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Victin Since: Dec, 2011
#48101: Mar 15th 2017 at 7:46:22 PM

I think Steven Universe had some great slice of life episodes because they managed to tell an interesting slice of life story while introducing concepts and developing plot bunnies as hints of things to come. "Winter Forecast", for example.

Y'know, now I'm wondering how can I dislike or be indifferent towards some of the townsfolk while even in their first appearance I think they did a perfect job making the Rubies interesting and showing how different they are from each other. So many other shows would have made them a bunch of hats...

RhymeBeat True colors from Eastern Standard Since: Aug, 2009 Relationship Status: In Lesbians with you
True colors
#48102: Mar 15th 2017 at 7:53:01 PM

I feel that the Rubies have an inherently more interesting concept behind them. A group of aliens that share the same basic template but nonetheless express individuality and widely different personalities. Every human citizen on the show isn't stock, but they all are something we've seen somewhere before, despite some nuances.

The Crystal Caverns A bird's gotta sing.
randomness4 Ghost '11 from The Land of Inconvenience Since: Sep, 2011
Ghost '11
#48103: Mar 15th 2017 at 8:12:06 PM

[up][up]What is "hats"?

Rules of the Internet 45. Rule 45 is a lie. Check out my art if you notice.
MorningStar1337 The Encounter that ended the Dogma from 🤔 Since: Nov, 2012
The Encounter that ended the Dogma
#48104: Mar 15th 2017 at 8:14:04 PM

[up] Prolly a reference to Planet of Hats (as in where everyone has the exact same trait)

edited 15th Mar '17 8:14:16 PM by MorningStar1337

deuteragonist Since: Dec, 2013
#48105: Mar 15th 2017 at 8:14:30 PM

I thought "Space Race" was a good one, even though it involves Pearl.

I think some of the townsfolk are pretty cool like Sadie and...uhm? The cool kids maybe? I really like Sour Cream for some reason. Am I the only one?

But yeah, it also doesn't help that the townsfolk are so far removed from the Gems and their mythology. So it's really hard to get invested in them when they don't really add anything to the far more interesting part of the story.

edited 15th Mar '17 8:27:09 PM by deuteragonist

Victin Since: Dec, 2011
#48106: Mar 15th 2017 at 8:20:39 PM

I think the show should bring the mundane and the fantastic closer, but I wouldn't mind an episode disconnected from gem stuff if the characters in it were interesting.

I like Sadie and Jamie. I guess the women from Fish Stew family could also be interesting?

@randomness4: What Morning Star 1337 said.

randomness4 Ghost '11 from The Land of Inconvenience Since: Sep, 2011
Ghost '11
#48107: Mar 15th 2017 at 8:54:35 PM

Bringing the mundane and the fantastical stuff together seems like something that would've been accomplished in the first season...

While learning more about the Gems would've been an "episode per every few episodes" thing like it already was.

edited 15th Mar '17 8:55:31 PM by randomness4

Rules of the Internet 45. Rule 45 is a lie. Check out my art if you notice.
DeathsApprentice The Ultimate Lifeform from The Ark Since: Aug, 2011 Relationship Status: Is that a kind of food?
The Ultimate Lifeform
#48108: Mar 15th 2017 at 10:05:24 PM

The Pizzas are fun. Especially Nanefua.

When we're done, there won't be anything left.
thatother1dude from Land of the Ill, Annoyin' Since: Jan, 2001
#48109: Mar 16th 2017 at 5:30:40 AM

I feel that the Rubies have an inherently more interesting concept behind them. A group of aliens that share the same basic template but nonetheless express individuality and widely different personalities. Every human citizen on the show isn't stock, but they all are something we've seen somewhere before, despite some nuances.
Members of a Clone Army showing minor signs of individuality is far from brand new.

edited 16th Mar '17 5:31:23 AM by thatother1dude

darkabomination Since: Mar, 2012
#48110: Mar 16th 2017 at 7:40:59 AM

The Gems having more varied character designs might also play a part. Or in the Rubies case, less, so the differences stand out more.

Ultimatum Disasturbator from the Amiga Forest (Old as dirt) Relationship Status: Who needs love when you have waffles?
Disasturbator
#48111: Mar 16th 2017 at 3:35:54 PM

I wonder if the names Steven gave the Rubies end up sticking,like they start identifying themselves by the nicknames he gave them when they return to Homeworld.I know names aren't necessary unique but they are a pretty important part of someone's identity,and in a society where uniformity is enforced having something like a name rather then a barcode is significant

edited 16th Mar '17 3:36:24 PM by Ultimatum

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randomness4 Ghost '11 from The Land of Inconvenience Since: Sep, 2011
Ghost '11
#48112: Mar 16th 2017 at 4:29:16 PM

Why would they stick?

Sweet Ruby only accepted "Navy" while pretending to refuge...

Rules of the Internet 45. Rule 45 is a lie. Check out my art if you notice.
Ultimatum Disasturbator from the Amiga Forest (Old as dirt) Relationship Status: Who needs love when you have waffles?
Disasturbator
#48113: Mar 16th 2017 at 4:43:25 PM

I think Steven identifying them like individuals is pretty important since that's what separates the Crystal gems from Homeworld,and yeah you have point about Navy only pretending to like the nickname,but I don't know about the others

have a listen and have a link to my discord server
Bocaj Funny but not helpful from Here or thereabouts (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Pining for the fjords
Funny but not helpful
#48114: Mar 16th 2017 at 4:49:25 PM

The unnamable is the eternally real. Naming is the origin of all particular things.

Forever liveblogging the Avengers
JBC31187 Since: Jan, 2015
#48115: Mar 16th 2017 at 6:52:18 PM

But yeah, it also doesn't help that the townsfolk are so far removed from the Gems and their mythology. So it's really hard to get invested in them when they don't really add anything to the far more interesting part of the story.

Before we met the Famathysts, I thought of a plot line involving an un-bubbled and de-corrupted Jasper, and a super-secret prison away from any warp pads. The idea was that the bubbled Gems in the temple were all corrupted, and this vault was a war-time prison filled with un-corrupted Homeworld soldiers, that the Crystal Gems obviously couldn't release now. Anyway, Jasper fights her way to it, releases her old Pink Diamond comrades, bubbles the Crystal Gems minus Steven, and then decides to conquer Earth for herself, starting with Beach City...

And then Jasper and her army kind of stop, because they don't really know what to do. Jasper's probably had a few heart-to-heart conversations with Steven at this point. She's lost her Diamond, doesn't give a crap about the other Diamonds (who straight-up abandoned all of Pink Diamond's subjects), but there's nothing she can really do with Beach City except interact with her new human subjects and think about life. So you have Homeworld Gems poking around and getting into stupid arguments with Sadie and Nanafua, or hanging out on the beach, or eating fries and ketchup packets.

And THEN, Mayor Dewey builds a human resistance and modifies his van to spit fire out of the giant head. There's a big silly Mad Max-style fight, while Steven un-bubbles Bismuth, the only Gem left who can help save the town.

Victin Since: Dec, 2011
#48116: Mar 16th 2017 at 7:59:45 PM

@randomness4: While it could be done that way, I think it should be done continuously thorough the entire run of the show. I think I would like it better this way, that it would work better in the show, but, more importantly, that it is what they're doing, or trying to do.

@thatother1dude: Sure, but again, I feel like many other shows would have the Rubies as hats, and/or wouldn't have managed to make the so interesting and vividly different. Within their first appearance one could get a great grasp from their character and they would believe it wasn't all of it - and it wasn't!

@Bocaj: Close, but not quite. Split a rock in two, you get two rocks. Split a cat in two, you get a dead cat.

randomness4 Ghost '11 from The Land of Inconvenience Since: Sep, 2011
Ghost '11
#48117: Mar 16th 2017 at 8:39:50 PM

Randomness is just agreeing with you for the most part.

That thing about it being done in Season 1, is because after a while it wouldn't be that important anymore. Would the really need over 52 episodes for the mundane and fantastical stuff to intertwine? They could do it continually, just in less than that amount of episodes.

If that's what they were going for, it seems like it would've happened already.

Rules of the Internet 45. Rule 45 is a lie. Check out my art if you notice.
Victin Since: Dec, 2011
#48118: Mar 16th 2017 at 8:51:11 PM

The reason for doing the thing is the thing itself.

Again, I think they are doing it, just not in the best way possible. I don't think "best" is the ideal qualifier to use here, because it seems to imply a judgement of quality. I mean, I suppose it could be better (the grass is always greener...), but being different it could be neither better nor worse, simply different.

randomness4 Ghost '11 from The Land of Inconvenience Since: Sep, 2011
Ghost '11
#48119: Mar 16th 2017 at 9:20:01 PM

Yes, it could be done better.

The first step is actually doing it...

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
#48120: Mar 17th 2017 at 5:34:11 AM

I feel like many other shows would have the Rubies as hats, and/or wouldn't have managed to make the so interesting and vividly different.
That is usually how it goes when multiple significant characters are from the same Planet of Hats—they're different from each other because the audience wouldn't care about them otherwise.

It's exactly why the two other Rubies in "The Answer" showed no clear difference from each other—they weren't important to the show.


I wonder what Steven will do during his next Bismuth meeting.

edited 17th Mar '17 5:37:31 AM by thatother1dude

32_Footsteps Think of the mooks! from Just north of Arkham Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
Think of the mooks!
#48121: Mar 17th 2017 at 7:43:55 AM

For "Navy" or the other nicknames sticking... well, it's not like gems are totally opposed to nicknames. The Famethyst for the most part uses their facet/cut as shorthand nicknames. And it's not just an Amethyst trait - Skinny was obviously pretty cool with her nickname, and if previous history taught us anything, it'd be that a Jasper would be least likely to be cool with it.

Of course, that could just be due to the dynamics of the Famethyst in general... man, I really want to see them again.

Reminder: Offscreen Villainy does not count towards Complete Monster.
PushoverMediaCritic I'm sorry Tien, but I must go all out. from the Italy of America Since: Jul, 2015 Relationship Status: watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ
I'm sorry Tien, but I must go all out.
#48122: Mar 17th 2017 at 8:31:37 AM

I want an episode where the Famethyst invade Beach City, turning Beachapalooza into a huge party.

unknowing from somewhere.. Since: Mar, 2014
#48123: Mar 17th 2017 at 9:21:01 AM

the reason the mundane and fantastical are separate is because Steven need someone outside the gem to devolpt him and show is charm, the other thing so far is it show why he is doing this, since you dont fight weird rock monster for fun, but I feel Steven is changing so much that there isnt much the regular people can teach him a this point.

Right now my issue with season 4 is that it dosent have a season arc: 2 have cluster, 3 have jasper, 4 have....what? rose? barey mention in 3 episode, homeworld? it show out of nowhere and we dont know anything about them now, a this point it feel the writer are just wanderng around until they have a plot

edited 17th Mar '17 9:22:30 AM by unknowing

"My Name is Bolt, Bolt Crank and I dont care if you believe or not"
Bocaj Funny but not helpful from Here or thereabouts (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Pining for the fjords
Funny but not helpful
#48124: Mar 17th 2017 at 10:03:55 AM

The seasons were arbitrarily divided.

Forever liveblogging the Avengers
unknowing from somewhere.. Since: Mar, 2014
#48125: Mar 17th 2017 at 10:10:08 AM

[up]which dosent detract from my point, season 2 have the clust, malachite and periredemption going on, this one feel like stuff just happening until they remenber the plot.

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

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