Thank you for this video- I've always felt such a deep connection to the trauma narratives in place in Steven Universe, especially when it comes to Steven himself and being a people pleaser. You did an amazing job scripting and editing this video, and I'm genuinely surprised your channel isnt larger! I cant wait to see what you make next.
Its so nice to have a show actually acknowledge the damage that comes, or normally should come, with the Selfless Hero living through actual Trauma. I really appreciate this video, and having some termiology (?) explained as the symptoms were shown was super helpful. Thank you for this!
I finally finished Future after a couple years of putting it off. (Maybe I just didn't want it to end?) Anyway, I thought it was a very natural and logical thing for the show to focus on Steven's trauma. After all the external threats have been vanquished, the only place to turn is inward.
Fuck, I loved this, Keep it up. The way you explained things is good, and informative. Hope you keep getting views, Keep the content up and be passionate with what you make your content Edit: The passion you put into this shines through clearly, I can hear the excitement to talk about it and be able to word vomit about it. So much so, we can hear it through your voice alone. Also, Yes! Even if it is just word vomiting, just talking about your special interests can be so deeply satisfying, which I personally end up doing with so many different topics due to me being ADHD and Autistic, so I find new things to hyperfocus on often. (Note: Steven Universe I loved for a while and it is a beautiful show and started paving the way for more animation to explore people that are in the LGBTQ+ community, especially with children animation.)
As someone with PTSD, who’s been to therapy for a couple of years, you did an excellent job discussing these character’s traumatic pasts. Healing is possible, like these characters have shown. Love Steven Universe 🩵
It’s the same with a friend of mine. Long story short, her family was kinda neglectful about dealing w/ her physical and mental health issues for years. Recently, it took her months to leave, and at least a full year to accept the healing (I think of it like letting a physically infected wound heal- the process will be more painful the longer you wait to get it properly treated, but for the most part it’s more difficult than impossible). Also, I think 58:50-58:52 could easily translate to either or both (to time-varying degrees of) thoughts of hurting/ killing yourself for any negative-emotion/ trauma-based reason(s). There may be a couple of nitpicks from other video essayists that I’d cite (and a few of my own) about the portrayals of trauma responses/ treatment in Steven Universe, but on occasions when I feel overwhelmed/ terrible myself, it does keep a hope for the viability/ possibility of emotional healing alive. It’s pretty amazing.
Something wonderful about that climax - mechanically speaking, within the rules of the universe, we know corruption can be healed by the essence of all four diamonds. The other three diamonds were all crying, but it wasn't until Steven was able to cry for himself that he could heal. Combined with that, we get all the hugging, and Connie's kiss (a mirror of Steven's healing kiss but a trigger for self-healing rather than an external magical source of healing), showing the healing power of support and love. It doesn't heal all by itself but it provides the environment we need to heal ourselves. Just a gorgously put-together moment, all around. Though to me the most powerful moment in the whole series is Steven sitting in the doctor's office realizing absolutely nothing about his life has been normal or healthy up until that point. When you're a kid, the idea of not having to go to school, never going to the doctor or dentist, a parent who never punishes you or tells you what to do, the opportunity to go on dangerous adventures - that all sounds like an awesome time. Watching the show, especially the early show, from the perspective of a child (Steven's perspective!) it all looks fun and light hearted. But Steven spent so much of even the first season desperately lonely and seeking structure, affection and belonging, constantly talking down about himself, wandering around trying to occupy himself and having a hard time relating to "normal" people around town despite his desire to connect. It's a tiny town but Steven barely knows anybody in it - he'd never even met (in his memory) Vidalia, who seems to have been Greg's best and maybe only human friend and who is also friends with Amethyst, despite her living super close and being the parent of a kid he knows who ALSO runs around unsupervised all the time. Steven's poor therapist is going to need a whole support team.
This show helped me process my own trauma, and helped me realize my own neurodivergence as well. It's a beautiful, respectful representation of PTSD and childhood trauma. Its also one of my special interests, lol. Be cringe and be free! People are really starting to realize how good this show was in retrospect and Im so glad for it. Inspiring me to finally make that giant video disecting Rose Quartz as a character, since people still arent fully getting it lol. Love this.
Thank you. I have similar feelings about it, and it was really interesting to hear your thoughts. When i first saw Future, I felt very, uncertain about it. Almost disappointed. Something felt wrong that was hard to place. At the time, it didn't feel right, and i thought this was because I didn't like how it portrayed mental illness, but was never really able to describe it in my head. I rewatched it last year and suddenly it hit a lot harder! Let's just say i realized a lot of things (and was hit by a lot of things) in the time between. I respect any artwork that can make you feel that way, you know?
42:47 i wouldn't say this is her avoiding the problem or pretending it doesn't exist. In this case, there's literally nothing they can do about it, so she's focusing on what little positives there are to prevent panic. at least that's how i see it.
I just finished the show like not even a week ago and I'm still in tears. I was not watching it as it came out and was binge-watching it, which I enjoyed greatly. This show helped me realize that I can love myself, and to trust the people who love me and care for me. I'm still working on my self-confidence issues and it's not easy to undo decades of self-hate (funnily enough Amethyst is one of my favourite characters), but I am trying. On the less pleasant side of things watching the show and the movie has shined a spotlight directly on me, and how I don't know how to recognize my own trauma. I've spent all of my life thinking I had no trauma, that I didn't get a minute to say anything when people talked about their stuff. A friend being abused emotionally by their family? Let them talk. Family member in a car accident? Let them talk. You (I am referring to myself here) think were ignored as a child and you witnessed someone dying? You are fine, be quiet and let people speak. For some reason I just never considered in any serious way that I would have trauma. I don't have access to a therapist anymore, and I cannot talk about this stuff to anyone else. It's still really weird to think that I have trauma, like putting on a mask but in reality I'm trying to take off my mask. I am autistic and I tend to mask all of the time even at home. I would run out of characters trying to describe everything that I feel in regards to the trauma and I really don't want to bog this down any more than I have already. Thank you for making this video and I hope that you're doing well.
After my cptsd diagnosis, i watched future. it was the hardest i've ever cried at a show. the hospital scene and the finale of future are some of the most heavy hitting scenes i've watched. SU does a wonderful job at exploring the development of trauma and the long-term effects of it. this topic has been on my mind for a very long time and i'm glad you made a video fully going into that, you did an amazing job at wording it. you even pointed out steven's fawn responses that i haven't picked up on because it is the norm for my own behavior. i've always seen videos saying future is a harmful, unrealistic representation of trauma and mental disorders which is so far from the truth. i'm glad there are others with cptsd can relate to this show's characters as much as i do! i would also like to add as a teenager growing up with unprocessed trauma and ongoing abuse, seeing steven not fit in with humans his age (in bismuth casual) because their experiences are so different resonated with me. i struggled my entire life to find friends growing up because of it. nearly every aspect of my own cptsd feels represented in SU:Future and it'll always be one of my favorite shows.
@@agustinbarquero8898 I personally think BoJack Horseman runs a gamut between “cynicism hiding behind the ‘realistic’ mask” (which… tbf is realistic in and of itself) and “if nothing matters, find something that matters and people who matter to you, and follow common sense as you figure out the rest of life for yourself.”
The part where you explain how steven is and is not his mom by saying she'll always be apart of him and comparing it to humans and the person that birth them is amazing. Ive (for some reason) never thought if it like that, how all humans have a connection to their parents/birth giver because its true. Whether or not you even knew/liked your mother they are one of the people that brought you into this world, that is a fact. Steven was never rose/pink diamond but will always have her with him(ie: his gem). Its just like how we have some features from our parents. Steven has his moms gem and powers, along with some new ones i believe, he has a mix of rose and gregs hair (with the color probably being from his grandparents since greg has brown hair and rose has pink in both forms.) I really do like this point, he is and isn't his mom because he WAS made by her and his dad, she will always be apart of him just like any of our parents. I always thought that in the last episode of the OG series when we see pink, rose, then steven reform as pink/gem steven that that was a way to show that Steven is his own person. That was literally the point of the show in the first place. And when i see fanfics or fan comics of an AU where steven dies and rose/pink comes back or pink being in his gem or them sharing a gem it makes me upset because the last episode literally shows that steven is Steven no matter what. But i do think what would happen when Steven inevitably dies, will his gem half stay? Will they both die? Will his gem half stay and be rose once again? Will his gem half be able to even mentally live although he is recovered? When we see him and his gem half reform/fuse together we can see pink/gem Steven smiling as they are finally whole, if gem steven is all thats left when steven dies how would he live? Yea hes alive but he is a gem, no not one that has feelings and all, he is literally pure POWER not a person cuz that part of stevens unique fusion is gone, the human part is gone.. Really does make me think, sorry for rambling in ur comments lol. Steven universe has been one of my special interests/comfort show for years now, i grew up with it since i was 6 or so, back on its 2nd year on the air when cable was a thing. Its literally one of the only things i can consistently consume and talk about years apart for hours on end. This video waa beautiful thank you!
@@AlyssaPerrinethe fuck does he have to be traumatized for? I mean ignoring his space dictator family, he’s got a girlfriend who almost always stands by his side, a dad who who isn’t a belligerent ass to him, 6 high level guaridan aunts, and a decent supply of friends. And he’s the hero of a war where no one important died. You know how many of us would fucking KILL for even a fraction of the life Steven had?
Thank you for this video- I've always felt such a deep connection to the trauma narratives in place in Steven Universe, especially when it comes to Steven himself and being a people pleaser. You did an amazing job scripting and editing this video, and I'm genuinely surprised your channel isnt larger! I cant wait to see what you make next.
Its so nice to have a show actually acknowledge the damage that comes, or normally should come, with the Selfless Hero living through actual Trauma.
I really appreciate this video, and having some termiology (?) explained as the symptoms were shown was super helpful. Thank you for this!
I finally finished Future after a couple years of putting it off. (Maybe I just didn't want it to end?) Anyway, I thought it was a very natural and logical thing for the show to focus on Steven's trauma. After all the external threats have been vanquished, the only place to turn is inward.
Fuck, I loved this, Keep it up. The way you explained things is good, and informative. Hope you keep getting views, Keep the content up and be passionate with what you make your content
Edit: The passion you put into this shines through clearly, I can hear the excitement to talk about it and be able to word vomit about it. So much so, we can hear it through your voice alone.
Also, Yes! Even if it is just word vomiting, just talking about your special interests can be so deeply satisfying, which I personally end up doing with so many different topics due to me being ADHD and Autistic, so I find new things to hyperfocus on often. (Note: Steven Universe I loved for a while and it is a beautiful show and started paving the way for more animation to explore people that are in the LGBTQ+ community, especially with children animation.)
thank you so much! i love this topic so much and im really glad that people were able to see the passion i was able to put into this!
As someone with PTSD, who’s been to therapy for a couple of years, you did an excellent job discussing these character’s traumatic pasts. Healing is possible, like these characters have shown. Love Steven Universe 🩵
It’s the same with a friend of mine. Long story short, her family was kinda neglectful about dealing w/ her physical and mental health issues for years. Recently, it took her months to leave, and at least a full year to accept the healing (I think of it like letting a physically infected wound heal- the process will be more painful the longer you wait to get it properly treated, but for the most part it’s more difficult than impossible).
Also, I think 58:50-58:52 could easily translate to either or both (to time-varying degrees of) thoughts of hurting/ killing yourself for any negative-emotion/ trauma-based reason(s). There may be a couple of nitpicks from other video essayists that I’d cite (and a few of my own) about the portrayals of trauma responses/ treatment in Steven Universe, but on occasions when I feel overwhelmed/ terrible myself, it does keep a hope for the viability/ possibility of emotional healing alive. It’s pretty amazing.
Something wonderful about that climax - mechanically speaking, within the rules of the universe, we know corruption can be healed by the essence of all four diamonds. The other three diamonds were all crying, but it wasn't until Steven was able to cry for himself that he could heal. Combined with that, we get all the hugging, and Connie's kiss (a mirror of Steven's healing kiss but a trigger for self-healing rather than an external magical source of healing), showing the healing power of support and love. It doesn't heal all by itself but it provides the environment we need to heal ourselves. Just a gorgously put-together moment, all around.
Though to me the most powerful moment in the whole series is Steven sitting in the doctor's office realizing absolutely nothing about his life has been normal or healthy up until that point.
When you're a kid, the idea of not having to go to school, never going to the doctor or dentist, a parent who never punishes you or tells you what to do, the opportunity to go on dangerous adventures - that all sounds like an awesome time. Watching the show, especially the early show, from the perspective of a child (Steven's perspective!) it all looks fun and light hearted. But Steven spent so much of even the first season desperately lonely and seeking structure, affection and belonging, constantly talking down about himself, wandering around trying to occupy himself and having a hard time relating to "normal" people around town despite his desire to connect. It's a tiny town but Steven barely knows anybody in it - he'd never even met (in his memory) Vidalia, who seems to have been Greg's best and maybe only human friend and who is also friends with Amethyst, despite her living super close and being the parent of a kid he knows who ALSO runs around unsupervised all the time.
Steven's poor therapist is going to need a whole support team.
This show helped me process my own trauma, and helped me realize my own neurodivergence as well. It's a beautiful, respectful representation of PTSD and childhood trauma. Its also one of my special interests, lol. Be cringe and be free! People are really starting to realize how good this show was in retrospect and Im so glad for it.
Inspiring me to finally make that giant video disecting Rose Quartz as a character, since people still arent fully getting it lol.
Love this.
I came back to watch Steven Universe future after my own mental health decline as well.
Thank you. I have similar feelings about it, and it was really interesting to hear your thoughts. When i first saw Future, I felt very, uncertain about it. Almost disappointed. Something felt wrong that was hard to place. At the time, it didn't feel right, and i thought this was because I didn't like how it portrayed mental illness, but was never really able to describe it in my head.
I rewatched it last year and suddenly it hit a lot harder! Let's just say i realized a lot of things (and was hit by a lot of things) in the time between. I respect any artwork that can make you feel that way, you know?
42:47 i wouldn't say this is her avoiding the problem or pretending it doesn't exist. In this case, there's literally nothing they can do about it, so she's focusing on what little positives there are to prevent panic. at least that's how i see it.
I’ve been waiting for a video like this, always really connected with Steven’s story, thanks for covering this :)
I've been waiting for a video like this for so long it's so VALIDATING that I'm not the only person with CPTSD that feels this way
I am in shock at how much this has explained my mental health.😶
I’m so excited for your channel to grow and thrive. You’re heading to big places and I can’t wait!
Aaaaaahhhhh good video. I mean I should've expected deep stuff from a steven universe trauma video, but augh this is really hitting
this was awesome, 10/10
I just finished the show like not even a week ago and I'm still in tears. I was not watching it as it came out and was binge-watching it, which I enjoyed greatly. This show helped me realize that I can love myself, and to trust the people who love me and care for me. I'm still working on my self-confidence issues and it's not easy to undo decades of self-hate (funnily enough Amethyst is one of my favourite characters), but I am trying. On the less pleasant side of things watching the show and the movie has shined a spotlight directly on me, and how I don't know how to recognize my own trauma. I've spent all of my life thinking I had no trauma, that I didn't get a minute to say anything when people talked about their stuff. A friend being abused emotionally by their family? Let them talk. Family member in a car accident? Let them talk. You (I am referring to myself here) think were ignored as a child and you witnessed someone dying? You are fine, be quiet and let people speak.
For some reason I just never considered in any serious way that I would have trauma. I don't have access to a therapist anymore, and I cannot talk about this stuff to anyone else. It's still really weird to think that I have trauma, like putting on a mask but in reality I'm trying to take off my mask. I am autistic and I tend to mask all of the time even at home. I would run out of characters trying to describe everything that I feel in regards to the trauma and I really don't want to bog this down any more than I have already. Thank you for making this video and I hope that you're doing well.
After my cptsd diagnosis, i watched future. it was the hardest i've ever cried at a show. the hospital scene and the finale of future are some of the most heavy hitting scenes i've watched. SU does a wonderful job at exploring the development of trauma and the long-term effects of it. this topic has been on my mind for a very long time and i'm glad you made a video fully going into that, you did an amazing job at wording it. you even pointed out steven's fawn responses that i haven't picked up on because it is the norm for my own behavior. i've always seen videos saying future is a harmful, unrealistic representation of trauma and mental disorders which is so far from the truth. i'm glad there are others with cptsd can relate to this show's characters as much as i do!
i would also like to add as a teenager growing up with unprocessed trauma and ongoing abuse, seeing steven not fit in with humans his age (in bismuth casual) because their experiences are so different resonated with me. i struggled my entire life to find friends growing up because of it. nearly every aspect of my own cptsd feels represented in SU:Future and it'll always be one of my favorite shows.
Awesome video. I actually found out so much stuff about myself. I would love to see a video about BoJack Horseman one day too...
Oh and, you got a new sub.
@@agustinbarquero8898 I personally think BoJack Horseman runs a gamut between “cynicism hiding behind the ‘realistic’ mask” (which… tbf is realistic in and of itself) and “if nothing matters, find something that matters and people who matter to you, and follow common sense as you figure out the rest of life for yourself.”
great vid even now it's hard to watch without crying from the ending for me
Love this video and how you discussed everything! I instantly subscribed! 👍👍
This video? Make me cry within 3 minutes? Oh my god thank you so much for this, it’s pointing out so much right now
The part where you explain how steven is and is not his mom by saying she'll always be apart of him and comparing it to humans and the person that birth them is amazing. Ive (for some reason) never thought if it like that, how all humans have a connection to their parents/birth giver because its true. Whether or not you even knew/liked your mother they are one of the people that brought you into this world, that is a fact. Steven was never rose/pink diamond but will always have her with him(ie: his gem). Its just like how we have some features from our parents. Steven has his moms gem and powers, along with some new ones i believe, he has a mix of rose and gregs hair (with the color probably being from his grandparents since greg has brown hair and rose has pink in both forms.)
I really do like this point, he is and isn't his mom because he WAS made by her and his dad, she will always be apart of him just like any of our parents. I always thought that in the last episode of the OG series when we see pink, rose, then steven reform as pink/gem steven that that was a way to show that Steven is his own person. That was literally the point of the show in the first place. And when i see fanfics or fan comics of an AU where steven dies and rose/pink comes back or pink being in his gem or them sharing a gem it makes me upset because the last episode literally shows that steven is Steven no matter what. But i do think what would happen when Steven inevitably dies, will his gem half stay? Will they both die? Will his gem half stay and be rose once again? Will his gem half be able to even mentally live although he is recovered? When we see him and his gem half reform/fuse together we can see pink/gem Steven smiling as they are finally whole, if gem steven is all thats left when steven dies how would he live? Yea hes alive but he is a gem, no not one that has feelings and all, he is literally pure POWER not a person cuz that part of stevens unique fusion is gone, the human part is gone..
Really does make me think, sorry for rambling in ur comments lol. Steven universe has been one of my special interests/comfort show for years now, i grew up with it since i was 6 or so, back on its 2nd year on the air when cable was a thing. Its literally one of the only things i can consistently consume and talk about years apart for hours on end.
This video waa beautiful thank you!
3 minutes in and I’m hooked 🥹
ARGH I LOVE THE DEEP ANALYSIS YOUVE DONE, PLEASE MAKE MORE. ILL REWATCH THIS AND WRITE A MORE INSIGHTFUL COMMENT WHEN ITS NOT 1am WITH ASSIGNMENTS DUE
To me, the hatred around steven universe has shown me why the world needs more shows like it.
And why, at the same time, it doesn’t deserve it.
I dont think that steven views pink as a monster but a very troubled individual and maybe a bad person....
🖤Breathtakingly beautiful analysis/dissection🎬
Loved the video! Great job
Steven clearly has savior complex but almost everyone just focusing on ptsd
no i agree, but i was personally focusing on PTSD because thats what i relate to
@@AlyssaPerrine sorry if it was rude
not at all!! maybe i can make a video about steven's savior complex one day
@@AlyssaPerrinethat would be cool to see, i don't know much about how savior complexes work
@@AlyssaPerrinethe fuck does he have to be traumatized for? I mean ignoring his space dictator family, he’s got a girlfriend who almost always stands by his side, a dad who who isn’t a belligerent ass to him, 6 high level guaridan aunts, and a decent supply of friends. And he’s the hero of a war where no one important died. You know how many of us would fucking KILL for even a fraction of the life Steven had?
53:41 I compare it with playing Jenga. Sometimes you pull one of too many, and pewewewewwph
steven got a better support system but pink diamond didnt have such a strong system..
they both have made terrible mistakes...
I love Steven Universe sm❤