Steven UnIVerse: 4shadowing

[Flickerdart]

The episode was so mediocre that it didn't even carry my attention until the end. I'm definitely in the "Onion is pointless" camp. His only good moments are one-off gags like with the robber's mask, and the show has loads of characters already that it could use for these jokes.

[Keltest]

I think the problem with Onion is that he isn't so much a character as a sequence of events. We have no idea what he's actually thinking or why he does what he does. Is he desperate for attention? Is he just a sociopath? was he driven insane by the inability to communicate with anyone outside of his immediate friends and family? We don't know, and there aren't any hints, so its hard to feel invested in anything he does unless it affects someone we are actually invested in, and even then there really isn't any tension because everyone treats it as just Onion being Onion.

[Flickerdart]

Onion is that he isn't so much a character as a sequence of events.

I think you really hit the nail on the head here. It's also a very useful way of looking at poorly-written characters in general!

[Lizard Lord]

Onion is not the worse character in my opinion. Sure he may only be good for one off jokes (and I am not convinced there are better characters for those jokes), but Ronaldo and Lars aren't even good for that.

The fact that this Episode has neither of those characters in it, makes it hard for me to declare it the worst episode in the series. I suppose I can say its the worst episode to not have Ronaldo or Lars in it though.

[Flickerdart]

Onion is not the worse character in my opinion. Sure he may only be good for one off jokes (and I am not convinced there are better characters for those jokes), but Ronaldo and Lars aren't even good for that.

Ronaldo is an incredible character - he's the only human unaffiliated with the Crystal Gems who's in on the polymorphic rock conspiracy. He has a very clear agenda that drives his relationships with the other characters, his motivations, and his reactions to situations. Plus he has the blog, which is a great way for the show to interact with fans outside of the usual, boring ways.

Lars exists as a duo with Sadie. Together they provide a useful location for the show (the donut shop) as well as friends for Steven. But more importantly, they display a specific kind of relationship in a show about relationships.

Onion has none of that.

[Chromascope3D]

Ronaldo is an incredible character - he's the only human unaffiliated with the Crystal Gems who's in on the polymorphic rock conspiracy. He has a very clear agenda that drives his relationships with the other characters, his motivations, and his reactions to situations. Plus he has the blog, which is a great way for the show to interact with fans outside of the usual, boring ways.

Lars exists as a duo with Sadie. Together they provide a useful location for the show (the donut shop) as well as friends for Steven. But more importantly, they display a specific kind of relationship in a show about relationships.

Onion has none of that.

I agree. I really like Lars and Ronaldo. They're valuable to both Steven and the audience because they offer alternative insights without specifically being antagonistic, and while they both sometimes do despicable things that put them at odds with both each other and the rest of the cast, I honestly believe the show would be worse off without them. Plus I think that they're hilarious, but maybe that's just me.

[Keltest]

I cant say I care for Lars all that much because he is the kind of unrepentantly unpleasant character who is miserable by his own doing and knows it, yet doesn't care to change what hes doing. I really don't like willful ignorance or stupidity in a character.

[Manga Shoggoth]

I think the problem with Onion is that he isn't so much a character as a sequence of events. We have no idea what he's actually thinking or why he does what he does. ....

That's pretty much Peridot's position with Gem Mutants. The more I think about it, the more convinced I am that Onion is supposed to be the human analogue of a Gem Mutant.

[Devonix]

People either think that Ronaldo is great. Or they're objectively wrong.

[Flickerdart]

Now I am imagining a hypothetical Steven-Ronaldo fusion conspiracy-blogging that Rose was/wasn't/still is Lion/Pink Diamond/The Cluster/Onion.

[Snowbluff]

The episode was so mediocre that it didn't even carry my attention until the end. I'm definitely in the "Onion is pointless" camp. His only good moments are one-off gags like with the robber's mask, and the show has loads of characters already that it could use for these jokes.

I agree. Little jokes are good. Over exposure just ruins it.

I linked to it earlier, but I'd like to make a recommendation of "The Best Show" which is some kind of podcast thingo with Greg Universe's voice actor. It's really funny.

Sounds like fun.

[Devonix]

Now I am imagining a hypothetical Steven-Ronaldo fusion conspiracy-blogging that Rose was/wasn't/still is Lion/Pink Diamond/The Cluster/Onion.

The best of all possible fusions would be Ronaldo and Peridot.

[Professor Gnoll]

The best of all possible fusions would be Ronaldo and Peridot.

They maintain a highly active MySpace account.

[DigoDragon]

Finally saw the Onion episode.

...

...I don't get it.

[Lord Raziere]

...I don't get it.

Yup, thats a pretty concise summary of the episode Digo, well done.

[Professor Gnoll]

It's also a somewhat frustrating episode to go to hiatus on, as it doesn't give anything to really discuss, think about or look forward to. It's just... there.

[Devonix]

Finally saw the Onion episode.

...

...I don't get it.

Even weirdos get lonely?

[DigoDragon]

Yup, thats a pretty concise summary of the episode Digo, well done.

Yay!

*gives himself a cookie cat*

Spoiler

Show

It's also a somewhat frustrating episode to go to hiatus on, as it doesn't give anything to really discuss, think about or look forward to. It's just... there.

This is true. I'd switch this and Last out of Beach City so it at least ends on the interesting note of Pearl getting pseudo-Rose's digits. :3

Even weirdos get lonely?

Well, a lot of the characters in this show have their weird side. I suppose they get do lonely from time to time.

[endoperez]

It's also a somewhat frustrating episode to go to hiatus on, as it doesn't give anything to really discuss, think about or look forward to. It's just... there.

While that's true, the more frustrating thing about a hiatus is the hiatus. The two weeks of daily episode was rushed enough to start to feel exhausting, even though I liked so many of the episodes, and it didn't leave time to think about those episodes. I enjoyed these few weeks of normal pacing more than I thought I would. Weekly > bombs, even though the first StevenBomb was amazing.

[Draconi Redfir]

So... apparently the world of steven universe is gone? anyone know what happened here? how am i going to watch future episodes now?!

[Fawkes]

Probably a copyright takedown.

There'll be other places to watch it.

[Chromascope3D]

So... apparently the world of steven universe is gone? anyone know what happened here? how am i going to watch future episodes now?!

They posted about it on their tumblr, but, uh, you didn't hear this from me.

[Draconi Redfir]

alright, whew! thanks.

[Snowbluff]

Thank goodness, because I don't have my cable hooked up, because any sane person would only have it for the bundled internet.

[Weimann]

Due to the Scion 2e Kickstarter being live at the moment, I was googling around the interwebs for cool divine parents. I sort of did a double take when I came across Ishtar. She is the ancient persian goddess of war, power, fertility, sex and love, and... she might be Rose Quartz?

War - Well, that one's obvious. Rose rebelled, shattered Pink Diamond and has by all accounts proven a formidable adversary, both in terms of strategy and in physical battle. Even Jasper, who usually has no good thing to say about anyone, respected her as an opponent.

Power - Even outside the battlefield, Rose was a leader and example for the Crystal Gems. Her legacy carries on even after she is gone. I mean, she even has shrines. While we've seen some evidence that dissent and contrary opinions existed in her group (Bismuth), that was never about leadership, but about battle philosophy.

Fertility - She's the only gem to have "birthed" offspring. She's also the only gem to have the curvy body type typically associated with fertility, with curvy hips and bosoms.

Sex - This one is probaly the weakest point, but it's highly implied she actually got physically laid at some point, making her (probably) the only gem to ever have.

Love - From what I read about Ishtar (which is vanishingly little, see the "google around" thing), I think it's mostly supposed to be a sexual kind of love, but it's hard to ignore that taken in a broader sense, Rose's motivations for most of the things we've seen her do is love. She's refused to destroy Earth because she fell in love with it. She fell in love with the idea of humans. She created Steven because she fell in love with Greg, and then gave up her form beacuse she loved Steven.

This brings up another similarity. In the Epic of Gilgamesh, Ishtar proposes Gilgamesh to marry her. He refuses by recounting what's happened to Ishtar's previous loves, essentially a lot of bad stuff. The fact that Rose rebelled, out of love for Earth, is in fact a reason we see continued Homeworld agression to this day. I admit, that's a pretty weak comparison considering the alternative, but it also seems that most of the people Rose really loved have been hurt by her somehow. Pearl has been devestated that she picked Greg over her, Steven has a huge complex about Rose and Greg, while not showing it much, must be missing her. Involvement with her does seem to come at a price.

Also, her signs are the lion and the eight-pointed star (which isn't perfect, but hey, close enough).

So what do you think? Steven as a Scion of Ishtar?

[LaZodiac]

More like SU!Earth's Scion of Ishtar is inspired by Rose Quartz. It's an interesting idea though.

[Ravian]

Due to the Scion 2e Kickstarter being live at the moment, I was googling around the interwebs for cool divine parents. I sort of did a double take when I came across Ishtar. She is the ancient persian goddess of war, power, fertility, sex and love, and... she might be Rose Quartz?

War - Well, that one's obvious. Rose rebelled, shattered Pink Diamond and has by all accounts proven a formidable adversary, both in terms of strategy and in physical battle. Even Jasper, who usually has no good thing to say about anyone, respected her as an opponent.

Power - Even outside the battlefield, Rose was a leader and example for the Crystal Gems. Her legacy carries on even after she is gone. I mean, she even has shrines. While we've seen some evidence that dissent and contrary opinions existed in her group (Bismuth), that was never about leadership, but about battle philosophy.

Fertility - She's the only gem to have "birthed" offspring. She's also the only gem to have the curvy body type typically associated with fertility, with curvy hips and bosoms.

Sex - This one is probaly the weakest point, but it's highly implied she actually got physically laid at some point, making her (probably) the only gem to ever have.

Love - From what I read about Ishtar (which is vanishingly little, see the "google around" thing), I think it's mostly supposed to be a sexual kind of love, but it's hard to ignore that taken in a broader sense, Rose's motivations for most of the things we've seen her do is love. She's refused to destroy Earth because she fell in love with it. She fell in love with the idea of humans. She created Steven because she fell in love with Greg, and then gave up her form beacuse she loved Steven.

This brings up another similarity. In the Epic of Gilgamesh, Ishtar proposes Gilgamesh to marry her. He refuses by recounting what's happened to Ishtar's previous loves, essentially a lot of bad stuff. The fact that Rose rebelled, out of love for Earth, is in fact a reason we see continued Homeworld agression to this day. I admit, that's a pretty weak comparison considering the alternative, but it also seems that most of the people Rose really loved have been hurt by her somehow. Pearl has been devestated that she picked Greg over her, Steven has a huge complex about Rose and Greg, while not showing it much, must be missing her. Involvement with her does seem to come at a price.

Also, her signs are the lion and the eight-pointed star (which isn't perfect, but hey, close enough).

So what do you think? Steven as a Scion of Ishtar?

I kind of wonder if the Crystal Gems didn't inspire some of the ancient religions of the SU world. Rose in particular is practically the archetype of a fertility goddess, and I can fully believe that she spent a good deal of her millenia long existence wandering around and being worshiped by (and taking lovers from) humanity.

Ishtar in particular sounds like the almost perfect parallel for her. Though that does raise some concerns about what Rose got up to throughout human history as generally speaking Ishtar was considered a very dangerous goddess, whose love was rather hazardous to one's health. (though that's hardly a unique trait among sexual goddesses in the ancient world, the ancient world's civilizations were notoriously wary of women that turned the tables on them sexually. It could have just been a slash job by some jealous ex-lovers.)

[Draconi Redfir]

Ishtar was considered a very dangerous goddess, whose love was rather hazardous to one's health.

"You want to die like the last men who seduced Rose Quartz!?"
"I dunno. How did they die?"
"Crushed. Pelvises."

[John Cribati]

"You want to die like the last men who seduced Rose Quartz!?"
"I dunno. How did they die?"
"Crushed. Pelvises."

Death by snoo-snoo?

[Draconi Redfir]

Death by snoo-snoo?

Exactly.

Honestly wouldn't surprise me considering Rose's size.