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BlueBlaze64 The Watcher on the Tower from Empire City Since: Sep, 2012 Relationship Status: I'm just a poor boy, nobody loves me
The Watcher on the Tower
#35376: Jul 21st 2016 at 9:57:12 PM

[up][up] I agree. Much like how the character design fluctuates between who's storyboarding that episode, I think the characters also change based on who's writing.

Speaking of which, is it true that the show doesn't have any flat out writers, and anyone who writes also does storyboarding? Because if that's true, it makes me sad as someone who wants to write for an animated show as good as this someday, but can't draw. sad

"The cruelest thing you can do to an artist is tell them their work is flawless when it isn't." -Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw
randomness4 Ghost '11 from The Land of Inconvenience Since: Sep, 2011
Ghost '11
#35377: Jul 21st 2016 at 10:03:23 PM

Not all animated shows are story-board driven, but I'm not sure exactly how common this style is.

edited 21st Jul '16 10:04:52 PM by randomness4

Rules of the Internet 45. Rule 45 is a lie. Check out my art if you notice.
thatother1dude from Land of the Ill, Annoyin' Since: Jan, 2001
#35379: Jul 21st 2016 at 10:33:22 PM

Maybe it just comes down to different writers having different ideas of just how exactly mature and understanding Steven is?
I think the Doylist reason behind it is less who's writing and more the demands of the plot. Both of Steven's actions in questions are so plot-critical that they were probably specified in the outline by the writing staff (same every episode) before the storyboard artists (one of four teams for each episode) did anything.

Regardless, I find it sufficiently plausible that Steven can be mature in one situation but not another. Many people have reasonably concluded Steven got the idea to bring Pearl to Empire City because of how the change of setting helped Garnet/Ruby/Sapphire in "Keystone Motel". And while Steven's often been nosy about Lars and Sadie's relationship, if memory serves, this is the first time he actually tried to push them together.

Speaking of which, is it true that the show doesn't have any flat out writers, and anyone who writes also does storyboarding?
The show has exactly two people who only write: Ben Levin and Matt Burnett. As I said, both write the outlines for every episode (not entirely by themselves; Sugar/Jones-Quartey/etc. contribute as well).

This actually lead to Burnett, when asked what it took to be a writer on Steven Universe, responding along the lines of "you'd have to fight me or Ben for it".

Not all animated shows are story-board driven, but I'm not sure exactly how common this style is.
Quarter-hour ones often aren't board-driven, half-hour ones almost never are.

The Amazing World of Gumball (after the first season), Harvey Beaks, Hey Arnold, Invader Zim, and Wander Over Yander all use scripts despite being quarter-hour.

Samurai Jack is literally the only storyboard-driven half-hour animation show I could find, and that's because it's so dialogue-scarce.

[up]Burgerpants lives!

Enlong Court Dragon from The Underground Facility Since: May, 2011 Relationship Status: is commanded to— WANK!
Court Dragon
#35380: Jul 21st 2016 at 10:45:10 PM

Guy, do you meanings about the Watermelon Stephens? They don't relate the mass, they have none individuality.

Super watermelon island showed that they've developed a society with individual families and farms and rituals of watermelon sacrifice to appease the angry sea god.

I have a message from another time...
randomness4 Ghost '11 from The Land of Inconvenience Since: Sep, 2011
Ghost '11
#35381: Jul 21st 2016 at 10:52:25 PM

But...I didn't do anything to receive an accuracy lesson.

I meant they have no personality to take away from being Rose's hive-mind, that's all...

Rules of the Internet 45. Rule 45 is a lie. Check out my art if you notice.
Enlong Court Dragon from The Underground Facility Since: May, 2011 Relationship Status: is commanded to— WANK!
Court Dragon
#35382: Jul 21st 2016 at 10:58:51 PM

Then I misunderstood. Sorry.

I have a message from another time...
thatother1dude from Land of the Ill, Annoyin' Since: Jan, 2001
#35383: Jul 21st 2016 at 11:59:08 PM

Interestingly, while the idea of individual writers on a team "writing for" a specific character is usually wrong, it actually has some truth for this show for the secondary cast. If there are major or supporting roles for human characters besides Greg and Connie, you can usually guess the writer by which ones (but with some exception):

  • Lamar Abrams: Onion, the Cool Kids ("Joy Ride" - Florido/Mitroff), Connie's parents ("Nightmare Hospital" - Molisee/Villeco)
  • Raven Molisee/Paul Villeco: Lars ("Lars and the Cool Kids" was Abrams/Braly), Sadie ("Lion 3" - Liu/Johnston), RonaldoKBCW  ("Rising Tides/Crashing Skies" and some minor roles - Abrams/Jo)
  • Hilary Florido: Kevin (granted, he's only been in two episodes, one yet unaired, but I don't think it's a coincidence that Florido was board artist for both of them), Dewey ("Shirt Club" - Abrams)
  • Jeff Liu/Joe Johnston: No one; of the episodes they've boarded, zero of them had major roles for a human besides Greg and Connie, and few had minor ones.
  • Lauren Zuke: Can't tell yet; right after she joined, the show started the Barn Arc. She does write Peridot's twitter posts, though.
  • Katie Mitroff: No characters were especially common in her episodes partnered with Florido; after becoming Abrams' partner, she usually has the same characters he does.

Looking through the season 1a credits is really weird. Before solidifying to four teams with occasional changes, there were a bunch of storyboard artists that did a few episodes before moving to other positions (Rebecca Sugar, Ian Jones-Quartey, Kat Morris, Aleth Romanillos) and some that just left entirely (Matt Braly, Luke Weber).

edited 22nd Jul '16 12:03:03 AM by thatother1dude

DrDougsh Since: Jan, 2001
#35384: Jul 22nd 2016 at 4:52:39 AM

The difference between Steven's actions with Lars/Sadie and with Greg and Pearl is that in the latter case he didn't do anything that was intrusive. He invited Pearl along on their tour to Empire City, but she's the one who freely accepted it. From there, things just played out with Steven helping them along. In the case of Lars, Steven assumed he knew better than Lars what was best for him, and tried to force Lars to go down Steven's desired route.

randomness4 Ghost '11 from The Land of Inconvenience Since: Sep, 2011
Ghost '11
#35385: Jul 22nd 2016 at 5:01:49 AM

And did it with his body...instead of just pestering.

Rules of the Internet 45. Rule 45 is a lie. Check out my art if you notice.
Austin Since: Jan, 2001
#35386: Jul 22nd 2016 at 5:13:41 AM

I wonder what Peridot would think of Lars and Sadie's relationship. Recall how much she analyzed the relationships of that camping show she was watching.

edited 22nd Jul '16 5:46:55 AM by Austin

DrDougsh Since: Jan, 2001
randomness4 Ghost '11 from The Land of Inconvenience Since: Sep, 2011
Ghost '11
#35388: Jul 22nd 2016 at 5:33:30 AM

Having a Compatibility Chart marks her better than most shippers.

Rules of the Internet 45. Rule 45 is a lie. Check out my art if you notice.
darkabomination Since: Mar, 2012
#35389: Jul 22nd 2016 at 5:39:34 AM

I quite liked this one. It avoided or played with a lot of mind/body tropes which was nice.

As per usual, I'm in the middle when it comes to Lars, though I find him an interesting character study.

I like that it confirmed that they've not been hanging out much. This was a good episode for Lars, because at the end he does admit why he'd see why others prefered him as Steven. He's sad about it, but after he gets over the surprise of Steven's confession to Sadie, he genuinely wants to know what she thought.

I can't see Lars as an abusive or bad person. A jerk? Ooooh yes, but this episode I think shows the most that when people don't like him, they don't talk with him. Most of what he does is directly the result of his own actions.

When it comes down to it, it's easier to like a straight up villain because their brand of negative traits are either so overblown that we cannot relate, or entertaining in how exaggerated they can be. With folks like Lars, he's the kind of guy we see in the real world.

I think he's ultimately sympathetic, but that doesn't equate with not having consequences for his actions.

hcobb Since: Jan, 2001
#35390: Jul 22nd 2016 at 5:54:22 AM

When will Sadie meet Lars' folks? Will they get her to be his study buddy?

BlueBlaze64 The Watcher on the Tower from Empire City Since: Sep, 2012 Relationship Status: I'm just a poor boy, nobody loves me
The Watcher on the Tower
#35391: Jul 22nd 2016 at 8:04:04 AM

I've been thinking about what the show might do with Jasper whenever she comes back, and I thought it would be interesting to have her become a different kind of antagonist.

Since she couldn't win in a fair one-on-two fight with Garnet, and lost again as a giant fusion monster, she might try something more underhanded to win next time. Like try to get in Garnet's head to get her to unfuse or something. Or threaten the lives of Beach City's residents to get something she wants. Hell, maybe the theory about her getting cracked is true, and she's so badly hurt that she's refusing help when they find her, but can't fight at all.

Whether it's Jasper or not, I would want to see a villain in this show use Psychological Combat to try to beat the Gems, as opposed to more conventional fighting. "Marble Madness" showed that the Gems have gotten so used to fighting their way out of situations, that it took Steven to suggest something else. Seeing an antagonist try to take advantage of this could be interesting.

"The cruelest thing you can do to an artist is tell them their work is flawless when it isn't." -Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw
KnownUnknown Since: Jan, 2001
#35392: Jul 22nd 2016 at 8:12:47 AM

It's a toughie, because Jasper is so far an entirely physical threat, which is reflected not just in her abilities but in her personality and role in the plot too.

Even Peridot still hasn't really gotten out of the Non-Action Guy / science-mechanic role even after having been with the Gems for a while, and even with her new abilities that doesn't seem likely to change.

hcobb Since: Jan, 2001
#35393: Jul 22nd 2016 at 8:25:44 AM

It's the brutality SOP that makes the empire so weak against Steven. Fortunately YD has shown signs of being sneaky, like with the hidden Cluster.

Enlong Court Dragon from The Underground Facility Since: May, 2011 Relationship Status: is commanded to— WANK!
Court Dragon
#35394: Jul 22nd 2016 at 8:30:09 AM

I mean, did Jasper lose a 1-on-2 against Garnet? Getting thrown into the reacor and having the ship crash and explode around her didn't do lasting damage.

That said, she'd be outclassed by any of the C Gs bigger options, probably.

I have a message from another time...
LeGarcon Blowout soon fellow Stalker from Skadovsk Since: Aug, 2013 Relationship Status: Gay for Big Boss
Blowout soon fellow Stalker
#35395: Jul 22nd 2016 at 8:40:20 AM

Jasper got taken out by an arena hazard. If you can even call it being taken out.

If that hadn't have happened or if that fight had continued I've got real doubts that Garnet could have won.

Oh really when?
hcobb Since: Jan, 2001
#35396: Jul 22nd 2016 at 8:41:51 AM

wild mass guess "Put Steven down!"

"Steven, lick her gem."

"You'd have Steven repair her gem? Peridot, you traitor!"

"So that's how it works? Fix my gem or I'll crush you."

Slurp!

"Yes, it's working. I feel whole, stronger than before. I feel... Steven, I love you!"

"Welcome to the Crystal Gems!"

SilentColossus (Don’t ask)
#35397: Jul 22nd 2016 at 8:46:19 AM

[up][up]

IIRC Word of God is that Jasper was winning until Garnet won. And looking at the fight, Garnet looks much worse than Jasper.

TheHandle United Earth from Stockholm Since: Jan, 2012 Relationship Status: YOU'RE TEARING ME APART LISA
United Earth
#35398: Jul 22nd 2016 at 8:51:38 AM

[up][up]Stronger than before!
(GOOOOOOOO, JAS-PER!)
Powered-up for more!
(GOOOOOOOO, JAS-PER!)
Homeworld at the core!
(EEEE-VIL SOLDIER JASPEEEEER!)

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
smokeycut Since: Mar, 2013
#35399: Jul 22nd 2016 at 8:54:08 AM

Did you just Power Rangers Zeo us?

Also, I'm wondering, after finding out Peridot is also "defective" like the other gems, what we'll find out about Lapis and Jasper. It seems like the Crystal Gems are all outcasts/wrong in some way or another. We also know Jasper is more complex than we've seen so far. I'd like to know how exactly she and Lapis aren't quite "perfect".

BlueBlaze64 The Watcher on the Tower from Empire City Since: Sep, 2012 Relationship Status: I'm just a poor boy, nobody loves me
The Watcher on the Tower
#35400: Jul 22nd 2016 at 9:05:39 AM

[up] That might be why the Rubies were only looking for Jasper in "Hit The Diamond", and didn't care about Peridot or Lapis!

Jasper's a Gen-1 Gem, and they want to guarantee their safety, since they can't make them so great anymore, so they only sent a search out for her, and not the not-as-valuable Gen-2 Gem.

edited 22nd Jul '16 9:09:49 AM by BlueBlaze64

"The cruelest thing you can do to an artist is tell them their work is flawless when it isn't." -Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw

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