The Steven Universe Epilogues (Patreon)

Our Teen Hero finally faces off against an Intergalactic Tyrant, and once they are out of the picture, and the major arc of the plot line finishes, the series finally comes to an End, leaving a series of loose ends that need tying up.

Years later, our Teen Hero has grown up, and has to deal with the baggage of their past adventure, as well as tie the loose ends left after the end of the Series, in an Epilogue to the main story, half aimed to the Fans that grew with the Series, and half aimed to a new audience, as a sort of Starting Point for a new series of adventures with a more psychological focus.

... Huh, curious. Where have I seen this before?

Yes, Steven Universe future has a curious amount of similitudes in the themes it touches upon, to the infamous Homestuck Epilogues. Although so far, its handling of both the characters and what is going on has been more palatable and closer to that of the original series. This is not a competition, however. I am not going to be judging which of the two is 'better', because honestly that is an arbitrary and subjective opinion, and the format both series are presented in are completely different. But the comparisons you can draw between the two, and the intent of the Authors, is, I think, really interesting.

The moment Rebecca Sugar announced Steven Universe Future, and called it an 'Epilogue' to the original series, I really couldn't help but chuckle. Specially considering the timing of the HS Epilogues still being a hot topic, and also being aware of the Homestuck References inside of Steven Universe proper. I never expected things to even head in remotely similar ways, and yet... The Movie, the Promotional Material, and finally, the Series proper, soon came out.

First of all, the premise. Sure, as I mentioned earlier, there's the comparison with defeating a galactic tyrant and leaving loose ends. But beyond that, both premises take a well established narrative trope, and dismantle it as their starting point. The Happily Ever After.

In the SU Movie, Steven is living his best life on Earth, after all the trauma and danger he's gone through, he enjoys a well-deserved Happily Ever After, until he doesn't. The actions of his Mother still haunt him and bring new dangers to Earth, new unhappy Gems, new things to deal with. There's no Happily Ever After for him, Steven still feels like he has more work to do, even though his adventure is 'over', he can't exactly just close the curtains and pretend everything will always be okay and always be the same. Ironically, in SUF, this resolve conflicts with the fact sometimes his help is not needed in order to make things go right. A protagonist, without a happy ending, and trying to find a purpose.

Meanwhile, in the Homestuck Epilogues, John has been depressed and locked up at home for the longest time. They won the game, his friends all have their own lives they're chasing after, but he himself doesn't have a drive to do anything, a goal to work towards. In this Happily Ever After, there's no place for the Protagonist. On top of that, he's faced with the major 'loose ends' that weren't tied before the end of the story. And with them not being tied, this Happily Ever After would be invalidated. The work of a Hero is never done, and in the end, John ends up either Dead as a Hero, or Despairing as he lacks a purpose in a world he deems insubstantial.

Of course there's major differences between the two works, from presentation and content to target audience. The Homestuck Epilogues are presented as dark fiction, for mature audiences, whereas Steven Universe Future merely has a deeper focus on the issues Steven is facing, personally, rather than some big, overarching threat to the peace in the Universe. But that doesn't mean the intent behind both works can't coincide as well.

Because in both cases, Rebecca Sugar and the Crewniverse, and Andrew Hussie and WhatPumpkin, both seem to aim for practically the same goal: They want to push the boundaries of what they did with their old series, and give fans that grew with them a new, more personal narrative with the same Characters. Steven has to deal with Trauma and a Lack of Purpose, the characters in the Epilogues have to deal with Political Instability and Drifting from people you used to know. Growing up when you've been forced at a young age in an unfavorable position, messing up and hurting those you care about when you didn't intend to, finding a purpose in a world that doesn't seem to need you anymore, or even doesn't seem to want you at all.

Whether it be Steven or John Egbert, or whatever other character of either series, we've grown up with them. We've come to care about them through their adventures, root for them, and want them to succeed, and when we see them hurting themselves because they can't accept that things change, or wander aimlessly not knowing what the world wants from them anymore, it hurts. It hurts, precisely, because they're characters we've grown attached to, and seeing them develop negatively, it's painful.

And that's just how life is. Life is painful, you don't always develop the healthiest of habits, buried traumas and past issues may arise once more. Facing our personal shortcomings and the world around us, pushing through and persevering, being happy, and trying to ensure those we care about are happy as well, those all seem evident messages that both Rebecca and Hussie are trying to give their audience.

And yet, that is where the comparisons end. The Premise both series work off of to present a new series of events for the characters to go through, and what the Authors want to tell to the audience, are obviously a huge part of the show, but the routes they take to get there are wildly divergent.

Steven Universe Future's world is shown relatively at peace. There's exceptions, like Jasper still disliking Humans, the Lapis Duo that simply want to keep wrecking havoc through terraforming, and characters like Bluebird that straight up just hate Steven and want to cause him and his friends and family harm. But ultimately, these are major outliers. Steven has achieved Peace in the Galaxy, for the time being at least, and unless something drastic changes with the Diamonds, Gemkind at large seems to be headed down a prosperous and happy era, coexisting with organic lifeforms and learning to be themselves. The major threat Steven Universe is dealing with so far, is Steven himself, his unresolved issues, his newly developing powers, his emotional outbursts. All the negativity is focused, internally, in Steven's inability to help himself.

Meanwhile, the opposite is true of the Homestuck Epilogues. The world they have been living in has enjoyed a relative peace for seven years, but soon that changes, through manipulation of the characters within, and with an outright descent into tyranny in one of the Timelines. The Epilogues still focus on John quite a bit, his struggle with his duty as a Hero on one side, and his lack of Motivation to take the world seriously on the other, but this is layered on top of a reality that's directly hostile to the characters. People make mistakes, characters turn to villainy, and in the end, people are hurt.

As a less dark work, Steven Universe has a positive advantage on the Epilogues, in that at the very least Steven is dealing with internal turmoil while nothing major happens in the background. All the conflicts he faces are minor, and often arise either as a direct result of his turmoil, or as an allegory of what he's dealing with. Meanwhile, the difficulty of growing up and keeping relationships in the Epilogues, is mixed with everything from direct loss of free will, to sociopolitical bullshit. The characters hurt, and they hurt in a world where healing isn't exactly easy.

Regardless of how you feel about the Epilogues and HS^2, or regardless of if you enjoy what the Crewniverse is doing with the series currently, I do genuinely admire the message both teams try to send to their audience.

Elaborating on the plot points and details that were left out of the original, while talking about growing up, about feelings. Using a work you're passionate for, to speak to the audience, talk about hardship, trauma, identity, love...

Their worlds may be like the day and night. But at the end of the day, growing up is hard. It's hard, and no one understands.

The world around us, adulthood, it can be painful and throw us for a loop, it can leave us feeling powerless or hopeless. But we need to keep going on, for ourselves, and those we care about, for a World worth living in.

So to anybody reading? Even in the darkest moments, there will always be someone who understands, and roots for you. You're never alone, even if it may feel that way, and no matter how bad a situation may seem or how horrible the world can appear at first glance, everywhere, people are fighting to help others, to make things better, to ensure everyone has a chance at being happy.

So don't give up. Talk with those around you. Share your woes and stand by each other.

And as usual, see you all. <3