In the forty-eighth episode of the first season of\u00c2\u00a0Steven Universe<\/i>, Steven requests a story from Greg about his mother. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch\u00c2\u00a0Steven Universe<\/i>.<\/p>\n
Trigger Warning: For mention of misogyny<\/b>.<\/p>\n
I am certain that every appearance of Rose Quartz will be my undoing. CERTAIN.<\/p>\n
Music<\/b><\/p>\n
Any chance I get to talk about music is a wonderful opportunity because I know it is a huge part of my life. Like, bigger than any single one thing in my entire existence! You could honestly take books and movies and TV shows from me, and as long as I had my music collection (and access to new music), I would be pretty fine. I started teaching myself guitar at 18 after I won a scholarship from\u00c2\u00a0The<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0L.A. Times<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0for an editorial on being pro-choice, which allowed me to purchase my first instrument. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have that beat-up, broken, and grimey Ibanez anymore, but it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s where I learned how to play by ear and became a pretty decent rhythm guitarist. (I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m finally teaching myself some of the more difficult shit, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been fun. Shout out to the person who bought me a Gibson off my\u00c2\u00a0Amazon Wish List<\/a>; the package did not include a message, so I have no idea who it was from. You\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve changed my life.)<\/p>\n Music saved me, time and time again. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m thankful that I was raised on tons of old soul and R&B records, that I developed an obsession with Motown at an early age, that my older sister began to quietly turn me on to metal and hardcore and NIN and Depeche Mode in opposition to my mother, that I had friends who would pick me up when I snuck out of the house to go see shows at the Showcase Theater in Corona when I was a teenager. When I was at my worst at home, music is what gave me a glimpse of the world outside. It is the soundtrack to my writing, to working out, to long bus rides and flights and trains, and to moments when I was at my lowest.<\/p>\n I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m saying all this to explain my deep, undying love for the fact that music plays an undeniable part in\u00c2\u00a0Steven Universe<\/i>. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s in the fabric of the show, not as a gimmick but as a necessary part of the story. Thus, it makes perfect sense that Greg would retell his story of meeting Rose Quartz\u00c2\u00a0through\u00c2\u00a0<\/i>music. And what a song, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all. I have no idea who wrote it, but I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll say this: that person gets metal power ballads. They understand chord progressions for these types of songs, they get how the lead can accent and enhance the vocal, and they perfectly understand how, lyrically, a power ballad should work. It was a goddamn delight.<\/p>\n First Encounter<\/b><\/p>\n But this episode rules not just for the incredible songs; it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a chance to see all four Crystal Gems at once, to experience Rose Quartz in more than just a single scene. The limited way in which the audience experiences Rose makes her appearances all the more meaningful, and thus, this episode feels like the greatest of delights. We see Rose\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s kindness. We see her initial interest in Greg because SPACE IS HIS GIMMICK. (It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a pretty good schtick to have, you know?)<\/p>\n Then there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Marty, Greg\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s misogynist, greedy, and useless \u00e2\u20ac\u0153manager,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d who has more interesting in collecting women and making money than actually\u00c2\u00a0promoting<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0Greg. Which is hilarious in its own right because Marty\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 you can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t succeed if Greg doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t succeed. OH, WELL. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a great story here in how Greg rejects Marty, but I also can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t ignore that this episode is as exciting as it was because YOUNG CRYSTAL GEMS. IT\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S THE\u00c2\u00a0OTHER<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0BEST PART OF IT. Look how small Amethyst was! And how excited she was! AND HOW NONE OF THE GEMS KNEW HOW TO INTERACT WITH HUMANS AT ALL. IT IS SO AGGRESSIVELY ADORABLE, AND I WANT\u00c2\u00a0MORE OF IT<\/i>. Garnet almost threw Greg back over the fence!!! HELP ME.<\/p>\n In both literal and metaphorical terms, though, Rose towers over everything. Notice how easily she interacts with Greg, how her eyes light up with stars when he admits that he wants to pursue her, how you can see every bit of love and kindness that we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve heard about from everyone who knew her\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 it is honestly too much. This felt like a privilege to watch, and I also won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t forgive\u00c2\u00a0Steven Universe<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0for personally attacking me with this kind of content.<\/p>\n The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Story for Steven\u00e2\u20ac\u009d can be downloaded\u00c2\u00a0here for $0.99<\/a>.<\/p>\n Mark Links Stuff<\/b><\/p>\n – I am now on Patreon<\/a>! There are various levels of support, from $1 up to whatever you want! You’ll get to read a private blog, extra reviews, and other such rewards. I POST A LOT OF CUTE PHOTOS, OKAY. Think of it like a private Tumblr blog that only SPECIAL PEOPLE get to read.<\/b> In the forty-eighth episode of the first season of\u00c2\u00a0Steven Universe, Steven requests a story from Greg about his mother. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch\u00c2\u00a0Steven Universe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[665],"tags":[666],"class_list":["post-6007","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-steven-universe","tag-mark-watches-steven-universe"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6007","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6007"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6007\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6007"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6007"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6007"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n– I have updated my list of conventions and events for the remainder of the year and much of next year.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0Check the full list of events on my Tour Dates \/ Appearances page.<\/a>
\n– My Master Schedule<\/a> is updated for the near and distant future for most projects, so please check it often.\u00c2\u00a0My next Double Features for Mark Watches have been announced here.<\/a>
\n<\/b>-\u00c2\u00a0Mark Does Stuff is on Facebook!<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0I’ve got a community page up that I’m running. Guaranteed shenanigans!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"