TVTropes Now available in the app store!
Open

Follow TV Tropes

Following

Steven Universe

Go To

KnownUnknown Since: Jan, 2001
#60451: Mar 15th 2020 at 5:30:26 PM

Also, it's questionable if the events of "Growing Pains" are a Cerebus Retcon, not because of whether it's a retcon or not, but because it's not like most of the events Steven brings up were played as a joke to begin with, they just weren't held as significant long-term.

It’s definitely a Cerebus Retcon. It’s a rather textbook example, to boot.

It’s important to remember that retcon aren’t just subtractions or replacements. They can also be additions as well. “Events in story were clearly not written with X vital plot point in mind, and now are being rewritten/revisited as though X was always present” is absolutely a retcon.

Edited by KnownUnknown on Mar 15th 2020 at 5:33:29 AM

deuteragonist Since: Dec, 2013
#60452: Mar 15th 2020 at 8:48:55 PM

I dunno...I honestly disagree.

A lot of the stuff that Steven mentions were portrayed as pretty traumatic at the time. If you go back to episodes like Cat Fingers, So Many Birthdays, Steven The Sword Fighter, An Indirect Kiss and Jailbreak specifically, Steven reacted pretty severely to the events that happened. None of those experiences were really played for laughs or were even particularly lighthearted occurrences, even if there were jokes in the episode.

If anything, Steven just never internalized the events as traumatic because he was a kid. He was saving Beach City one day and eating fry bits the next. Now he's a teenager whose body is changing and catching up to him. His mental health is also taking a dip because he doesn't really have an outlet that doesn't involve fixing people because the people that he compulsively tried to fix have their own lives now (and in his mind, are abandoning him). So yeah, his perception of things is going to be far more cynical and triggering now. Same with the show.

Also, as a young adult, it becomes much easier to look back on the things that happened to you as a kid and go "Hey, that was pretty fucked up".

Edited by deuteragonist on Mar 15th 2020 at 8:53:03 AM

OmegaRadiance Since: Jun, 2011
#60453: Mar 15th 2020 at 9:01:23 PM

Lets not forget he talked with the cool kids about stuff as well and they clearly were uncomfortable because he was dealing with some heavy stuff, including that like Pearl blamed him for Rose being gone I think he mentioned.

Steven just never properly talked about it.

Every accusation by the GOP is ALWAYS a confession.
deuteragonist Since: Dec, 2013
#60454: Mar 15th 2020 at 9:39:32 PM

Yeah as Steven got older he definitely started to internalize things in the later seasons but never to this degree where it's physically hurting him. He talked about the stuff with people, but he was still in the middle of learning everything about the past and fixing everyone else that it never really manifested like it has now.

It was only in later episodes like Mindful Education, Storm in the Room or What's Your Room -where Amethyst literally has to sit Steven down and ask him "BUT WHAT ABOUT YOU?!"- that really gets into Steven's psyche and past trauma.

KnownUnknown Since: Jan, 2001
#60455: Mar 15th 2020 at 10:40:26 PM

Steven, specifically, was shown to internalize social problems between himself and the others - beginning with the issues with his mom, and branching out from there. That was on purpose.

Part of what allowed them to focus on those things, was that any direct trauma from the terrible events he was experiencing - both physical and mental - were swept under the rug or were otherwise nonexistent. If Steven was having trauma from nearly choking to death in space, for example, it would override the actual overall issue the writers wanted him to be facing, which was that Eyeball hated Pink so much that she wouldn't listen to reason. Steven was a Kid Hero: his ability to fight or engage any problem was never put in question, and as such his character was focused on the ideological problems he faced, the issues with his family group, and his place in the universe. The fact that none of that was a thing earlier is essential to the delivery of this episode as a Wham Episode.

This season is the first time any of that, specifically, has been seriously made an aspect of his trauma without playing it off or dismissing it (I remember the show making a gag out of it in Steven & The Stevens, but that's definitely in the "playing it off" camp) - especially to the extent of tying it into the unifying theory of how his body works and why his gem powers are acting in X or Y way. And as it is applying this canon retroactively to the events where it wasn't present previously, yes. It's a retcon. I imagine this whole aspect of the season started in a writers room a year or so ago, with them going "hey, what if all this time Steven was building up PTSD?"

Though to be fair, the actual point of change was probably a little earlier than that. The final season before the movie definitely has quite a bit - especially towards the end - that in retrospect was there to set this up, but it all coming at the tail end of that season is pretty telling about how it was introduced into the show.

One of the reasons additional retcons work is because they fill empty holes that hadn't been filled before. Steven having taken serious injury that instantly healed or having PTSD from all the times he nearly died makes sense, but that doesn't mean it was there in the writing originally. It just mean there was space for it to be altered in later. This show did that sort of thing all the time. It's an essential tool for building up character layers to the degree they have.

Let us also remember at this point that retcon is not a dirty word.

Edited by KnownUnknown on Mar 15th 2020 at 10:58:42 AM

Snicka Since: Jun, 2011
#60456: Mar 16th 2020 at 11:10:33 AM

A bit of Fridge Brilliance: part of the reason why Steven's "engagement ring" to Connie is not a traditional diamond ring is that he, himself, is a Diamond, therefore putting a fellow diamond on a ring would be weird.

galienus Since: Sep, 2019
#60457: Mar 16th 2020 at 2:26:22 PM

[up]Actually it would still be weird even if the tradition would require a different gem, because if i remember correctly SU humans dont use gems as juwelry at all.

thatother1dude from Land of the Ill, Annoyin' Since: Jan, 2001
#60458: Mar 16th 2020 at 4:55:54 PM

if i remember correctly SU humans dont use gems as juwelry at all.
In an AMA, Lamar Abrams said they avoided showing gems used as jewelry because "it'd be too weird to think about". It's debatable if that means humans don't use them, though.

VengefulBale Bishie Gijinka Meta Knight from Nowhere Since: Feb, 2016 Relationship Status: It's complicated
Bishie Gijinka Meta Knight
#60459: Mar 16th 2020 at 5:04:53 PM

[up] Since they said Gems are technology. It's possible that they were built with a physical appearance based on humans and using minerals found on Earth as the "processor" of their forms.

Assuming they were made by another race or some unknown being.

Prettiest Meta Knight Gijinka, ngl
thatother1dude from Land of the Ill, Annoyin' Since: Jan, 2001
#60460: Mar 16th 2020 at 5:09:49 PM

The crew were explicit years ago that gems' resemblance to humans is inexplicable/coincidental in-universe.

VengefulBale Bishie Gijinka Meta Knight from Nowhere Since: Feb, 2016 Relationship Status: It's complicated
Bishie Gijinka Meta Knight
#60461: Mar 16th 2020 at 5:10:37 PM

Forget what I said then, my dumbass forgot that

Prettiest Meta Knight Gijinka, ngl
Ultimatum Disasturbator from the Amiga Forest (Old as dirt) Relationship Status: Who needs love when you have waffles?
Disasturbator
#60462: Mar 16th 2020 at 5:21:45 PM

If they ever reveal the creators of the Gem race I want them to resemble Brainiac because that's how I've imagined them

Or some sort of Primus figure (Dungeons and dragons)

Edited by Ultimatum on Mar 16th 2020 at 12:26:34 PM

have a listen and have a link to my discord server
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.
#60463: Mar 17th 2020 at 1:51:53 AM

Oh my god, remember when Ruby asked Steven if he's thought about getting married, and he sheepishly said yes? Remember when, prior to Garnet's wedding, Steven presented Sapphire with a massive journal labeled "Dream Wedding"? And when Sapphire asked him how long it took him to put it together, he said "my entire life"?

Jeez, no wonder he went all-out on the proposal.

galienus Since: Sep, 2019
#60464: Mar 17th 2020 at 1:51:58 AM

[up][up]Im seriously questioning if they will reveal it in SUF, because so far this question was not even brought up once in the franchise at all and i dont see how the could incorporate it in a story about stevens mental health without making it anticlimatic and disappointing.

It wouldnt surprise me if RS herself reveals it one day in an interview or a Q&A because with how easy the gempire was dismantled i fail to say how they can make it matter in a story especially when none of the characters even ronaldo ever brought it up at all.

Edited by galienus on Mar 17th 2020 at 1:55:18 AM

Will29 (Experienced, Not Yet Jaded) Relationship Status: Non-Canon
#60465: Mar 17th 2020 at 7:42:07 AM

Well, one of the episodes will feature White Diamond, as she's on the intro's "villains" shot. Specifically a pinkish, distressed WD.

If there's an origin story for the Gem race, its gonna be this episode.

wild mass guess - My guess is, there's no precursor race. WD arose naturally/spontaneously from Homeworld's soil, and she went on to create the other diamonds, and then the other gems.

Pinkish Distressed WD was her in the past, she excised that part of herself by creating Pink Diamond. That will be relevant for Steven's current pinkish, distressing issues.

Wispy Since: Feb, 2017
#60466: Mar 17th 2020 at 8:03:14 AM
Thumped: This post has been thumped with the mod stick. This means knock it off.
galienus Since: Sep, 2019
#60467: Mar 17th 2020 at 9:47:24 AM

[up][up]Problem with your wild mass guess RS already confirmed that gems are technology and WD so far is considered a gem as well. Not to mention when Steven made her blush her words heavily imply she did not decide on her purpose by her own will just like all the other gems did. I actually hope WD doesnt really know or understand her origins as well and will not understand when she is asked about it. Or when she does and tries to talk about it she is silencing herself like pearl did back then regarding PD=RQ.

Edited by galienus on Mar 17th 2020 at 9:48:33 AM

CountofBleck Starting to believe in himself from New Wirral (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
Starting to believe in himself
#60468: Mar 17th 2020 at 3:36:31 PM

Rebecca talks about thr latest two episodes and how trauma is affecting steven

It also gives a tidbit i dont think we ever confirmed: sapphire can only see one path, while garnet sees multiple because of their character traits.

thatother1dude from Land of the Ill, Annoyin' Since: Jan, 2001
#60469: Mar 17th 2020 at 4:37:34 PM

Edited by thatother1dude on Mar 17th 2020 at 8:28:25 AM

nombretomado (Season 1) Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
#60470: Mar 17th 2020 at 6:02:09 PM

~Wispy, please take it here. Post is getting thumped as a courtesy to others.

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.
#60471: Mar 17th 2020 at 6:31:48 PM

Man, this song hits differently now:

Smasher from The 1830's, but without the racists (Don’t ask) Relationship Status: The best thing that ever happened to a bum like me
#60472: Mar 17th 2020 at 9:47:07 PM

So who else in the intro hasn't been in an episode yet?

Crossover-Enthusiast from an abaondoned mall (Lucky 7) Relationship Status: Chocolate!
#60473: Mar 17th 2020 at 9:58:03 PM

Centi.

Jawbreakers on sale for 99¢
alanh Since: May, 2010
#60474: Mar 18th 2020 at 7:43:44 AM

Not surprising since most of the movie theaters are closed, but the sing-along in theater event is officially cancelled. The sing-along edition of the movie can be watched on the CN app.

Snicka Since: Jun, 2011
#60475: Mar 18th 2020 at 8:04:23 AM

[up][up]Except for a brief cameo in Steven's flashback in "Growing Pains".


Total posts: 63,336
Top