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thatother1dude from Land of the Ill, Annoyin' Since: Jan, 2001
#50776: Jun 14th 2017 at 5:04:21 PM

Now, you could reasonably say "If they weren't interesting in addressing stuff like that then don't include it", but these are just the impression I get of the situation.
It's essentially a trope in-of itself.

Either way, while you can find the show to be wasting narrative potential with its Alternate History, the original statement was that human society being functionally identical to real life is proof the whole show "makes no statement whatsoever". As if a story can only convey a message through its setting, not plot or characters.

And really, the main reasons humanity is basically the same is because the gems are the aliens. To make human culture more different than real life is to diminish the alien aspects of gem culture.

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.
#50777: Jun 14th 2017 at 5:05:19 PM

Also, Hoppy the rabbit from Garnet's Universe was purple and had a scar over her left eye, though that's probably just a coincidence.

deuteragonist Since: Dec, 2013
#50778: Jun 14th 2017 at 5:08:23 PM

There is however a lot of symbolism I've noticed ,I won't compile a full list here but,the ones the stick out the most are the barn and the temple,and the focus on redeeming people,as well as love and forgiveness

Steven is basically Jesus anyways. Heals people, is super forgiving, turns enemy into ally, and he even raises the dead. Lars is Lazarus. Larzarus.

Don't forget the Crystal Gems basically being Rose's Disciples and having her picture and statue as if they worship her. Also, I always found Rose and Pearl's relationship to be extremely similar to Jesus' relationship with Peter.

edited 14th Jun '17 5:08:41 PM by deuteragonist

PhiSat Planeswalker from Everywhere and Nowhere Since: Jan, 2011
Planeswalker
#50779: Jun 14th 2017 at 5:09:37 PM

I don't think humanity is exactly the same. The constant Weirdness Censor the residents of Beach City have and the abnormal alien design say that a lot is in fact different, we just don't get to know about those differences because from Steven's perspective they're normal and he doesn't question them.

Oissu!
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.
#50780: Jun 14th 2017 at 5:11:07 PM

And the entirety of the episode Three Gems and a Baby.

Ultimatum Disasturbator from the Amiga Forest (Old as dirt) Relationship Status: Who needs love when you have waffles?
Disasturbator
#50781: Jun 14th 2017 at 5:12:39 PM

Gems aren't far off from being angels really,Lapis lazuli especially

edited 14th Jun '17 5:13:26 PM by Ultimatum

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JoyandPeace heartless from fishbowl space Since: Jan, 2016 Relationship Status: In another castle
heartless
#50782: Jun 14th 2017 at 5:28:36 PM

Y Ou know the religious aspect is something I've thought about before, but it never really occurred to me that it could be an actual thing in the show.

Bide your time, and Hold out Hope — GANKUTSUOU Just because it's irrational, doesn't mean it's not real.
thatother1dude from Land of the Ill, Annoyin' Since: Jan, 2001
#50783: Jun 14th 2017 at 5:29:01 PM

Also the absence of religion,it's very thorny area.
Even if the holidays are different, the setting probably has religions, and ones pretty similar to real life.

For one thing, dialogue has mentioned the concepts of angels and demons, both figuratively and literally

Religion is just as present (i.e. unspecified) as other cartoons of this time, place, and demographic, even the ones mundane or Mundane Fantastic enough where religion would logically be the same.

Lars is Lazarus. Larzarus.
I previously realized the comparison, but not the pun. Thanks for that.

Wonder how long Rose knew Lion before she inadvertently(?) made him the way he is now.
She may well have tamed generations of desert lions before one of them died and she resurrected him.

xanderiskander Since: Mar, 2012
SilentColossus (Don’t ask)
#50785: Jun 14th 2017 at 5:39:18 PM

The problem isn't that humans accept Gem stuff as normal, it's that they rarely react at all. Even if the rebellion was 5000 years ago, people should still know about it. That kinda stuff gets passed down orally. Maybe as myths. And even if it wasn't, historians and archeologists would have at least figured out the alien invasion part. I doubt a little danger would keep people away; most gem monsters are not much more dangerous than a mammoth. Except for the respawn bit.

Even if Steven knows little, someone like Connie would research it. Maybe the humans get stuff wrong, but they should know something. Instead, most outside of Beach City never heard of the gems, and Beach City ignores them.

I normally wouldn't mind, but the show puts so much effort into world building for the gems, but ignores the humans.

edited 14th Jun '17 5:47:13 PM by SilentColossus

Ultimatum Disasturbator from the Amiga Forest (Old as dirt) Relationship Status: Who needs love when you have waffles?
Disasturbator
#50786: Jun 14th 2017 at 5:39:31 PM

> Y Ou know the religious aspect is something I've thought about before, but it never really occurred to me that it could be an actual thing in the show.

It's done in such a way that doesn't come across as preachy,least that's what I've found

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KnownUnknown Since: Jan, 2001
#50787: Jun 14th 2017 at 5:50:22 PM

I'm wondering now if there's a catch to Lars coming back,not necessarily a bad catch,but a catch none the less

Well, he's probably immortal now, or at least extremely long lived. That might put a snag in his relationship with Sadie, if and when they ever meet again.

thatother1dude from Land of the Ill, Annoyin' Since: Jan, 2001
#50788: Jun 14th 2017 at 5:55:06 PM

Aspects of the show resemble those of real life religions/mythologies, but I wouldn't necessarily say that reflects something about the religions in the show's world. There is No Such Thing as Wizard Jesus, after all.

I normally wouldn't mind, but the show puts so much effort into world building for the gems, but ignores the humans.
Like I said, it's mostly so their humans are humans, and their aliens will be our aliens. My problem is more that all this makes humanity in general, and Beach Citizens especially, come off as... suicidally dumb, or at least apathetic.

I mean, if I saw evidence of hyper-advanced alien technology laying around Earth, I'd scavenge/outright steal that shit, even if it's almost completely indecipherable to me and will probably give me cancer.

thatother1dude from Land of the Ill, Annoyin' Since: Jan, 2001
#50789: Jun 14th 2017 at 6:08:08 PM

CN posted a video preview of Save the Light from E3. I haven't watch the whole thing yet, it's a half hour long, but the character and environmental art/animations looks pretty freaking sweet.

Unfortunately, despite a comment from that video about a PC version apparently made in error, the devs has specified it's only currently planned for PS 4 and XBONE.

Austin Since: Jan, 2001
#50790: Jun 14th 2017 at 6:18:32 PM

A war took place on earth thousands of years ago between two factions of an all-powerful alien race that, apparently, humans participated in. What is Earth's history like? What are our religions? How was our society and our culture shaped by this cataclysmic event that would forever change our understanding of everything?

Yeah. I realize it's probably another downside to the show's 11-minute format, but as I've said before, the whole Alternate History aspect of the series seems completely superfluous.

Problem with Adventure Time is that after a while the world building just seems like fucking padding because the writers don't have any ideas. Oh, Finn lost his arm? Eh, just pad it out with some bullshit about Jake's tail being a clown so that we can resolve this plot in an anti-climactic manner. Steven Universe limits itself too much with Steven's POV but I at least feel like it doesn't waste as much time on pointless excursions around Beach City like Adventure Time does with Ooo.

Adventure Time is a show that always made me wonder how much was planned and how much was made up as they went along. Certain plotlines were set up way in advanced, but with some things the payoff takes so long that it seems like they only decided to expand on it later on. Sometimes it seems like they have too many ideas and they don't always know what to do with them.

Like I said, it's mostly so their humans are humans, and their aliens will be our aliens. My problem is more that all this makes humanity in general, and Beach Citizens especially, come off as... suicidally dumb, or at least apathetic.

I think you can explain this attitude to an extent. To the humans, the Gems have always been around. They might not understand them, but the situation isn't like it would be if aliens just randomly dropped out of the sky. Unfortunately, Connie's parents not reacting to Alexandrite or the mutations took this attitude too far for me to find plausible, and I think those instances would've been more fitting for a show that takes itself less seriously than Steven Universe.

I do feel there's potential in exploring how humans view Gems. "Rising Tides, Crashing Skies" is pretty much the only episode where anyone bothers to ask "Why are you so cool with all this weird stuff happening?" I still wonder if Ronaldo's documentary will ever come back into play. The episode ends with the Crystal Gems noting that no one else seems to have seen the video, which seemed like a signal that it's going to become relevant in the future. But given how little interest the show has in exploring human and Gem relationships, it might not.

Given that the Gems' battle fields seem to have been untouched until that explorer dude found them, it made me wonder if the Gems had an agreement with all human governments to not mess with their stuff. I doubt it'll ever be addressed, but I could see Rose trying to work out an arrangement to minimize humans accidently causing problems by interacting with Gem tech or creatures.

thatother1dude from Land of the Ill, Annoyin' Since: Jan, 2001
#50791: Jun 14th 2017 at 6:24:03 PM

The episode ends with the Crystal Gems noting that no one else seems to have seen the video, which seemed like a signal that it's going to become relevant in the future.
According to the relevant Keep Beach City Weird article, it was taken down for copyright violations that Ronaldo doesn't seem to understand.

Given that the Gems' battle fields seem to have been untouched until that explorer dude found them, it made me wonder if the Gems had an agreement with all human governments to not mess with their stuff.
The implication is that, since old gem tech looks ancient and humans can't use it, people just assumed they're mundane artifacts not worth bothering with. I don't think that's really enough of an explanation, but it's probably all we'll get.

edited 14th Jun '17 6:27:34 PM by thatother1dude

AdricDePsycho Rock on, Gold Dust Woman from Never Going Back Again Since: Oct, 2014 Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
Rock on, Gold Dust Woman
#50792: Jun 14th 2017 at 6:32:24 PM

[up][up]

Adventure Time started off with them making it up as they went along, then they began planning out each season as they started production on them. Even then, you can tell it's largely unplanned and suffers from the Chris Carter Effect. The entire idea of Ooo being post-apocalyptic Earth wasn't even intentional, it was originally a joke from the Business Time episode. The whole "foreshadowing" about Finn's arm more than likely was originally them making a joke. Hell, Marceline and the Ice King having a dark and emotional past and Ice King's cursed crown was retroactively added in because the characters hadn't interacted at the time and they needed an explanation for Ice King's constant forgetfulness. You can tell because in one early episode, Ice King literally says that he made the crown himself. It was retconned in that the crown was an ancient artifact.

Compare to Steven Universe, where even the original pilot from before it was ever picked up in the first place foreshadowed Garnet being a fusion in the first few minutes, where the first episode foreshadows the Gems being alien refugees who turned their back on Homeworld with the Cookie Cat song, and where the huge temple and mural from Serious Steven was foreshadowing the Gem War and the Diamond Authority and Rose shattering Pink Diamond. They planned a lot more than Adventure Time ever did and it kinda shows when you go back and watch the early episodes.

Have you any dreams you'd like to sell?
randomness4 Ghost '11 from The Land of Inconvenience Since: Sep, 2011
Ghost '11
#50793: Jun 14th 2017 at 6:38:03 PM

That works because the Ice King was crazy anyway...and it was made the exact way he said he made it.

[up][up][up]Despite my bias, I'd like to think anything not related to Character development wasn't planned.

Rules of the Internet 45. Rule 45 is a lie. Check out my art if you notice.
SalFishFin Since: Jan, 2001
#50794: Jun 14th 2017 at 6:39:20 PM

Who was around 5 millenia ago again? Like, the Egyptians? If Gems were around since back then, I would figure the whole "Gem War" thing was literal ancient history and is just a part of general public consciousnes. How often do we really see stuff about, say, Ancient Mesopotamia IRL, without actively looking for it? Never. Same thing here. Like, even Andy didn't seem to care that all the Gems had weird colors, just that they were screwing with the barn.

edited 14th Jun '17 6:39:54 PM by SalFishFin

thatother1dude from Land of the Ill, Annoyin' Since: Jan, 2001
#50795: Jun 14th 2017 at 7:21:39 PM

I will point out that the gems' origin was first planned to be very different, and much of season 1a would be the same (even the subtler hints could be taken different ways). I still think SU is much better at planning out plot twists and especially character backstoriesExample , but the idea of gems being aliens was written in a similar way to Ooo being Earth All Along.

Ironic, considering gems even being aliens is like Robert Patrick's character in Terminator 2 being a robot sent by Skynet, while the T-800 is actually the good guy—it's been spoiled so hard it goes past It Was His Sled, and now people don't even realize it's a plot twist as they watch it.

Point is, with a long production cycle like this, you can add a lot of foreshadowing very late in. The amount in the opening of Over the Garden Wall is just freaking crazy, but they could do that because it was literally the last thing in the show they made.

Ultimatum Disasturbator from the Amiga Forest (Old as dirt) Relationship Status: Who needs love when you have waffles?
Disasturbator
#50796: Jun 15th 2017 at 1:58:48 PM

> Who was around 5 millenia ago again? Like, the Egyptians?

According to the wikipedia I just glanced at the people there would be the earliest people to inhabit Egypt and settle along the Nile,

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5th_millennium_BC

edited 15th Jun '17 1:59:27 PM by Ultimatum

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Ninjaxenomorph The best and the worst. from Texas, Texas, Texas Since: Jun, 2009 Relationship Status: Non-Canon
The best and the worst.
#50797: Jun 15th 2017 at 2:30:23 PM

The news on Save the Light is disappointing; I don't have any of the latest-gen consoles. Only a 3DS and a PC.

Me and my friend's collaborative webcomic: Forged Men
Ultimatum Disasturbator from the Amiga Forest (Old as dirt) Relationship Status: Who needs love when you have waffles?
Disasturbator
#50798: Jun 15th 2017 at 2:35:24 PM

The good news is that they really want to release it on the PC,it's huge market to ignore and they know it

It will probably come much later,they might even have plans DLC if it's successful

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Mr.Badguy Since: May, 2013 Relationship Status: YOU'RE TEARING ME APART LISA
#50799: Jun 15th 2017 at 3:06:19 PM

What news? Is Save the Light not coming to PS4/XBO/NS?

EDIT: I am dumb and can't read.

edited 15th Jun '17 3:08:10 PM by Mr.Badguy

AdricDePsycho Rock on, Gold Dust Woman from Never Going Back Again Since: Oct, 2014 Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
Rock on, Gold Dust Woman
#50800: Jun 15th 2017 at 3:07:36 PM

It's not coming to PC.

Have you any dreams you'd like to sell?

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