the door open for Pinako, and he gets to do it while looking dapper and boyish and delight in it. Edward hates when his facial hair starts growing in because shaving is a hassle, but Alphonse loves it. Loves getting to shave his face, every morning, and trim his hair and clean his nails. Ed gifts him a very, very mild cologne because Al’s sense of smell remains sensitive and easily overwhelmed and it’s one of the best gift he ever got.

Idk I just think there’s something gently delightful about Al being allowed to gender with intent <3

Another resurfaced clip from da lost media fob show

Hey I know I'm not that much of a punk circles kind of guy, but just in case you kids don't have anyone more credible to tell you this: do not put endangering badges on your back.

Yes, your battle jacket should consist exclusively of whatever the fuck you want to put on it, but if you've got political badges, rainbow pins, or anything advertising yourself as a member of a vulnerable group (whether that's trans, disabled, any kind of ethnic or refugee background, you probably know what yours are better than I do), only put them in places where you can see everyone who can see them. I'm not joking this is a safety measure. Punk scenes can be rough and sketchy places and not everyone who attends them is safe to be around.

You don't need to come tell me that this is unfair, because you're right. You don't need to come tell me that I shouldn't be telling you not to put a target on your back, but that I should be telling people who assault people to not assault people, because you're wrong. Yeah no shit it sucks but unfortunately if nazis gave a single fuck about who is morally correct, they wouldn't be nazis in the first place.

Be yourself by any means necessary, but protect yourself by any means necessary. Rainbows go in the front of the jacket.

Guy Madison and Robert Walker in Since You Went Away (1944) dir. John Cromwell

We don’t talk about Leia killing Jabba enough. Her grandmother and father were born into slavery. Her blood was that of the desert sand and the shackles of bondage. Leia was never more a Skywalker than the day she strangled her slave master with the very chains he used to bind her. The daughter of Anakin Skywalker was the one who killed Tatooine’s most notorious slaver, and I find that really beautiful.