Steven Universe S2: singing or crying or singing while crying

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > TV IV > Steven Universe S2: singing or crying or singing while crying

fade5: May 31, 2012; by exmarx

For anyone new to the show (and just as a general topic), I'm going to borrow a post from readingatwork from the last thread, who basically described my feelings about Steven Universe at the beginning of the series:

quote:

I've always liked SU but until about a third of the way into the show it just didn't "click" with me the way AT or GF did. I think it was because the show feels like it starts on episode three and takes some time to let you in on a lot really basic information that every character already knows (what happened to Steven's mom, what the Gems are, what is it they're protecting earth from, etc).

This is exactly how the show felt to me in the beginning. I even looked up an episode list online to make sure I hadn't missed any episodes because it felt I had been dropped into the middle of season 1 without seeing the setup for the show.

After about 9 episodes or so I started feeling the background/vibe and started getting into the show, and what honestly sold me on the show was Connie. Specifically, the awesome scene of Connie calmly taking off her glasses, popping out the lenses, then putting her glasses back on. Such a subtle thing, and yet also :black101:

as hell.

Also, I don't see the words "Dragon Ball Z" anywhere in the intro post. For shame Waffleman, for shame. :colbert:

# ¿ Mar 16, 2015 01:29

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# ¿ Apr 25, 2024 05:26

fade5: May 31, 2012; by exmarx

So some of the history stuff got me to thinking: how long have the gems lived/stayed in their current location? Have they stayed at/around the temple for 6000+ years, or have they traveled around the world to different places in that span of time?

Related question: assuming the gems have lived on the Eastern American coast/"Delmarva" for at least 500 years, how did they react to the European ~~invasion~~ colonization of America? I'm assuming that some sort of colonization still happened even with alternate history, since the US still exists in some capacity and just based on general appearances.

# ¿ Mar 23, 2015 18:32

fade5: May 31, 2012; by exmarx

Teek posted:

This painting needs love. Click for HUGE:

I finally figured out why Garnet's head and glasses look so familiar in that picture, and no wonder it took me so long to realize:

If that's actually a purposeful reference to Roberta then it's definitely not an anime reference I ever expected to see in Steven Universe.

E: The person on the forefront of the boat in the original Watson and the Shark painting doesn't have any sort of glasses, so it's not a reference from there.

fade5 fucked around with this message at 22:29 on Mar 24, 2015

# ¿ Mar 24, 2015 22:21

fade5: May 31, 2012; by exmarx

Opposing Farce posted:

Yeah, I just assumed the glasses in that painting were meant to be the period-appropriate equivalent to the ones she always wears. They're doing the anime "shining so bright you can't see through them" thing because you can't see her eyes through her current glasses either.

True, yeah it makes more sense as just a general reference. I was just going on the glasses/flat hairline/general hair color but it's probably just a general "anime" nod.

WickedHate posted:

What anime is it?

Black Lagoon, hence why I wasn't entirely sure it was an intentional reference. Black Lagoon is basically the exact opposite of Steven Universe tone-wise; the show's pretty much an 80's action move in anime form. Here just have a gif:

Roberta and Garnet do follow a similar "Let's see if I can solve the current problem with force/hitting/attacking it" as their thought process. :v:

E: Well that's a hell of a page topper, have some Steven Universe Intro Wallpapers on imgur to compensate:
http://imgur.com/gallery/YBjcR
Also from that link, an image of the temple's hand without any text:

So... where does the clothes washer/drier get power from? Does Garnet power it herself when it's laundry time? :v:

fade5 fucked around with this message at 23:19 on Mar 24, 2015

# ¿ Mar 24, 2015 23:12

fade5: May 31, 2012; by exmarx

SlothfulCobra posted:

Why would they even need a drier if they use clotheslines?

A clothesline is useful if you just want to wash and dry a single outfit/set of clothes and not do a full set of laundry, vs a washer/drier for when you've got a week's worth of dirty clothes and you don't want to take all day washing and drying everything individually. That's basically what the picture's showing; two shirts and a set of pants isn't a full laundry load, so onto the clothesline it goes.

Now that I think about, Steven's clothes would probably be the only laundry in the house, since the outfits the Gems are wearing can be instantly changed on a whim.

Say Nothing posted:

Hell, Natasha Allegri is in part responsible for all the PB/Marcy stuff.
Not that her drawing are particularly porny, but people will leap on any insinuation.

You know, it's amazing what can happen in just 2 or 3 years. If I recall correctly there was a huge backlash against even the implication that PB and Marcy were exes, and now Garnet is literally a living embodiment of a romantic Lesbian relationship (even confirmed by the writers) and I haven't heard hide nor hair of any complaints about it. I am pleased as hell about this development, it's about drat time.

Also please continue posting all of the "Garnet scenes re-imagined as Ruby and Sapphire" pictures, they are hilarious and the greatest thing ever. :allears:

fade5 fucked around with this message at 15:12 on Mar 25, 2015

# ¿ Mar 25, 2015 14:51

fade5: May 31, 2012; by exmarx

Amethyst: "Uncle... Grandpa?"
Pearl: "So that would make him Greg's brother... and father?"
Garnet: "That would explain a lot."

Wow, they actually went there. :v:

I'll admit, I wondered the same thing when I first heard the whole "he's everybody's Uncle and Grandpa". :banjo:

Count me among those who have cautiously come around to the crossover, since it looks like it's got quite a bit of actually funny humor, and also a coherent story beyond just "wacky crossover".

# ¿ Apr 2, 2015 01:25

fade5: May 31, 2012; by exmarx

Oh, yeah that makes more sense. It did kinda seem out of character for a show like Steven Universe to make a rather crude joke like that, so that explains it.

I still laughed, since the joke works just a little bit too well with how Uncle Grandpa's voice sounds. :v:

# ¿ Apr 2, 2015 01:45

fade5: May 31, 2012; by exmarx

So the episode was... somewhere between okay and good to me. Funny in a lot of parts, a bit of a miss in others (mostly the non-Gem parts after the jump to UG's world).

Hits/stuff I liked:
-The initial gem freakout.
-The second gem freakout.
-Pearl's complete freakout at Amethyst and the "3-way sandwich".
-"Okay, I'm ready for this episode to be over now!"
-Mr. Gus~~'s Gemsona~~ Mr. Gus in general. For some reason I really like Mr. Gus, even though the rest of UG is mostly hit-or-miss for me.
-Amethyst chasing/eating Pizza Steve.
-Amethyst pulling Pizza Steve's glasses out of her mouth and wearing them.
-SWAT CATS good god I hadn't thought about that show in years. :allears:

Missed opportunities:
-Connie's reaction to Uncle Grandpa et al.
-The Gems meeting/reacting to Mr. Gus. Watching the Gems go from a(nother) freakout about a "walking, talking, pants-wearing dinosaur" to the slow realization that Mr. Gus is the most sane/non-weird entity in UG's entire crew would be hilarious.
-Not enough Mr. Gus ~~in this episode~~.

fade5 fucked around with this message at 21:30 on Apr 3, 2015

# ¿ Apr 3, 2015 21:23

fade5: May 31, 2012; by exmarx

Oh yeah, and the winner of "hilariously accurate foresight" goes to this post on Tumblr back on February 19th:
http://cartoonishly.tumblr.com/post/111516788917/i-cant-wait-for-amethyst-to-loving-eat-pizza

Slightly different setup, but yeah someone totally called the "Amethyst ends up eating Pizza Steve" moment.

To be fair, she's already eaten a five-year-old burrito, so it's not like Pizza Steve could be any worse food-wise. :v:

# ¿ Apr 3, 2015 21:45

fade5: May 31, 2012; by exmarx

Meis posted:

While I liked a lot of the gags, all of the characters from UG are intensely annoying to me. I feel like I am the only person who isnt gushing over how amazing and hilarious it all was. I probably would have liked it more if the gems weren't all so out of character.

I did really like Sadie and Lars going "our ship!!" tho, and the 4th wall gags.

But holy poo poo is the character design and voice acting from UG irritating as hell.

Now please be like the rest of the internet and tell me how wrong I am for not finding wakcy lolrandum humour funny

Edit: tbh the main reason I didnt like it was because it felt like an uncle grandpa episode starring steven universe characters rather than the opposite, which is what I expected.

Eh, I mostly agree with you; note how my list of stuff I liked about the episode boils down to "stuff the gems did/reacted to" and "Mr. Gus" (who usually plays the straight man in most UG episodes).

Bongo Bill posted:

It's easy to overdose on monkeycheese, but it is a respectable style. It works best when it has a straight man to bounce off of, which it did.

This, definitely. Comedy ~~is derived from fear~~ that's just pure wackiness gets tiresome after while; you need reactions to the wackiness to make it really funny. The Straight man/Funny man dynamic goes all the way back to Abbott and Costello, Zeppo Marx of the Marx Brothers, and Porky Pig and (usually) Daffy Duck in Looney Tunes, among many, many others, and it remains funny even to this day.

# ¿ Apr 3, 2015 22:10

fade5: May 31, 2012; by exmarx

Inglonias posted:

Everyone keeps talking about Garnet's new design being different and liking/not liking it.

Am I color blind? Because the only time I can even tell the difference is when I rapidly switch between pictures of the two, for instance, on this wiki page

Maybe I just haven't seen enough of the new design yet to be able to tell the difference. I have a lot of trouble attaching names to faces in real life, so maybe this is another manifestation of that somehow.

JT Jag posted:

I must be really sensitive to color because it's obvious to me. New Garnet is a lot more purple than Old Garnet.

One thing that might be messing with people recognizing the changeover is that we've been switching between the designs for Old Garnet and New Garnet thanks to the various season one episodes being pushed into season two.

Also holy poo poo I didn't expect a Charles Whitman reference from a (kid's) cartoon, much less from Steven Universe. :stare:

# ¿ Apr 19, 2015 03:04

fade5: May 31, 2012; by exmarx

pksage posted:

Amethyst also didn't seem to be as badly injured as Pearl was, maybe that correlates to recovery time?

I think Pearl's super long recovery time was/is part of her being such a perfectionist.

I mean Amethyst regenerated in less than a minute multiple times in the episode (admittedly not very well, but still).

And then when Amethyst took time to do it properly, she still only took about 4 hours (which is her longest regeneration time ever, apparently) compared to Pearl taking 2 weeks, or about ~336 hours.

E:

Caidin posted:

I dunno, she was crushed to death by a giant plant thing multiple times. That doesn't really seem any better a gut wound. Pearl was likely just being really finicky about her appearance.

Which in retrospect was kinda dick given how tore up Steven was about her being gone.

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing damage-wise. I mean a human could probably heal pretty well from a gut wound in two weeks time, much less a Crystal Gem.

fade5 fucked around with this message at 23:47 on Apr 30, 2015

# ¿ Apr 30, 2015 23:43

fade5: May 31, 2012; by exmarx

Oh yeah, Amethyst pulled a (presumably) human skull out of that gas mask.

I'm torn between wanting to know the story behind that and being terrified of the story behind that. Did Amethyst find a skeleton wearing a gas mask somewhere and just decide to keep it and throw it in her room or something? :stare:

Cause that sounds kinda like something she'd do. :v:

GIF of the skull/Steven's reaction to the skull, if it's not too much to ask?

fade5 fucked around with this message at 02:58 on May 1, 2015

# ¿ May 1, 2015 02:38

fade5: May 31, 2012; by exmarx

Tuxedo Ted posted:

Oh, and just for you (and anyone else who likes a good gif):

Awesome as hell, thanks.

I love Garnet just standing there stoically the entire time, not moving an inch. :allears:

# ¿ May 1, 2015 23:07

fade5: May 31, 2012; by exmarx

A bit late, but I had to catch up with the thread.

Mr.Pibbleton posted:

Soon.

I actually let out a little cheer when I saw Connie in the new intro. I sorta knew she'd eventually form the Sword and Shield duo with Steven but I thought it would take until like season 3, so seeing her wielding Rose's giant gently caress-off sword right there in the intro is awesome. And then the episode itself happened and I'm so happy this show is back, it is awesome.
:allears:

# ¿ Jun 16, 2015 23:49

fade5: May 31, 2012; by exmarx

Caidin posted:

The place is attacked by some horrible monster on a near weekly basis. Only a complete jackass would build a cabin near that kinda hotspot.

So what you're saying is that it makes perfect sense that humans settled there. :v:

# ¿ Jun 17, 2015 01:33

fade5: May 31, 2012; by exmarx

Flying-PCP posted:

I mean, different superheroes have different situations. Ronaldo's argument makes more sense here than it does in a lot of other comics and cartoons where it gets brought up. The main counterargument is that if the Gems are sufficiently incapacitated to the point where monsters/homeworld gems are free to start hurting people, you're probably hosed no matter where you are in the world.

On this topic, I went and rewatched the episode, and the only thing that kinda sticks out to me is that Steven's initial response to Ronaldo seems a little off to me. It's not what he says, it's more how he says it:

quote:

Ronaldo: "So if you and the Crystal Gems weren't here, we wouldn't have been attacked by the giant hand?"

Steven, with a slight laugh: "Oh, definitely not."

Steven being sorta laughing and dismissive about that kind of question doesn't really fit his personality. I would have expected him to be slightly more serious and say something like: "Uh... huh, I guess not." It doesn't change anything in the episode, but having him be dismissive about something as important as the Homeworld attack feels kinda off. I mean, that's part of why he and Connie are starting/learning to fight as a team, just in case something big like that happens again.

Now Amethyst saying something like that would definitely fit her personality. :v:

On a fun note, Ronaldo's "No. NOOOOO!" realization always cracks me up every time I see it.

# ¿ Jun 17, 2015 22:44

fade5: May 31, 2012; by exmarx

axleblaze posted:

This reminds me, I loved pretty much all of little Amethyst's lines in that episode.

quote:

Amethyst: Hey, I hit the drums, so pay up.
Greg: Here you go.

Greg just straight-up bribed Amethyst with ~~food~~ pop rocks to get her to play the drums, and it worked. :allears:

On that note, I noticed that Amethyst had no trouble with the whole "sleep" thing, continuing her status as the most human-like Gem.

Excelsiortothemax posted:

Thread moves fast.

It's the end of a Stevenbomb, what do you expect? :v:

fade5 fucked around with this message at 01:51 on Jun 21, 2015

# ¿ Jun 21, 2015 01:46

fade5: May 31, 2012; by exmarx

Mohawk Potato posted:

Well that and Rose being huge makes everyone look small. Greg and Garnet look small compared to her.

Yeah Rose is at least 8 feet tall, so everyone looks tiny compared to her. I mean take a look at her sword and shield:

Rose's sword and shield are appropriately sized for her, and look about the size you'd expect them to be. But when they're given to people who are not Rose, her weapons look comically oversized.

Rose's shield is more than half of Steven's height:

And Rose's sword is about as tall as Connie is:

Admittedly part of that is because Steven and Connie aren't fully grown, but still, the disparity is kinda hilarious.

Tollymain posted:

rewatched sworn to the sword and this episode is so good on a second watch where you can pick up the little details. connie, connie no

she just wants to be part of steven's magical destiny

Luckily, that's not gonna be a problem for her, see above. :v:

After having rewatched it about 5 times, Sworn to the Sword is still my favorite Steven Universe episode not just of Stevenbomb #2, but of the entire series. I can't find anything wrong with it at all, it's basically a perfect episode.

fade5 fucked around with this message at 05:31 on Jun 23, 2015

# ¿ Jun 23, 2015 05:28

fade5: May 31, 2012; by exmarx

TwoPair posted:

Well her shield is at least of variable size. When Steven blocked the Hand Ship's laser cannon it was as large as his whole body, if not larger to give the other gems cover _{(I'm phone-posting so I don't have a picture)}

I got it:

Yeah that goes beyond oversized, that's probably as tall as Rose, if not taller in the middle.

For a very scientific description of its size, I would say that it is "gihugic".

fade5 fucked around with this message at 05:52 on Jun 23, 2015

# ¿ Jun 23, 2015 05:47

fade5: May 31, 2012; by exmarx

Motherfucker posted:

I wish this comic has more panels cuz I still don't know how the gently caress that even works.

Apparently it involves shape-shifting. :v:

Pretty much every comic by that person is funny as hell:
"GEMSONAE":

I can hear the lines in everyone's voices, it's that accurate.

"The Hot One":

"Shapeshifty":

All are from here, obviously.

Some of these might have been posted before, but they're funny as hell so here they are again!

fade5 fucked around with this message at 01:57 on Jul 6, 2015

# ¿ Jul 6, 2015 01:46

fade5: May 31, 2012; by exmarx

Mohawk Potato posted:

I was wondering where the clip of Garnet chasing Amethyst came from now I know.

Huh, yeah that explains it.

Say, are there any more of those kinds of shorts?

# ¿ Jul 7, 2015 23:26

fade5: May 31, 2012; by exmarx

One thing that occurred to me in the episode:

When Sardonyx was disabling the communication tower, that's all she was doing, disabling it. Since all the pieces were still there, it was really easy for Pearl to just put everything back and get it working again. It took Sugilite to actually destroy it (mostly).

It makes sense that Sardonyx wouldn't go full smash and crush the first time, since that's not really what she does, and the third time around everything came out and Sugilite finished the job. So the main thing I'm just wondering is why Garnet (or Amethyst) didn't try to more permanently break/destroy it a little harder the second time around. (Pearl obviously wouldn't/didn't because she was the one was rebuilding the tower in order to spend more time as Sardonyx.)

I'm just wondering, because the second time around it was kinda obvious that someone could just keep putting the tower back together, albeit everyone except Pearl thought it was Peridot that was doing it.

# ¿ Jul 14, 2015 22:24

fade5: May 31, 2012; by exmarx

TheChirurgeon posted:

One of the things that isn't clear to me is how Garnet doesn't learn about Pearl's betrayal when they are fused--this implies that information isn't shared between the individuals fused, only the physical aspects, which seems weird

This was the other part of it, although Astro Nut did gave an okay theory:

Astro Nut posted:

Its probably a matter of how much one is/isn't willing to give, mixed with the way that a fusion isn't merely a combination of the two gems in terms of identity. So Sardonyx themselves might not have known what Pearl's plan was, simply content to do the job that got her brought back into existence.

I guess we may learn more later in the week. :v:

# ¿ Jul 14, 2015 22:58

fade5: May 31, 2012; by exmarx

Quinton posted:

PicklePants posted:

Aw. She's trying to get Rose curls!

I totally didn't knock this off at all, thank you very much for pointing this out.

# ¿ Jul 16, 2015 18:26

fade5: May 31, 2012; by exmarx

drrockso20 posted:

someone on /co/ posted a photoshopped pic to support their theory that Beach City's geography looks the way it does due to Rose creating a giant shield to block a very huge blast back during the war and it seems to make sense to me;

Normally I'm a little more skeptical about big theories like this, but holy poo poo that matches up a little too well for me to disagree with it. Something definitely blasted the hell out of Beach City in the past, something big. :stare:

Renaissance Robot posted:

How much does it really spoil it though

Like I don't know about you but knowing in advance that I've got strawberry cream cake in my future in no way damages the flavour when someone presents me with free cake.

This is how I feel about a lot of the spoilers. Like for example, hearing that Connie was gonna learn sword fighting in "Sworn to the Sword" ahead of time just made me even more excited for the episode because holy poo poo Connie's gonna learn sword fighting. (Then the new intro showed her wielding Rose's Sword and I just about exploded from awesomeness.)

# ¿ Jul 17, 2015 20:40

fade5: May 31, 2012; by exmarx

Demon Kaizoku posted:

Oh god. I feared this would happen.

Hey, at least it's not as bad as Gravity Falls. :v:

# ¿ Jul 17, 2015 21:04

fade5: May 31, 2012; by exmarx

Roach Warehouse posted:

I can't wait until Peridot becomes the Baxter Stockman of Steven Universe and ends up as a Gem with a face floating in a jar.

Oh hey I was wondering if anyone had come up with this idea/connection. :v:

Nicktoons has been replaying the first few seasons of the 2K3 Turtles series, and combined with e X's avatar I may be on a Turtles kick.

drrockso20 posted:

another important question answered;

Meis posted:

My friend said "why doesn't amethyst just shapeshift into something that can fly to catch peridot?" and im like "SHHHHHHHHH we can ignore this the show is perfect and has no plot holes whatsoever!!"

i was lying to myself. haha

oh well, shows have had much sillier plotholes before!

I'm curious, has Amethyst actually shapeshifted into a bird and flown around? Cause if she hasn't it might be that she's limited to staying on the ground while shapeshifting. That would at least solve the "why didn't Amethyst fly after her" question.

# ¿ Jul 18, 2015 18:59

fade5: May 31, 2012; by exmarx

johntfs posted:

Beach City aside, most of the Gem ruins/areas we've seen appear to be in remote, inaccessible areas of the world. Also, at least some of them (Rose's Armoury) have had automated guardians. Figure humans have either never found Gem ruins or had most of the "discoverers" killed by gem robots, in which word probably got around to stay the gently caress away from [insert Gem area] or else the unkillable guardian there will destroy you.

Hell, Beach City didn't really exist until some ~~brilliant explorer~~ lucky dumbass named William Dewey decided to settle right near a Gem area against the advice of the Gems already living there.

There's a theory/supposition I read somewhere that the Native Americans in the show's version of North America knew to stay far away from the gem temple, for good reason.

E: This conversation is really funny in retrospect, now that I think of it:

Flying-PCP posted:

They could've had the courtesy to warn the first settlers of the town that it might be wise to settle somewhere else.

Caidin posted:

The place is attacked by some horrible monster on a near weekly basis. Only a complete jackass would build a cabin near that kinda hotspot.

fade5 posted:

So what you're saying is that it makes perfect sense that humans settled there.

Turns out the gems did warn William Dewey, he just ignored the warning and settled anyway. So yeah, random destruction is pretty much just part of living in Beach City.

fade5 fucked around with this message at 21:09 on Jul 22, 2015

# ¿ Jul 22, 2015 21:01

fade5: May 31, 2012; by exmarx

johntfs posted:

So, anyway, who else loves Connie? It's so cool and so rare to see the hero's "love interest" have qualities and a personalty outside of being the hero's "love interest." Plus, her speech in Open Book makes her such a candidate for being a future goon {goonette?)

A few pages back but definitely throw me in the "Connie is awesome" category; Sworn to the Sword was basically everything I wanted in 10 minutes and it remains my favorite episode.

On a related note, I'm slightly disappointed we didn't see/hear anything from Connie during Stevenbomb 3; you would think that Steven might have wanted to talk with Connie about Sardonyx and gem family issues. (And yeah technically Steven called Connie to find out if she was seeing Peridot's transmission on TV, but he could have called anyone with a TV to do that.)

Renaissance Robot posted:

It was a ground-up gem??

I had previously heard this thrown around as a theory, and it kinda made sense to me, but I thought it was probably a little too dark for the show.

I was wrong and holy poo poo. :stonklol:

Rasamune posted:

"A"? Did you see how many colors that painting used?

Oh god you're making it worse stop it :gonk:

fade5 fucked around with this message at 02:48 on Jul 25, 2015

# ¿ Jul 25, 2015 02:24

fade5: May 31, 2012; by exmarx

Red Bones posted:

A couple of people mentioned a little while back about the US in Steven Universe maybe just being the original thirteen colonies, and if you head west you just hit a bunch of Native American countries, and someone else said that the stuff that the US did to its Natives isn't really something kids should know about, or should be in a kids TV show. I want to state that I'm not American and I've never been to your country, but if you handled it well (which this show probably would because it is very well written) wouldn't it be a good thing to make young people aware of a bit of their country and history that seems to get glossed over in most of American media? In US films and TV shows, even when they try to do the whole politically correct/inclusive thing, Natives seem to just not appear or be acknowledged, and that always struck me as weird.

I know that the alternate history stuff is not really what Steven Universe is about, but I think it'd be A Good Thing if one of the lighter episodes was just Steven and his Dad driving to the Republic of Cherokee to go visit a friend or go on a camping trip or something. Like just to say, "hey kids, these people exist in the modern world and not just in cowboy films", which American media (from an outsider's perspective) just doesn't seem to do a lot.

It would indeed be a good thing, and to be honest it really is something kids should know about. But to put it kinda bluntly it's hard to ~~indoctrinate~~ teach kids that the US is awesome when a lot of US history boils down to:

johntfs posted:

America got as large as it did by warring, cheating and murdering its way through Native American tribes to achieve its "Manifest Destiny." The presence of four super-powerful Gems who disapproved of such an idea would likely result in America being smaller and Native American nations continuing to exist/flourish.

If you tell the real story of American History, the one built on the blood and bones of Native Americans and on the backs of slaves taken from Africa and sold as property, it turns out the US has a pretty lovely history, and one we shouldn't really be proud of.

Of course, this is why I really like your idea, and why I would love to see it in an episode(s). Steven Universe already has themes of anti-colonialism, and I trust that Rebecca Sugar and the crew could do a good, poignant, and well-told story, maybe even one that could get kids (and their parents, and 20-somethings who post on internet forums) to take second look a our own history, all of our history even the bad parts we usually gloss over.

fade5 fucked around with this message at 22:37 on Jul 25, 2015

# ¿ Jul 25, 2015 21:58

fade5: May 31, 2012; by exmarx

BravestOfTheLamps posted:

Clearly this fantasy show needs a recounting of an alternate Native American history when we already have storylines about uncovering painful pasts that already fulfil that role perfectly, Jesus Christ.

It ties together with the show's existing themes, so... yes?

I'm not asking for a ~*very special episode*~, just a continuation/highlighting of the stuff that's already there.

quote:

Steven and his Dad driving to the Republic of Cherokee to go visit a friend or go on a camping trip

Or something like this, this would be cool. Like the "Keystone State", it wouldn't treat the "Republic of Cherokee" like it's special, it's just how it is.

E: The reason I bring this up at all is because I trust the show/showrunners to be able to tell a good story without going ham-handed about it, which is a really high mark for Steven Universe in my book. Subtle is good, and subtle themes are cool.

But sometimes you just wanna go a little less than subtle, ya know?

That way you get everyone's attention. That doesn't mean you have to completely drop all the subtleness though, subtleness is good.

Steven Universe is pushing boundaries, and it's one of my new favorite shows for exactly that reason.

fade5 fucked around with this message at 23:01 on Jul 25, 2015

# ¿ Jul 25, 2015 22:21

fade5: May 31, 2012; by exmarx

On another topic, have a comic.

Something Something Pork Rinds:

http://neoduskcomics.tumblr.com/post/123882396857/steven-universe-something-something-pork-rinds

# ¿ Jul 26, 2015 01:25

fade5: May 31, 2012; by exmarx

pksage posted:

[ X ] 5 - Strongly Agree

The worst episodes we've had, IMO, are Onion Trade, Rising Tides/Crashing Skies, and Historical Friction, and the last one is only juuuust short of amazing because of pacing issues. Even these episodes, the worst of the series, are still very watchable. Also I think I didn't enjoy House Guest very much, but I haven't watched it in forever so I can't say for sure.

I definitely agree with you on Onion Trade (although I disagree on the other two.) Onion Trade didn't really work for me the first time around, and even after a second/third re-viewing it's still doesn't really work for me. I think part of it is that half the episode hinges on the Replicator Wand, aka the "never-seen-before super powerful object that's destroyed by the end of the episode".

Plus it started the whole "Onion is secretly a Lich/Gem leader/other evil creature" thing:

Although to be honest "Onion Friend" (which I did like) proved that he was human, which only raises further questions about his weirdness. :v:

Rising Tides/Crashing Skies is worth it to me solely for Ronaldo's reaction in this scene:

quote:

Peedee: Well this relates to your movie. You said it yourself, the Gems cause all the weird stuff in Beach City, so now that they're gone, there'll be no more weird stuff.

Ronaldo: No. NOOOOOOOOO! What have I done?! *Narrating* What had I done? I done bad.
--
Ronaldo: CRYSTAL GEMS! You have to stay! Every messed up consequence of your presence gives me reason to wake up in the morning! Without you, my blog doesn't stand a chance! Ah, I'm too late, what have I done? I've made Beach City... NORMAL! *Cries* I've broken my promise to the city, and to myself!

Ronaldo slowly realizing that he did exactly the opposite of what he truly wanted (to "Keep Beach City Weird"/blog about weird stuff) kills me every time I see it. :haw:

# ¿ Jul 29, 2015 00:33

fade5: May 31, 2012; by exmarx

Besesoth posted:

I'm less wary of discussion and more wary of "discussion".

How about pictures instead?

Turns out having a show with a gay main character at the same time marriage equality is declared the law of the land in the US leads to a lot of Steven Universe fanart. Who'd have thunk it? :v:

(The first one was actually 2014, before the Supreme Court ruled, which is even cooler.)

# ¿ Jul 31, 2015 02:50

fade5: May 31, 2012; by exmarx

Triskelli posted:

Yeah, it was a dumb derail but you got to admit probably a few too many people came rushing to the show's defense.

Change of topic though, when did everyone really start watching the show? I know I might've seen an episode or two and was excited by the pilot (and initially disappointed by the redesign) , but I got sucked in as a repeat customer after seeing Ocean Gem while dog/house-sitting this past December. Everything about that episode convinced me the show was something special.

I started watching from the beginning, although I think Laser Light Cannon might have been the first episode I saw, with Gem Glow a week or two later. To be honest I kinda like Laser Light Cannon as an intro to the show, since it avoids "annoying Steven" that some of the really early episodes have.

It's funny, one of the reasons I started watching is actually because I follow stuff in the Middle East; as you can probably guess that gets pretty drat depressing after a while, and so I wanted a nice, quiet, and happy show to lift my spirits. I got so much more. :getin:

Connie is what really hooked me on the show, especially after "An Indirect Kiss". Then Stevenbomb #1 happened and holy poo poo Steven Universe became one of my new favorite shows.

Tetracube posted:

God dammit

I'm less irritated that I thought I'd be at this. I think it helps that I know they're getting low on completed episodes, so a few weeks now means no/fewer breaks later.

And it's still better than Gravity Falls. :gbsmith:

Jay O posted:

[/tangent]

This was really interesting, thanks for posting it.

fade5 fucked around with this message at 02:50 on Aug 2, 2015

# ¿ Aug 2, 2015 02:31

fade5: May 31, 2012; by exmarx

InequalityGodzilla posted:

I find it really funny that so many DnD/USPOL regulars apparently watch the show. me (though I usually lurk), you, JT Jag, we know Rorus Raz watches it, pretty sure I've even seen Joementum make a fairly knowledgable reference to it and now Klaus88 and Warpednaba are getting into it.

The only solution to DnD's despair is heavy drinking and gay space rocks.

there's also icantfindaname (who came up with the hilarious description of "yuri DBZ" for the show), chitoryu12, and apparently Al-Saqr has a post in this thread too. (Al-Saqr is Saudi Arabian, and lives in Saudi Arabia; welcome to the wonders of the internet.)

It really is amazing seeing how broad Steven Universe's appeal is, it's getting close to the point where I feel like "I watched Steven Universe growing up" is going to be the new "I watched DBZ growing up". It's kinda cool to think about.

Mohawk Potato posted:

Well in something a little different looks like the bomb format is done for the summer and going back to the new Thursdays episodes. Should allow them to save up episodes again.

Ironically, thanks to us having two 5-episode bombs in the summer, the show is only like a few weeks behind where it would be if they'd been showing a new episode every week.

# ¿ Aug 2, 2015 23:58

fade5: May 31, 2012; by exmarx

gnome7 posted:

You are 100% correct but toy marketing is a department all about the gender divisions. There is no such thing as a gender neutral toy. Toys come in Boy and Pink.

WrathOfBlade posted:

Yeah, I gather that there are elements in the massive supply chain separating a kid's show from a toyline that just completely shut down when they hear that girls make up part of the show's demo.

Any merch that does make it out of the gate will def. be mobbed with cash, though.

Crabtree posted:

Hasbro and Toy People don't like kids and genders stepping outside of their predictions and expectations. It freaks marketers out when they find out they don't actually understand the market at all.

Ramos posted:

For the record, the original Avatar series was nearly taken down because it was bringing in too many teenagers in the audience, which was outside of Nick's specified age range they wanted to appeal to. The only reason it stayed on was because of the sheer number of viewers it was bringing it, I think it blew Spongebob right out of the water (metaphorically).

I would like to congratulate you all for teaching me that there is something more byzantine and confusing than the Middle East, and that it is toy marketing and audience demographics for kids shows. I didn't think such a thing was possible, but :psyboom:

Seriously what the hell, this makes less sense the more I think about it. I would have thought that "we have multiple demographics watching, that's awesome, we get multiple streams of money" would be the prevailing thought process, but I guess applying logic to TV/the toy industry is a futile effort.

_{Also "toys for boys and toys for girls, but never shall the two meet" is one of my serious pet peeves, but I'll restrain myself from ranting about that.}

Instead I'll just say that I'm happy that Steven Universe is doing so amazingly well, and that I too am so ready for Blu-Rays. :getin:

fade5 fucked around with this message at 20:27 on Aug 6, 2015

# ¿ Aug 6, 2015 20:17

fade5: May 31, 2012; by exmarx

Have some art:

http://methodandart.tumblr.com/post/126925504443/connie-and-steven-in-the-rain-as-always-a

I love mundane, practical uses for ~~phenomenal cosmic power~~ magic.

# ¿ Aug 19, 2015 01:21

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# ¿ Apr 25, 2024 05:26

fade5: May 31, 2012; by exmarx

RandomPauI posted:

Steven wouldn't even be allowed on the boards because he's under 13.

And even if he did post here, it would quickly be a word-for-word rendition of that hilarious comic:

http://neoduskcomics.tumblr.com/post/114289154257/steven-universe-open-mind-click-to-find-me-on

Although now I'm wondering how Connie would do on SA. :v:

# ¿ Aug 21, 2015 00:40

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > TV IV > Steven Universe S2: singing or crying or singing while crying

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