Dr. Cole sat in his office, waiting for his next client. He was just speaking with a man that was traumatized by what he called a 'fry monster' force feeding him. Not to mention that he was already afraid of the mascot to begin with.
His next client was a young man by the name of 'Steven Universe'. The appointment was set by a strange women with a fluffy square-hair style, who claimed that Steven had wanted to see someone about some strange dreams he'd had recently. He did not question the woman's strange clothes or hair style, as he had been out of touch with trends lately, and for all he knew, square pants was the next big thing.
Dr. Cole was always a Freudian at heart, and always tried to apply Sigmund's theories to his work. But after seeing Steven a few times, he was not exactly sure how to judge this particular case, given his unique family dynamic. Not to mention he had no idea what the inner workings of a Gem's brain was like. And even the Gems themselves had no idea about a Gem-human hybrid.
Steven entered Dr. Cole's office.
"Hello Mr. Cole." Steven said, greeting him in an awkward and uneasy tone.
"Yes! Hello Steven. Please take a seat."
Steven complied and sat down. Dr. Cole could tell from his tone, and body language, that there was something off about Steven today. From the dark circles under his eyes, the nervous fidgeting of his fingers, and the bead of sweat dripping down his face, he could tell Steven was either stressed, or had something embarrassing on his mind that he didn't want to talk about. Or maybe both.
"You doing alright Steven? You seem a little stressed out." Dr. Cole asked.
"Do I?" Steven responded.
"Yes, do you feel like something's been putting pressure on you lately?" Dr. Cole answered.
Steven sighed, "Well, it's just that a lot's been going on in the past year or so."
Dr. Cole began taking notes, "Yes, go on."
"My powers are coming in, I accidentally killed Pearl once, became a cat monster, created a fry monster..." Steven listed off.
Dr. Cole quickly turned a few pages back on his note pad, and wrote down, "Logical-explanation-for fry monster-found, Sorta.
"Got kidnapped, almost died a few times, my pet centipeedle kinda died, I created and evil clone of my friend that beat me up in a wedding-dress, and...um...I guess that's about it." Steven Continued.
"Uh huh." Dr. Cole said as he wrote down Steven's summary of the past year. "And anything else?"
Steven shrugged, "Well, I have felt a little guilty lately, about...something."
Dr. Cole raised his eyebrow, "What?"
"I'd rather not say Mr. Cole."
"Steven, you know these meetings are confidential. If it's something that's bothering you, then you should tell someone. It's bad to keep things bottled up."
"Are you sure?" Steven asked.
"Yes Steven."
Steven took a deep breath, "I know we're suppose to be fighting them and all, it's just that, I FIND ALL THE HOME-WORLD GEMS SO ARACTIVE! Lapis, Peridot, Yellow diamond, even Jasper!"
"And how does that make you feel?"
"Well, kinda weird" Steven said, "I just feel a little guilty about it."
"Don't feel guilty about it Steven. It's completely normal." Dr. Cole reassured Steven.
Steven shook his head, "I Don't think it is."
"Remember when we talked about the Oedipus conflict Steven?"
"Yes."
"Well from that dream you had, where you where a character in a 1950's sitcom, we can deduce that you see Pearl as a mother figure, Amethyst as a sister, and Garnet as a sort of friend, or role-model.
"How?" Steven asked.
Dr. Cole elaborated, "Those sort of shows usually focused on nuclear families. What role someone in your dream played, reflects how you see them in real life, and why you subconsciously think they'd play that 'role' well. Pearl was adjusting your tie and scolding Amethyst like a mother would. And from what you've told me about Pearl, she acts the most motherly towards you. Amethyst's being scolded by Pearl, shows that you see her less as an authority figure, and more as someone on the same level as you under Pearl. Thus, a sibling. And Garnet's role as the fonz, shows that you think of her as someone cool, whom you desire to be like. Like a parent, or mentor."
"Why Does that mean I find the home-world Gems attractive?" Steven exclaimed.
"Because, a man's expectations of femininity are determined by the women in his immediate family. And you've lived with the Crystal Gems so long, that you consider them your family."
"I Guess that makes sense." Steven said, "But I still don't understand what I see in them."
Dr. Cole rubbed his chin, "Well, if you want to get technical, your acceptance of their inhuman skin tones probably comes from Amethyst being Purple, your admiration of Jasper's strength comes from Garnet, and your admiration of Peridot's intelligence comes from Pearl. And from what I understand, Peridot may be a newer model of Pearl, right?"
"Yes"
"Well what does a man look for other than a younger version of his mother?"
Steven pondered this, "I think your right!" He said, "But, I don't just like gem girls."
"Oh, yes. Well, didn't you say something in our last session about Pearl teaching that Connie girl you like how to fence?"
"Yeah." Steven answered.
"And you talked a lot about how well they got along, yes?" The therapist asked Steven.
Steven was curious as to where he was going with this, "Yeah, why."
"Well, they get along because their personalities are similar. You admire Connie for her more intellectual, and responsible aspects you admire Pearl for, just in a more romantic way."
Steven was amazed, "Wow Mr. Cole, what about my other dreams!"
"Well, what other dreams of yours do you want to talk about?"
"The one where I was playing chesskers with dog-copter!" Steven shouted.
"Alright then, I'd say dog-copter's advice symbolizes your self awareness of acting like what you would call a 'poser' sometimes. Like when you try to hard to act serious, or get pretentious with your 'great actor voice'." Dr. Cole said.
"Whatz a' wrong with my a great actor voice!" Steven asked in said voice.
Dr. Cole dismissed this, "Anyway, Dog-copter is pink because you don't associate pink with being girlie, you associate pink with comfort because you've had the same pink shirt from your dad's rock-star merchandise since you were a baby. And on top of that, your mother's main color was pink. So you feel closer to her through that color. That's why in your dream, Dog-copter is pink. You see him as a friend giving you advice."
"What about the other Dog-copter dream. The one were he didn't wanna talk to me, and then Pearl's giant head ate me?"
"Well, Steven, a man with no self control when it comes to women, is often called a dog."
"Okay." Steven said. The conversation was making him uncomfortable.
"So In your dream, Dog-copter represents your most primal, animal urges, towards the Gems, and how you worry that you'll never obtain them, as is part of the Oedipus conflict. And Pearl, being the closest thing to a mother figure in your life, devours you, representing..." Dr. Cole said before he was cut off.
"Okay! I think our time is up!" Steven Yelled.
"Alright then." Steven was already bolting for the door, "Oh! And Steven, please ask your, um, Garnet if she can speak with me in private."
"Sure Mr. Cole."
Steven left, and Garnet soon entered.
"Yes, Steven said you wanted a word with me." She said.
"Yes, About that, I was wondering if we could have a private session some time." Dr. Cole said.
"Why?" Garnet asked.
Dr. Cole enthusiastically exclaimed, "Because! You're an alien without parents, or an Electra complex. And you're a fusion of two people with radically different opinions! I could write a whole book about you!"
