Steven Universe

Yeah, this whole season is pretty clearly building up to Steven finally dealing with all his repressed feelings and issues at the end. Almost every episode focuses on some issue Steven has, and while the episodes end with Steven resolving the problem, they don't really address the underlying cause of the problem. Whether the form this resolution takes is Steven self-Corrupting himself into that giant monster is just speculation, but I'm sure it'll be the focus of the finale one way or another.

Hey does anyone know what instrument Shep was playing?

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Heard someone say it was an electric saxophone. Looking it up, that sounds about right.

The "villains" in the titles are not literal antagonists, but represent issues Steven is having to deal with. Nicely played, Sugar!

Wonder what White Diamond represents then?

Well she was the leader so probably something about leadership roles

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Not properly dealing with your emotions is also a solid candidate.

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These ten episodes have been way more emotionally taxing than the entirety of the original series.

Fridge.Steven Universe Future might have something to offer here that might tie in with :

Edited by sgamer82 on Dec 29th 2019 at 12:46:36 PM

They just aired the tenth (regular-length) episode, which makes five pairs.

We still have no idea how long Future is going to be in total.

It's not just availability—Erica Lutrell was just in a few episodes ago—voice acting budgets are finite. As I mentioned in my rewatch, the show often has secondary characters appear unvoiced (we haven't heard Kofi or Mr. Fryman since season three), though Future is more obvious about it.

The more relevant trope (or rather trivia) is Queer Character, Queer Actor.

Edited by thatother1dude on Dec 29th 2019 at 1:50:52 PM

That said, they all did a conspicuous Villain: Exit, Stage Left, so it could be subverted by them coming back to attack... or he Curb Stomps them because by then he's dealt with his issues.

edited to add: Yes, I'm pretty sure the recurring actors get paid per episode. The scripts are all written way in advance, so they'll have the actor record dialog for a bunch of episodes at once; availability isn't usually an issue, at least within a season.

Edited by alanh on Dec 29th 2019 at 12:59:37 PM

I don't like how Future has basically scrubbed Connie from existence. We haven't got many episodes left and we're probably never going to address her and Steven's relationship any further beyond that smooch on the cheek, are we?

My various fanfics.

Have faith ye of little faith

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@Aegis P I hope everything works out for you!

Finally saw the episodes and geez, I haven’t been this concerned about a protagonist’s mental health since The Legend of Korra. Steven really needs a therapist. Also, yeah where is Connie? She’s his go-to for these types of things. I mean, that is his best friend after all.

I will say this, though, I never really liked the Lars/Sadie ship. They just never worked for me because you could see that they weren’t really healthy for each other. If anything, by the end of the original series, Sadie and especially Lars were almost completely different people by the end so this was a very logical step. Also, hell yes! Lars is going back into space! I love Lars and Steven’s friendship. They’ve really come so far.

I’m really loving Future so far. It’s really nice to see Steven grow and deal with his own repressed trauma.

Edited by deuteragonist on Dec 29th 2019 at 3:20:34 AM

Connie has been getting the short end of the character stick for quite some time now. Future is just making me reach my limits.

Connie was the most present side character for the entire series finale of the original Steven Universe, she's not just forgotten about. It's just that if she were here, it would be harder to justify Steven's downward spiral. I think it's pretty obvious that she's going to play a big role in helping him out.

And yeah, Steven is definitely becoming more like White Diamond, especially one of his lines in Prickly Pair, where he says "just once, I'd like to know better". It's very reminiscent of one of White Diamond's breakdown lines where she says that she's supposed to know better.

> think it's pretty obvious that she's going to play a big role in helping him out

Like..Connie's mother is a doctor and she recommends Steven see a psychologist?

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Maybe. I was thinking more immediately that Connie's his girlfriend, she's been shown to be good at reading Steven, and she can provide the emotional support he needs.

If we're going with the triangular model of love, Lars and Sadie strike me as the kinds of characters who clearly have an attraction there (passion), but are not compatible on an intellectual level (the commitment and intimacy parts). The option is to either indulge and have that whirlwind relationship with intimacy (fatuous love) before it inevitable breaks apart, work to modify themselves so that the relationship can last, or consciously avoid acting on that attraction in favor of finding someone else who might not inspire the same level of passion, but who can provide the intimacy and commitment.

Priyanka sits Steven down and point blank tells him "Steven, honey, you need a therapist".

Also, I wouldn't count Connie out yet since we don't even know how many episodes Future has left.

Side note, since it's been a few months since "Bluebird", do you think Greg's hair has grown back any?

Edited by Crossover-Enthusiast on Dec 29th 2019 at 7:11:10 AM

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I don't know if his hair was actually growing before. Side-note, can anyone do the math on the plants Steven grew to determine how much time passed between Graduation Day and Prickly Pair? Considering how big they were, and how Steven said he wasn't using his gem powers to make them grow, it seems like it was at least 3-4 months.

Even half a year wouldn't nearly make up the difference, but regardless I think it'll probably stay short just to emphasize the change.

What? Baldness causes hairs to fall out and stop growing from some follicles, not cease to grow but stay rooted.

In a way, it seen Steven is finally getting to the point his "job" or role as caretaker is not only getting a toll but is annoying him to some extend, it also have to deal that....well, he have issues with is mother and he cant talk to a death person.

And I will said he does becoming more like pink, if what pink did to volleyball is true, he is having fit of anger that he dosent want to deal about.

"My Name is Bolt, Bolt Crank and I dont care if you believe or not"

These last 2 episodes hit me right in the ribs...a very familiar echo of my own behavior not too long ago, oof...

But instead of following stevens spiral, i just realized something: the Gems havent see Pink Steven mad. Pink Smokey slowed down rime but...

What if Steven fights the Crystal Gems in a fit of anger?

Yeah that was a very familiar feel for me as well.

Eating a Vanilluxe will give you frostbite.