Steven Universe

I disagree, I think you're underestimating how much pressure Steven was functioning under and how the cool kids are like, actual teenagers.

They complain about shit! I hang out with teenagers all the time and let me tell you, a mild kind of silly complain session like that is just to blow off steam. Nothing really whiny about it! Not to mention they immediately recognized that what Steven was dealing with was on a whole other level and then do their best to try and comfort him, say he's a champ for being so positive all the time.

And they DID take responsibility for putting Steven into the situation, right after risking getting punched into paste to prevent Steven getting seriously hurt.

Pretty much that. I actually applaud this episode for keeping all four of them 100% sympathetic through the whole thing. Again, any other show with a posse of "cool" teenagers would have them act much closer to Lars in attitude, (especially in a standard "Joy Ride" type of story), whereas Jenny, Sour Cream and Buck are actually the kind of people I'd want to spend time around.

edited 27th Mar '15 8:55:34 AM by polooglu

My problem is that I thought it *was* established that the Cool Kids were smarter than that, in their previous appearances. Here, they whine about their problems ("She doesn't get I'm the BAD twin?" Seriously??) though I get that was a set-up for Steven to talk about his own stress. It could have been handled better tho.

And the rest of the stuff! Wasting a pizza (THAT WASN'T EVEN THEIRS!) just to get Steven to notice them. Getting Steven to toy with a dangerous artifact despite him actually continuously warning them about it. And finally, yeah, they risked themselves to protect him- but this act is ruined by laying the blame on the Gems, rather than on themselves. The Aesop is truly lost here, especially since Steven effectively gets rewarded for his error and everyone happily takes a Selfie in the end.

Here's how I think things should have gone: after the scene in the beach, the Kids should have discussed among themselves how much the Gems seem to abuse Steven. Then they plan to do something about it. Cut to that night when they take him along for the ride (sans pizza waste.) They find the capsule but rather than it being their idea to make Steven get inside, it is his. He then gets stuck and the Gems arrive and chastise him for it. The kids then point out it was their (the Kids') fault. Finally, the Gems decide that maybe they have been too strict with Steven and forgive them.

There. Less bombastic, maybe, but certainly more logical.

edited 27th Mar '15 9:11:02 AM by Sijo

I was kind of hoping that Steven would get to keep the pod. Who needs a boring old magic lion that has a world hidden inside its mane?

Edit: While I liked the episode overall, I do think it would've been better if the Cool Kids had emphasized how Steven only got into the pod because they pressured him, and that he wanted to do the responsible thing. Then after that, they could've talked about how Steven is under a lot of pressure, and the Gems should understand that.

edited 27th Mar '15 9:19:52 AM by Austin

Only so much time in an episode

I enjoyed the episode and agree with odafangirl and poloogu. I didn't see them as whiny. The discussion developed organically. It got Steven to open up and we learned more about the cool kids. Jenny, Buck, and Sour Cream are actually cool kids. There so many shows with "cools kids" that are obnoxious brats. They genuinely care for Steven and wanted to help him. At the end everyone in the field benefited from Steven's little joy ride. The Gems even got to bond with some humans.

I love the Purple Rain reference, not that I condone what they did. Knowing the Mr. Pizza Jenny got in trouble for it, and Mr. Smiley got a replacement pizza.

Mom Count

edited 27th Mar '15 9:48:44 AM by CodeXYZ

www.tvguide.com/shows/steven-universe-463798/listings/

Story for Steven (one of the shuffled season 1 episodes) confirmed for being the episode the week after say uncle.

Story for Steven is supposed to be the full story of how Greg and Rose Quartz met. SU is one show where I look forward to flashbacks.

edited 27th Mar '15 2:49:51 PM by CodeXYZ

Darn, this means the mystical caveman theory will be jossed.

Exactly.

From the summaries, the episode is about Uncle Grandpa trying to help Steven use his gem powers. They're probably trying to bring up a Die or Fly situation.

Okay, I just started watching Joy Ride. Like, rght now.

Anyhow, I just love the fact that this assortment of teens like Steven and find him cool enough that they just want to randomly hang out with him. No condescension, no anything, they want to treat him like a bro.

EDIT: HOLY CRAP Steven, what a bomb to drop. I mean these are ordinary teens with ordinary family problems, your issues are legitimately deep.

Funny stickers, Steven's only weakness!

edited 27th Mar '15 1:18:50 PM by MousaThe14

Matt explains on twitter that while Say Uncle was produced as a Season 2 episode that when it was made they assumed that it would end up airing before jailbreak, which explains why garnet has her old design.

Gem war theory

Very interesting

Is there some trend on tumblr where people deliberately do not begin sentences with capital letters? It made reading that post sort of annoying.

I didn't notice the black figures on the ceiling mural were also on the sides shown going through the death traps. I thought those might have been humans, but since they couldn't be expected to get into the pyramid, that sort of rules that out. That, along with pointing out the upside-down pyramid is an inverted triangle (i.e. a symbol that seems specific to Homeworld Gems), convinced me that Homeworld Gems probably made the pyramid, though I'm less convinced about a bunch of other stuff proposed.

Anyway, thanks for linking this stuff here, I cannot navigate that site to save my life.

edited 27th Mar '15 4:08:42 PM by thatother1dude

I don't like assuming that every "diamond"-shaped Gem is part of the Diamond authority, but I like that attempt to make the numbers fit together otherwise.

Actually, yes. Not capitalizing sentences started as kind of carrying over from how capitalizing tags didn't do anything, and these days carries a connotation of casual conversation.

Not unlike the teenagers' interactions with Dipper in GF. Both are sets of teens who accept the kid and treat him like an equal, and are mischievous yet oddly caring. There's just far less romantic tension in SU's case, thank goodness.

Code XYZ: DAD MOM LOL!

Also, Can someone share this scene (I think its from Rose's Scabbard) where Pearl tears up while Steven hugs her back.

Skip to about 2:50

That was quick! Thanks Pal!

A lot of people noticed Buck, Jenny, and Sour Cream share a strange amount of resemblance to Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl in terms of (especially Buck and Garnet). Given this is mostly in terms of fashion (Buck's glasses, Sour Cream's hair, Jenny's tank-top), it might be the kids subconsciously imitating the Crystal Gems out of admiration.

I'm trying to figure a trope to properly describe this, but can't quite think of one—it's not really Identical Stranger or Inexplicably Identical Individuals, because they're aren't identical, just similar looking.

edited 27th Mar '15 11:22:23 PM by thatother1dude

Similar Squad.

I can't decide whether Sour Cream's face looks more like the pilot Pearl's or like a banana.

Wow! That video was TERRIFIC! The music and animation were superb! Rebecca Sugar's songs are often praised (I find them kinda corny) but the person who makes the non-lyrical OST is amazing.

Good enough. I though of pilot Pearl too, though more hair than his face (which I think looks like a crescent).

edited 27th Mar '15 11:51:33 PM by thatother1dude

One thing I hope the series goes into more detail at some point is how the Gems start their missions. Something I always wanted the series to do when I first started watching it is give us more context on the Gems' missions and why they're seeking out a particular site. Pearl says that Garnet has heightened perception that leads them to mission objectives, but I don't know if that means that Garnet randomly gets visions telling them to go get a certain thing or if it's something else. In "The Message" they say that they have all of the Warbling Stones on Earth, which made me think "Okay. Why did it take you 6000 years to do that?"

But I guess we don't know for sure if the Gems have always been doing what we see in the series, fighting corrupted Gems and seeking out Gem artifacts, or if it's something they only started doing relatively recently.