Steven Universe Discussion

[Vrokorta]

Show starts up again on August 6th! Get hyped!

Nah. I'll leave that to my sisters.

[Taria Pakari]

Aaaaaaaaand they pushed the start date back to September.

 

Darn.

[Naota Takizawa]

Maybe I'm just thick as lead, but is the lion associated with Rose Quartz in any way? Like, is the lion Rose in disguise or is it a reincarnation?

[Taria Pakari]

Maybe I'm just thick as lead, but is the lion associated with Rose Quartz in any way? Like, is the lion Rose in disguise or is it a reincarnation?

 

Lion does have some sort of connection to Rose (what with the inside of his mane containing a lot of her stuff). What that connection is exactly, we don't know. Every Lion episode reveals new things about it, so we can only wait and see what his next episode will bring, and hope that we'll get some information on that connection.

[Alyska]

Binge watched this show on the weekend- it's so good! The storytelling is so cohesive and snappy, and each new bit of worldbuilding is backed up by plenty of foreshadowing, and it all just fits together so well. It's also one of those shows that you can tell was created with a lot of love, and it's beautiful to see that.

 

 

Re: Rose knowing/not knowing Pearl's thoughts. By the same logic, why didn't Garnet know about Pearl and the tower the second time they formed Sardonyx? I guess we have to conclude that fusion doesn't give instant access to all of your partner's thoughts. Perhaps they are theoretically accessible if the fusion wants to think about the topic, but don't register otherwise. Say, if Sardonyx had stopped to think "how did Peridot fix the tower so quickly?" she'd probably find out the answer from her combined memories.

 

(Another interesting thing about Sardonyx: she's the exception to the "rule" that fusions have the same number of eyes as the collective gems that made them. She should have five.)

 

Also, thinking about Rose: I have a theory that Rose could have produced a child without sacrificing her body, but she chose to do things the way she did so that Steven would have her gem and powers.

 

My reasoning is this: Gems, from what we know, typically don't reproduce biologically, but Rose made some modifications to her body so that she could. In the first episode, the Centipeedle apparently had offspring that did not bear gems. Now that we know the nature of Gem monsters, it seems plausible that, with a few bodily alterations, a Gem could produce non-gem children without harming herself. The fact that Rose gave her gem to Steven suggests she made him that way for a reason.

[Taria Pakari]

Re: Rose knowing/not knowing Pearl's thoughts. By the same logic, why didn't Garnet know about Pearl and the tower the second time they formed Sardonyx? I guess we have to conclude that fusion doesn't give instant access to all of your partner's thoughts. Perhaps they are theoretically accessible if the fusion wants to think about the topic, but don't register otherwise. Say, if Sardonyx had stopped to think "how did Peridot fix the tower so quickly?" she'd probably find out the answer from her combined memories.

 

My theory is that maybe the individual gems that make up a fusion can choose what information they wish to share and what to withhold while fused. We know that gems can retain their individuality when fused with cases like Alexandrite and Malachite; both demonstrating that the gems that make up the fusion can take control of the body (or just parts of it), so I think it makes sense that they'd be able to control what stays in and goes out of their individual minds.

 

If that makes sense... I'm not good at the whole explaining thing.

[Paleo]

Oh hey! I'm glad this topic exists!

 

Fan art question: Has anybody seen any fan art that's done in the same simple style as the animation? I keep running across really cool Gem OCs, but they're always detail cluttered and thus can't fit into my headcanon (if that makes any sense).

[Naota Takizawa]

The only fanart I've seen that uses the cartoon style is in comics, and they don't even closely resemble the show's artwork.

[dotcom]

I think Dou Hong's are pretty good.

[Taria Pakari]

Oh hey! I'm glad this topic exists!

 

Fan art question: Has anybody seen any fan art that's done in the same simple style as the animation? I keep running across really cool Gem OCs, but they're always detail cluttered and thus can't fit into my headcanon (if that makes any sense).

 

Are you giving me an excuse for some shameless self-promotion? :v

[Fry]

The Crewniverse is killing me. On a semi-related note, I can't help but feel ashamed of the disgusting sounds I omitted during the fangasim which insued... WHEN MATT BURNETT ANSWERED MY QUESTION!!! I JUST..Jusifwiepbv

[Alyska]

Speaking of fanart, anyone seen any good SU-Bionicle crossovers yet?

[Paleo]

Speaking of fanart, anyone seen any good SU-Bionicle crossovers yet?

Honestly I kinda don't want any. They're too different IMO. Different vibes. 

 

What I would like to see is more MOCs of SU things.

[Alyska]

Sooo, topic's been quiet lately... how are we finding the new episodes?

 

 

I'm loving all the Peridot antics, but I feel like the timing's been a bit off. The last two eps ended so abruptly. The sequence with Peridot and the rain was gorgeously animated though. And I adore the bit with Garnet telling Steven she wuvs him, and Steven's "Oh, shucks" gesture. And now we know what the Cluster is, too, so I guess it's moving along. Almost feel like it could have been two seperate episodes.

 

[Aanchir]

Finally started watching Steven Universe this past weekend, and I'm now all caught up. Man, that's a great show. A great balance of action, humor, and sentimentality. Not to mention it does a great job weaving character development and world-building into a series of eleven-minute episodes. Even the ones that seem like what you'd call "filler" in a typical action cartoon manage add depth to the world and characters. There are also lots of great themes about family and friendship. The diversity of the cast is also much appreciated, and there are some great songs.

 

I've since bought the "Guide to the Crystal Gems" and the first graphic novel! I enjoyed both, but not as much as the show. I want to try and introduce my parents to the show, but finding time to do that is tough.

I wish it could have a LEGO theme, but I don't know how realistic that is. I don't know if any style of LEGO figure (minifigure, mini-doll, constraction, etc) is truly well suited to depicting the many different body types of the characters. Still, it surprises me that I haven't seen more Steven Universe MOCs. I'm going to try my hand at it. I'm already thinking of ways to create the main characters as Miniland-style brick-built figures.

[Alyska]

Yay! Aanchir's in the fandom!

 

I think you'd need custom-molded heads ala The Simpsons at the very least to get the characters to translate to minifigs. (Garnet, Amethyst and even Steven might be ok as traditional figs, but Pearl's lithe figure and beautiful nose just wouldn't work.) If they started doing minidolls with more diverse looks, that could work as well.

 

Peridot would work so well as a constraction set, but I don't think any of the others would.

 

Anyway, looking forward to seeing what you come up with!

[Naota Takizawa]

How would we achieve Peridot's floating fingers if she were to become a constraction set? 

[Alyska]

That's probably the biggest challenge- they wouldn't be able to actually float, but if you had them all as separate pieces and they plugged into a limb-enhancer "hand" that had a flat surface with lots of connection points, you could get a lot of poseability. You know the little lever pieces? If they were hinged like that, it  might work well.

[The Hip Historian Iaredios]

That's probably the biggest challenge- they wouldn't be able to actually float, but if you had them all as separate pieces and they plugged into a limb-enhancer "hand" that had a flat surface with lots of connection points, you could get a lot of poseability. You know the little lever pieces? If they were hinged like that, it  might work well.

If the hands were fully pose-able, then the problem could be fixed with the first protruding finger digit of the hands be transparent.

[Alyska]

I had this stupid idea that someone should make a blog where they review all the Steven Universe "action figures"...  but since there are currently no action figures, it's just a bunch of pictures of their rock collection, with comments gushing about the level of detail, poseability and articulation, and how cute and tiny their Peridot is.

 

And a pic of somebody trying to stack a ruby and a sapphire on top of each other, complaining that they're having trouble assembling their Garnet figurine.

 

And then when we're old, we can moan about it to our grandkids like this:

 

"You kids these days don't know how good you got it. Back in my day, they didn't make no lady action figures, we jus' had to play with them there big ol' hunks o' rock."

[Naota Takizawa]

I had this stupid idea that someone should make a blog where they review all the Steven Universe "action figures"...  but since there are currently no action figures, it's just a bunch of pictures of their rock collection, with comments gushing about the level of detail, poseability and articulation, and how cute and tiny their Peridot is.

 

And a pic of somebody trying to stack a ruby and a sapphire on top of each other, complaining that they're having trouble assembling their Garnet figurine.

 

And then when we're old, we can moan about it to our grandkids like this:

 

"You kids these days don't know how good you got it. Back in my day, they didn't make no lady action figures, we jus' had to play with them there big ol' hunks o' rock."

If anyone has the money to buy a pearl, peridot, amethyst, Garnet's component gems and a Quartz in rose, let us know. 

[Lyichir]

So Thursday's episode was pretty good. The question now is... what next?

 

 

I mean, obviously there's a huge hiatus until next year... but presumably after that we'll get to the payoff of this whole drill arc. I'm not sure exactly HOW that's supposed to work... unless the Cluster's in some sort of cavern, presumably the Gems are going to have to remain in the drill craft (aside from MAYBE Garnet, who can swim in lava). Maybe they plan to ram the drill straight THROUGH the Cluster? Regardless, I can't wait to see what they come up with.

 

 

Beyond that... I dunno. There's only five episodes left until the halfway point of Season 2, so perhaps they'll bring the hiatus to an end with a Stevenbomb?

 

In the meantime, I guess I can try rewatching the series with friends and family who haven't seen it yet. Unfortunately, my Mom and Dad didn't really enjoy what I've shown them, and since I don't really have any local friends, the most I can do is clumsily organize simultaneous viewing sessions with far-away friends on Skype.

[Portalfig]

Oh thank goodness this topic is a thing.

 

I absolutely kinda adore this show? Haven't seen the most recent episode yet though, which makes me sad. Steven Universe just makes me so happy.

 

Really can't wait until the next part of the season starts up! I just wish the release schedule was a little more... stable? But if this is what we have to put up with to get this show...

 

Well, I can deal with it then. 

[Alyska]

I teared up reading an interview with Rebecca Sugar the other day because Steven is based on her adorkable little brother and the crystal gems are based on how he sees her and the love she has for him and for her art just shines out of this show and it's beautiful. The fact that Steven is a real person makes me so happy, too. The Sugar siblings are awesome.

[Naota Takizawa]

Random Question: Is anyone having trouble accessing the bionicle website? The only thing that actually loads is the main page, everything else is destroyed. 

[Lyichir]

Random Question: Is anyone having trouble accessing the bionicle website? The only thing that actually loads is the main page, everything else is destroyed.

Works fine for me on mobile. But why on earth are you asking this HERE, rather than in an actual Bionicle topic? We have plenty here on BZP, y'know.

[The Hip Historian Iaredios]

 

Random Question: Is anyone having trouble accessing the bionicle website? The only thing that actually loads is the main page, everything else is destroyed.

Works fine for me on mobile. But why on earth are you asking this HERE, rather than in an actual Bionicle topic? We have plenty here on BZP, y'know.

 

It was funny though.

[Alyska]

I started doing a sketch of what a Garnet/Gali fusion would look like and now I'm laughing so hard because Garnet's afro + Gali's bell-bottoms results in the most disco-looking fusion ever.

 

Well, at least Steven would like it, since she's a giant robot woman. 

 

...Might  have to draw that up properly once semester's over...

[Naota Takizawa]

Gali never had bell bottoms, I thought she had technic pins for hips or titanium/gunmetal finned boots.

 

Also, has anyone contacted Rebecca Sugar about that Tumblr artist named Zami? She committed suicide because a mob of angry people on tumblr bullied her over a drawing of a skinny Rose.

[The Hip Historian Iaredios]

Gali never had bell bottoms, I thought she had technic pins for hips or titanium/gunmetal finned boots.

 

Also, has anyone contacted Rebecca Sugar about that Tumblr artist named Zami? She committed suicide because a mob of angry people on tumblr bullied her over a drawing of a skinny Rose.

*pinches between-eyes & long sigh*  Why are people so sensitive about things like this and feel the need to answer things with violence? And that is on both the part of the attackers and the attacked. Those bullies should feel ashamed of themselves, but I bet they probably shrugged it off and claim the news to be fake.

[Alyska]

Last I heard she had attempted suicide, but survived and is recovering. I hope the situation didn't escalate. I think the show creators know about it.

 

It's difficult to explain how these things can happen, but I think a basic equation of human nature + adolescence + Internet connection + anonymity + little to no moderation + popular fandom + delusional sense of justice/righteousness + blind rage + desire for power over others... that  would probably cover most of it.

 

Not to say that all adolescents behave that way when anonymous on the web- many are absolutely lovely, but, let's just say I dread to think what things I might have said and done had I been on Tumblr at 14. Puberty does seem to cause a drop in empathy for some people. Not that it excuses the disgusting harassment, but a lot of young people have no idea how to behave online, and no concept of real life consequences for themselves or others. They know that the worst that's likely to happen to them is being banned from the site, which rarely happens on Tumblr anyway, because the justice systems in most countries are hopelessly inadequate at dealing with online crime. Death threats and serious harassment are so pervasive, it's virtually impossible to tackle it all.

 

When any fandom gets big enough, the probability that some seriously nasty people will get involved goes up dramatically. Not all of the harassers were just dumb kids, and I suspect not even all of them were in the fandom- certain groups on certain imageboards love attacking fandoms, and will either attack a tumblr tag, or will single out a prominent figure in the fandom. This is probably getting into the territory of genuine sociopaths who want to cause pain or even death, and do so in a way that they will never suffer any real-life consequences for. Others simply want a person they dislike to feel bad about something they've done, not realising what a serious effect words can have. And, of course, there's infinite shades of middle ground, because people are complicated. Some people are just consumed by hatred for no good reason.

 

Please don't label the victim as "overly sensitive." If you're in a position of perfect mental stability, then it can seem like you'd never feel that way yourself, and maybe can't understand people who would. In an ideal world, words would never hurt anyone. But many people are not in a good mental space, and you can never tell what might push someone over the edge. Depression already makes people feel guilty for having it. There's no need to reinforce that sentiment by writing off their feelings as simply over-reacting. What she tried to do to herself was awful and sad, but people in that position require empathy from others, not to be shamed for it. Shame prevents many people from getting the help that they need.

 

Anyway, I hope nothing like this happens again, and that the systems that allowed it to happen get a major overhaul in the near future. It's also nice to see a really caring and supportive side of the fandom come out in response to this. It doesn't make the bad things go away, but it does remind one that occasionally good things happen on the Internet too. Faith in humanity slightly replenished.

[The Hip Historian Iaredios]

I never said, 'overly sensitive'. I too notice patterns such as these. I've been to some areas of the internet where I felt like the only sliver of light in an abyss of darkness, trying to help some people or be their friend as everyone conducted or promoted destruction. I was drawn down into that darkness as it ate away at my soul. I reluctantly left the website(s) as it was too much for me to handle. It was hard, and even now i sometimes ponder what has happened to some people, but others I keep tabs on as friends. Please understand when i say that some people tend to be more sensitive than others, its just how they are. People taking advantage of that is messed up, and I've had hours-long fights with attackers, defending others or myself. sometimes I pounded reason through their thick skulls, others were hopeless (the latter resulting in much shorter argumentative fights as it would quickly be seen as futile). 

 

Whenever I meet a school councilor or something I applaud them because i personally have had a taste of what they deal with, stuff I honestly don't ever want to deal with again unless it's with a friend or family member.

[Alyska]

Ah, my apologies- I misread that after seeing a lot of people write her off for feeling that way. 

[Naota Takizawa]

I don't remember the exact quote, but I saw an episode of Nostalgia Critic titled "When Does a Joke Go Too Far" and if I can recall it correctly, he mentioned something along the lines of joining a cause such as social justice of feminism not out of a desire to do good in people's lives, but to fill a void, people can get so obsessed with filling that empty hole, it leads to them becoming biased extremists and if you surround yourself in an environment where others are doing the same thing, mob mentality kicks in and things begin to get worse.

 

This is probably the best explanation as to why such incidents of cyber bullying occur.

Edited December 24, 2015 by Arnold Schwarzenegger

[dotcom]

My DVR screwed up and didn't record When It Rains back when it aired, and for one reason or another I never bothered catching up (busy or something). Guess I was trying to do that thing where I just wait for a bunch of episodes to pile up before watching it all at once, but this time it was just two more episodes so...yeah, I dunno.

 

But yeah, just caught up on the episodes I missed. Man, I fricking love Peridot. Her development is coming along nicely and the whole thing has been well done. Lots of new information about the gems and the Homeworld, and good development for both her and the Crystal Gems. I hope it continues as beautifully for the rest of the season, and I really really hope she ends up sticking around as part of the cast from now on. Fingers crossed.

 

Caught up more or less just in time, I suppose, since it's coming back in a bit over a week. Exciting.

[Naota Takizawa]

This will probably never happen since it would take something away from Steven, but I want an episode where a gem is unused to human males and hangs around Steven to observe him, copying his mannerisms until it reaches the point where the gem decides to act as a man.

[The Hip Historian Iaredios]

Meh, the idea doesn't really appeal to me. Then again, my interest in the show has greatly waned within the past couple months so maybe that is part of the reason.

[Taria Pakari]

Just 5 more days until the new episode!

[Alyska]

Re: Gemdudes. I find the idea fascinating, because Gems technically don't identify as either gender, they just have a feminine appearance and use "she" etc pronouns. So a Gem deciding to adopt a male gender identity probably wouldn't sit well with other gems, not just cause of a pseudo-transphobic attitude, but because they're replacing part of their identity as a Gem with something that seems excessively human. I suppose there's also a possible middle ground, with a Gem manifesting as a big, burly, bearded form with a gruff voice but is still referred to as "she" by other Gems and doesn't mind.

 

And Amethyst has obviously explored her curiosity about being/presenting as male, given her "Purple Puma" form, but it's probably not something she identifies as all the time. 

 

I also like the idea of homeworld gems being unused to saying "he", perhaps some of them seeing it as unnecessary and pedantic, like "Oh, some of these little meatbags think they're so very very special they need a whole other set of pronouns. Isn't that precious?"

 

Or just referring to all humans as "it". I can see them doing that.

 

I love how much this show messes around with gender but doesn't make a big deal of it.

 

 

Just 5 more days until the new episode!

I'm Sodalited to hear that! The teaser certainly whet my Apatite for next Stevenbomb.

[Naota Takizawa]

I love how Rebecca Sugar celebrated Steven Universe being the most popular tag on Tumblr when she hasn't even realized the amount of cyberbullying that takes place there & that a large majority of those reblogs/likes are harassing someone to the point of suicide.