Steven 2niverse: Made of Love

[Rater202]

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I just got a mental image of Peridot becoming envious of the time Steven spends with Connie.

[Sigh]

That is absolutely a thing that needs to happen, though I'd settle for her just meeting a human in the first place.

[LaZodiac]

Yo how's about this fancy sneak peek of next week's episode that they just released: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=toIxsAibZww

[Ravian]

Yo how's about this fancy sneak peek of next week's episode that they just released: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=toIxsAibZww

Spoiler: Sneak Peek

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Well if that's not indication that Pearls are a servant class, I don't know what is. Peridot tried to dismiss her like a maid. It's promising that our Pearl clearly isn't taking it though. Back before Friend Ship I would be a little worried.

It is interesting that Peridot has been providing evidence for popular fan theories left and right. She already confirmed the "Peridot has robot parts" theory, and yesterday she pretty much confirmed that there were multiple gems of the same time. And now we have this.

[Coidzor]

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I just got a mental image of Peridot becoming envious of the time Steven spends with Connie.

That is absolutely a thing that needs to happen, though I'd settle for her just meeting a human in the first place.

Agreed!

This actually brings up a point I hadn't considered. Gems are essentially "grown" from the Earth in much the way the cluster is incubating in it, is it possible that the two are using similar mechanics?

Gem birth is still a subject we're foggy on. In the latest short Amethyst said that the Earth was injected with "junk". But if the Mutants and Cluster are essentially incubating like a normal gem might, it could likely be that the junk is similar.

Like what if all gems are essentially born from recycling broken shards, sticking them in the ground and letting them collect additional material to grow into a fully formed gem, almost like a more morbid form of plants. The only thing that makes the mutants different is that multiple gem shards were crudely fused together and then grown like that, in order to add additional mass to the resulting gem but also seriously deforming it in the process.

It would essentially mean that the gem mutants were essentially new-born for all intents and purposes. But that all Gems are basically born form the essence of previous gems.

It's possible that this is what Peridot meant when she said Harvest. Rather than using Gems to power objects, it's possible that Homeworld might shatter Gems so that they can be regrown into multiple new gems of the same type

It also lends credibility to the "Rose was in charge of managing the Kindergarten" theory. Given that Rose can heal gemstones, that sort of power might be a necessary component to creating new gems. Add tears to a shard seperated from the rest, inject into planet, wait for the tears to absorb surrounding material to replace missing material, and out pops a new Gem.

You might be onto something there, Ravian, yeah.

Yo how's about this fancy sneak peek of next week's episode that they just released: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=toIxsAibZww

So adorable. And teeny.

[Vulkan]

Next week on Steven Universe; Peridot learns how to deal with a defective Pearl.

[Callos_DeTerran]

I was going to say...the implication that I've gotten is that the Gem Mutants are a result of experiments on smashed Crystal Gems while the Cluster is the result of a much, much larger process. Peridot does say that once the Earth was found to be unsuitable for habitation (and stop the presses there, WHY is Earth unsuitable for habitation?) that it was used as testing for the geo-weapon known as the Cluster. In other words, once earth was deemed uninhabitable, the Kindergarten was used to produce gem shards/clusters to be used in making the Cluster rather than fully formed Gems. In other words, as someone said above, I think Amethyst might be a lot luckier than she thinks!

This means a few things to me.

Spoiler: Odd Rose Theory

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1) Rose and Co. are said to rebel because they wanted to give life on earth it's fair shake at living and thus rebelled in order to save earth and humanity. However this terrible thing WASN'T the Cluster but the harvesting of earth's...junk that is used to make gems but kill the planet.

2) If Rose was part Homeworld leadership than presumably earth would not have been the first time the gems have harvested a planet to make more of their own kind which may or may not have had life on them as well. Until shown otherwise, we can assume she had no problem harvesting these other planets. (Originally the Crystal Gems didn't seem to know the Red Eye had been sent by another gem and Pearl's statement in The Return that earth wasn't a Gem-controlled planet implying there are other planets that also aren't).

3) Rose loved...well...all life. At least as far as we can tell anyway, she loved all life but...she didn't seem to take it all seriously (see the start of her relationship with Greg). Humanity likely came around AFTER the rebellion at that, at least in any truly organized manner.

4) Rose kept a LOT of secrets from everyone. Even her (self-expressed) confidant apparently doesn't all of Rose's secrets but she kept them in order to protect the people under her.

This all lead me to the thought, based entirely off the theory that Rose used to be Gem leadership and not just a random gem, that it wasn't the harvesting of Earth to make new gems that Rose objected to...but the formation of the Cluster. Rose loved all life, right? That would include any predatory species as well so its not so much predation/natural selection she has a problem with but rather the destruction of life. This means, for this theory anyway, that Rose was actually fine with harvesting the Earth since it may have wiped out earth's natural life but would have lead to the birth of more gems (life continues just not in the same form) not just...eradicating the life on earth. It was after the study on the Cluster began that Rose began to have problems and took up arms against her own kind. Not because earth was being harvested, because at least new life was being born in the wake of the harvesting of earth, but because the Cluster represents well...nothing. Its just a massive weapon and the life on earth is being lost as an experiment for a weapon which I don't think Rose would be alright with.

Er...to clear it up, I think we may find out soon that Rose rebelled because she knew about the Cluster and what it would do and not because of the same reasons she told everyone else. I only think this because of a hunch but also because..every character has had some sort of shameful secret or hidden depths that makes them more...well human. EVERY character except for Rose. I think before this business with the Cluster is done, we're going to see Steven's (and the Gem's) faith in the immaculate image of Rose Quartz shaken if not outright broken and needing to be rebuilt. Again, crazy theory.

...I like spinning theories about Steven Universe out there and seeing what sticks. I had another one actually but I don't remember the details about it.

[Rater202]

My own theory on the Kindergarten?

Spoiler

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The process normally ins't destructive.

Earth is just the first planet the Gems tried it on that could't replenish the "good stuff" faster than the kindergarten used it up.

[F.H. Zebedee]

Since we're spitballing theories, I'm going to throw mine out there:
The Gem homeworld has virtually no water. That's why Lapis was so easily subjugated by the Homeworld gems. Maybe her power is limited to "can control a singular body of water", which on a planet with limited hydration would be borderline useless. It's just her luck that earth has a ridiculous amount of water in a single location.

If you look at her mindset, there's quite a bit of evidence for it. She never acts like she's in control, even when she's got the whole planet under her heel, functionally. Lapis has spent her whole life being downtrodden and has yet to learn to actually stand up for herself. Think about it... When she's attacked by the gems at the ocean column, she doesn't respond with a unique attack of her own; her way of meeting them with force is just sending the exact same gems to fight off her pursuers.

[LaZodiac]

You know speaking of theories, one a friend showed to me.

Spoiler

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The Geode, from the episode where Greg faked his leg injury. It's a giant glowing crystal sphere. Do you think it could be the Cluster?

[Callos_DeTerran]

Since we're spitballing theories, I'm going to throw mine out there:
The Gem homeworld has virtually no water. That's why Lapis was so easily subjugated by the Homeworld gems. Maybe her power is limited to "can control a singular body of water", which on a planet with limited hydration would be borderline useless. It's just her luck that earth has a ridiculous amount of water in a single location.

If you look at her mindset, there's quite a bit of evidence for it. She never acts like she's in control, even when she's got the whole planet under her heel, functionally. Lapis has spent her whole life being downtrodden and has yet to learn to actually stand up for herself. Think about it... When she's attacked by the gems at the ocean column, she doesn't respond with a unique attack of her own; her way of meeting them with force is just sending the exact same gems to fight off her pursuers.

I definitely agree that the gem homeworld is likely arid...but I really, really think Lapis isn't quite as powerful as fans have made her out to be. I think its a unique scenario where, under the right conditions, Lapis can figuratively 'punch above her weight class' but I wouldn't go so far as to say she totally exceeds everyone else.

[Rater202]

You know speaking of theories, one a friend showed to me.

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The Geode, from the episode where Greg faked his leg injury. It's a giant glowing crystal sphere. Do you think it could be the Cluster?

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Peridot says the Cluster is at the center of the Earth.

The preview clip shows the "robots" the gems are building to be some kind of drill.

A Future Episode is called Gem Drill.

It's probably not the geode.

[Gopher Wizard]

Oh! So now I know where rain comes from. But what produces thunder? And what are stars?

Also...

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So the Cluster is Lavos? How many Akira Toriyama references does that make in this show now?

Also, Steven and Peridot are adorable together. Who wants to ship them? Don't let the age thing turn you off to this. Steven can change his age as seen in Too Many Birthdays. Plus, look at the age gap between Gregg and Rose.

[Callos_DeTerran]

Spoiler

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Peridot says the Cluster is at the center of the Earth.

The preview clip shows the "robots" the gems are building to be some kind of drill.

A Future Episode is called Gem Drill.

It's probably not the geode.

Spoiler: Cluster/Geode Theory

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Agreed that the Storm Geode isn't the Cluster...but...it has just occurred to me that with the stated destructive power of the Geode and the Star/Comet Shard.

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...Well...what better way to destroy a giant gem cluster than with an artificially contained storm or the object the Gems considered warming to the Galaxy Warp in order to destroy it? It'd solve the problem of the geode if it was consumed in the process of destroying the Cluster which would be a good way to wrap up loose ends in that regard.

[Ravian]

Another thing I just considered.

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The Cluster is set to destroy the Earth soon. This obviously partially explains why Homeworld hasn't sent anyone else to extract her. (The other reason being they probably don't care enough about her to risk anyone else.)

Of course that does mean they will more than likely send someone else very soon after the Cluster is dealt with. After all, even if they aren't planning to reuse the Cluster to destroy other planets, at the very least they need to know if it worked or not since they abandoned their technician there. Plus you can be sure whoever they send will be rather annoyed when it doesn't work. Whatever happens, I think the Crystal Gems can expect some more company after the Cluster plot is resolved.

[Rater202]

Spoiler

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And Peridot is labeled a traitor because she helped stop the Cluster, thus forcing her to stay with the Crystal Gems.

[Coidzor]

Oh! So now I know where rain comes from. But what produces thunder? And what are stars?

Also...

Spoiler

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So the Cluster is Lavos? How many Akira Toriyama references does that make in this show now?

Also, Steven and Peridot are adorable together. Who wants to ship them? Don't let the age thing turn you off to this. Steven can change his age as seen in Too Many Birthdays. Plus, look at the age gap between Gregg and Rose.

Spoiler

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Oh mai. You're right, I missed the Lavos angle the first time around. Granted, I didn't really pick up on that much clear Akira Toriyama in the first place.

Eh, I'm pretty sure Connie wins any shipping wars when it comes to The World's Best Stephen.

Speaking of Steven being The World's Best Stephen, and all... Do you think there's a Stephen out there who got The World's Best Steven mug?

Some kind of pure-human Nega or Bizarro Steven, maybe?

[Ravian]

Spoiler

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And Peridot is labeled a traitor because she helped stop the Cluster, thus forcing her to stay with the Crystal Gems.

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Oh definitely. This was a project five thousand years in the making and she screwed it up when they were nearly ready to cut the ribbon. I doubt they're going to care if she did it to save her own hide.

[Gopher Wizard]

Granted, I didn't really pick up on that much clear Akira Toriyama in the first place.

Steven Universe is full of Dragon Ball reference the biggest being fusion dance. Also Garnet's Universe is one big ol' anime shout out.

[Ravian]

Steven Universe is full of Dragon Ball reference the biggest being fusion dance. Also Garnet's Universe is one big ol' anime shout out.

General rule of Thumb, if you're wondering if something on Steven Universe is a reference to an anime, the answer is usually yes.

Strangely one of the apparent exceptions is Madoka Magica (according to Rebecca Sugar she's never watched it) which is so odd considering both shows involve magical girls whose souls are contained within gemstones and are unfortunately prone to corruption, leading to other magical girls having to hunt down and contain/destroy them.

Heck I had been considering the theory that the monsters were corrupted gems since episode one because of Madoka, it just seemed too convenient that both the heroes and the monsters both had gemstones on their bodies. Once I hit Steven the Swordfighter I had concluded that the entire show was a stealth homage to Madoka.

[John Cribati]

General rule of Thumb, if you're wondering if something on Steven Universe is a reference to an anime, the answer is usually yes.

Strangely one of the apparent exceptions is Madoka Magica (according to Rebecca Sugar she's never watched it) which is so odd considering both shows involve magical girls whose souls are contained within gemstones and are unfortunately prone to corruption, leading to other magical girls having to hunt down and contain/destroy them.

Heck I had been considering the theory that the monsters were corrupted gems since episode one because of Madoka, it just seemed too convenient that both the heroes and the monsters both had gemstones on their bodies. Once I hit Steven the Swordfighter I had concluded that the entire show was a stealth homage to Madoka.

Madoka Magika transcended reality and made Sugar reference it without her knowledge.

[Ravian]

Madoka Magika transcended reality and made Sugar reference it without her knowledge.

She took a little break from dealing with witches to whisper a few ideas in Sugar's ear.

[Rater202]

Steven Universe is full of Dragon Ball reference the biggest being fusion dance.

Off the top of my head, Connie's sword training outfit has a similar design and coloration to the Demon Clan battle suit used by Piccolo and Gohan, and the Hospital Connie's mom works at has a Dr. Gero on staff.

[Yuki Akuma]

Off the top of my head, Connie's sword training outfit has a similar design and coloration to the Demon Clan battle suit used by Piccolo and Gohan, and the Hospital Connie's mom works at has a Dr. Gero on staff.

Connie's martial arts outfit is a Kalaripayattu uniform.

Which is fitting, given her family is Indian.

[Rater202]

Yes, but as has been said, if you're wondering if it was an Anime reference, it was.

something is allowed to be a reference to more than one thing.

Spoiler: Also, it's not an exact match to that costume

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No ribbon. It's similar, but it looks more like the Demon Clan uniform

[LaZodiac]

Yes, but as has been said, if you're wondering if it was an Anime reference, it was.

something is allowed to be a reference to more than one thing.

Spoiler: Also, it's not an exact match to that costume

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No ribbon. It's similar, but it looks more like the Demon Clan uniform

The Demon Clan uniform is based on that outfit though, is the thing. They're both inspired by the same stuff.

Anyway, excited for the new episode already aaah.

[Coidzor]

The Demon Clan uniform is based on that outfit though, is the thing. They're both inspired by the same stuff.

Anyway, excited for the new episode already aaah.

Ahh, what tangled webs humans weave.

I must admit, it probably would not have occurred to me to associate making giant women with DBZ's janky fusion dance.

[Morty]

My personal headcanon about the Kindergarten is that it sort of... enhances the natural process of Gem reproduction. They always grow from the ground, but the Kindergarten did it on a massive scale at the cost of the planet's life.

[Chromascope3D]

The Demon Clan uniform is based on that outfit though, is the thing. They're both inspired by the same stuff.

Anyway, excited for the new episode already aaah.

It's always been a neat idea to me to think about how the biggest and most well-known anime in all of existence isn't even all that Japanese, since most of the ideas that are in it, Akira Toriyama borrowed from other cultures.

[Flickerdart]

the biggest and most well-known anime in all of existence

Sailor Moon?