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I think I saw a whole bunch of bans come down the pipe that included their usernames (mods get the notifications emailed to them automatically). I forget who it was, but someone zapped them quite a while ago. And nothing of value was lost.

So someone reported them? Just curious, how does one report a user? I don't see any obvious report buttons on profile pages.

I think the protocol right now is to just PM a mod when you see someone breaking a rule, and to report images and videos on the relevant cleaning threads.

Also, since this is still the SU General, have a cup of Garnet:

Now subtitled in 9 languages.

I challenge your cup of Garnet with a Garnet Grenade.

A Garnade, if you will.

(PERFORMANCE STARTS AT 21:10)
Full performance of Love Like You, at a live performance. LYRICS:

With this full thing written down with lyrics, I am almost 100% convinced this is being sung by Lapis. Thought I'd post to see what people think.

I've always thought that the song was never about a specific character, and that instead it's a song that broadly connects to the themes of the show.

I think it's a mixture of both, tbh.

This gave me a good chuckle.

Huh. I wonder if we'll ever find out what happened in Ocean Town. Or if it was just a normal throw away joke.

You know, it's funny how this series shifted genres since it began: at first it was presented as an slice-of-life, monster-of-the-week, fantasy show, but after mirror gem/ocean gem, it went all "surprise motherfucker! You thought it was fantasy but is actually science fiction!" and all the backstory started truly unfolding. at first we assumed the abilities of the gems were genuine magic, but, while they still use the word from time to time, it's very clear is actually case of Clarke's third law . I mean, it's fascinating how they flawlessly pulled this shift, to the point that many of us took a while to register that it had happened.

I don't know, I think it's a combination of magic and technology, with the CGs just using magic and the Homeworld using technology.

Since we're delving into tropes and meta aspects of the show let's do this. I've actually been thinking about the Crystal Gems' "magic" (I've been thinking about the concept of magic in a bunch of different fiction really,) and I'd have to disagree with Tentacles saying it's Clarke's third law and with Woskis calling it Magic, especially given the true sci-fi nature of the show, which normally takes away any concept of magic as technology, supposedly.

Assuming ALL gems of one type can fuse, shapeshift, and possibly pull their own weapons out of their gems, the "magic" of the crystal gems is more like an innate ability of their species as a whole; we haven't really seen crystal gems use nanotechnology or augmentations to do their thing. It's not much different how all chameleons can change their color or how octopuses can well, literally shapeshift a bit. Which I think is a very unique take on the show's dubbed 'magic'.

Magic, in its most conventional sense, is usually best exemplified by something like in Lord of The Rings where enchanted items are holy and cursed items are evil and both of which, well, determine the fate of the world. Or like in Harry Potter where it's more akin to real world Witchcraft with wands and broomsticks and potions.

Steven Universe probably isn't the first cartoon to innovate the concept of magic (I called it an no more than an ability above but for all intents and purposes the Crystal Gems are still Magical Girls in a way); Avatar The Last Airbender treated magic (known as bending) as a martial art where physical and mental mastery was needed to bend, and My Little Pony treats magic as a literal field of science where the scientific method and research is applied. But Steven Universe is probably the first cartoon (or one of the few, if there are other instances) to turn magic into something 'alien'.

I never said that magic was a thing that happened on Earth too, I just think that the Gems used to use magic, which was then replaced with technology. Although judging by the computer down in the Kindergartens, and the one on the moon, it seems that technology was used back then, too.

But we don't know how advanced Homeworld tech is. Considering that Peridot had a computer built into her limb enchancers, it seems like the Earth Gem-computers could be compared to computers from the 50's or 60's. Or, Earth is like America in Fallout.

@Love like you lyrics:
I'm pretty much convinced that Rose is the one singing the lyrics in this song. My guess is she is either singing to Greg or she's singing to Steven. It's very clear to us that she does not think as highly of herself as everyone else does (Rose saying "That's a good thing" when Greg says he hardly knows her, the heavy implications that Rose did some awful shit while on homeworld and/or during the rebellion) which ties in very well with the first part of the song. Also the fact that she's currently "gone" in the story ties into the "When I see the way you act/Wondering when I'm coming back" part of the song (although I question if the "when" part maybe muddies it up, would Steven or Greg actually expect Rose to come back as if it were a certainty?). I think when we see more Rose/Greg flahsbacks we will see more instances of Rose doing something to unintentionally hurt/insult Greg which will fit nicely with the lyric "If I could begin to do something that does right by you". I think the only lyric that really throws me in my theorizing is "When I see the way you look/Shaken by how long it took" Because frankly I can't think of how this lyric would apply to any character, even if the song really wasn't sung by Rose. It's very clear that more of this will make sense as we get more information from the story, but for now I'm very sure Rose is singing it.

I get the impression that Rose greatly admires humanity, particularly their ability to love, and no matter how much she tries to become a part of it she just can't bring herself to love the same way humans do. If she were singing to Greg, then I think this song is about her admiring his ability to love and feel emotion the way a human does and her desire to be like that.

If she were singing to Steven, I think this becomes very different. It could imply that Rose decided she would never be able to love like a human on her own, and decided to make Steven a gem so that she could become someone who is truly loving and compassionate like Steven is. Perhaps she never created Steven because she knew he would be a powerful force, perhaps she made/became Steven for much more personal reasons.

The idea that the song isn't about a specific character but about the themes of the show is ok I guess, but it feels too wishy-washy to me. The lyrics in this song feel way to specific to be about just anyone.

@Crimson Locks, the part where you said that she created Steven for personal reasons, it looks like a double-edge sword to me. Either Rose created Steven so that her friends (Greg, the CGs) could feel like they are truly loved, or she created Steven so that she could feel like she could truly love her friends, but that makes Steven look like a tool.

And even if Steven was created so that Homeworld tech wouldn't work on him, or if he was created to have a chance to destroy the cluster, that still makes him look like not only a tool, but a weapon.

Now that we have the full lyrics to Love Like You, I can see it being sung by any of the CGs to Steven.

If I could begin to be / Half of what you think of me / I could do about anything / I could even learn how to love.

It's been made clear that Steven thinks very highly of the Gems where they might not themselves (Amethyst and Pearl come to mind).

When I see the way you act / Wondering when I’m coming back […]
When I see the way you look / Shaken by how long it took […]

To me, both of these lines sound a lot like Steven waiting for the Gems to reform. In both "Steven the Sword Fighter" and "Reformed" we've seen him distressed over how long it takes Pearl and Amethyst (respectively) to come back. Looking at Lapis when she was in the mirror, it seems that gems are still conscious while retreated into their gemstones, so the phrase "When I see…" could be completely literal.

I'm still on board with the idea that it could be anyone, though. The ambiguity makes it fun.

Are you arguing that this wouldn't be something Rose would do? It's pretty ambiguous now, but it's entirely possible that Rose gave birth to Steven for pretty selfish reasons. She 100% had the option to make Steven a human instead of part gem, which would allow her and Steven to exist in the world simultaneously, but she decided to make him part gem. What we don't know is why she decided to do that. Did she want to create something that was completely unique to the universe just to see how it would turn out? Did she make Steven because she had a feeling he would be useful in fighting against Homeworld if they were to return? Did she want to become a loving being that she could never be in her current state as Rose Quartz? I'm not saying that Rose also didn't have selfless reasons for giving birth to Steven, but this could be a pretty complicated web and Rose could have had motives behind her decisions. I mean, there are people in real life that have children for very selfish reasons, are I don't necessarily think Rose is above that.

I don't think I said that Rose having selfish or awful reasons for giving birth to Steven wasn't a possibility. I'm just wondering how this would affect Steven if it was revealed that he is supposed to be something to combat Homeworld. A weapon to surpass the Diamonds.

Quick, someone edit Yellow Diamond's face onto Skull Face and have Steven floating around like Psycho Mantis:

We could re-name the CGs as "The Pink Diamond Dogs"!

RIP "Rose Quartz is Pink Diamond" Theory

@Crimson Locks
To fuel your hypothesis of Rose's motives, see the season 1 finale, where Steven is harmlessy attacked by the gem destabilizer and he can nullify the cells tailor-made for gems, he being half-human, or more exactly, not being a full-on gem, must be pretty much the cause.

Depends on Rose's foresight, of the Homeworld creating tech with the specific purpose or neutralizing gems.

@Onion Syrup
Nope, there are plenty of others. One of the Ben 10 sequels retconned Gwen's magic into a skill inherited from having an alien grandmother. The fandom didn't like it, it seems.

Other examples include Madoka Magica (Kyubey's origin), Jojo (part 5 tells where the Stand arrows come from and what they do, but remember that we are talking about Araki's storytelling), Evangelion and the Angels and Eva units, Lovecraft's works often includes creatures that are explicitly extraterrestrial beings.

(note that out of these example, i just watched/read MadoMagi, Jojo, and Eva)

There are even more example, tvtropes has a page called Doing in the Wizard.

Haven't watched either of these, but I'm assuming that they're both previews from new episodes. Why in the world would they release these when we don't even have a confirmation of a bomb?

@Woskis
Presumably a fuck up on Cartoon Network UK's part

Two tweets (one from Zuke, one from Matt) and a blog post (from Joe Johnstonn) confirms that this indeed was a fuck up. Not watching those trailers, then.

What was a fuck up? Releasing what was probably going to be the big lead up to this next bomb? The location that these clips take place being a big spoiler as well? Or the fact that both clips were played in their entirety without any sort of editing from CN, something the previous leaks had?

It seems CN figured out their goof as well, cause the vidoes don't play. Too bad they're already up on youtube.

Anyway, I guess I know what this next bomb is gonna be about.

I haven't watched the leaks (nor do I plan to) but I hear they pretty much showed the entire climax of an arc, so I'd suggest that anyone planning on watching the leaks be careful and just know you're going to be seeing major spoilers

I feel really bad for the crew, they must be so pissed that they've been working hard this whole time to get episodes done only to have it put up by an official channel of all places.

I watched one of them out of sheer curiosity. I won't say anything about which one, or what happened, though, so my thoughts are gonna pop up once the episodes actually do air. I just seriously need some mind bleach so the surprise can return. I'm still gonna watch the real things, though, that's for sure.

Please don't tell me there's another bomb.

It's another bomb.

So yeah…we got another bomb.

I guess you guys already saw this in the gallery

I never though about it, but the fact that there were bubbled gems inside the bird does raise some serious questions. And, if you think about it, the bird should still be loose, given that it seems they never bubbled it, so it should have regenerated. Now I feel this bird might be important later, which is something that I didn't expect from a random monster (Centipeetle is not "random" anymore).

And, if you think about it, the bird should still be loose, given that it seems they never bubbled it, so it should have regenerated.

iirc, one of the Crewniverse confirmed on Twitter that Opal's arrows bubbled all the bird monsters at the end of Giant Woman. If you listen as Steven makes his starry-eyed face, you can hear the sound of them being sent back to the temple.

Uh. Didn't know that. Well, there goes my theory. Still, what the hell was up with that thing?

Asking out of curiosity, what is it that you guys would like to see happen in the show? Any theories that you'd like to see proofed/refuted?

I would like to get a confirmation if Steven + Gem fusion is possible, because I have a theory that though Steven can fuse with humans, because of his physiology, it's not possible for him to fuse with other gems. I know this is not a popular theory, but if that would be the case, it'd give Stevonnie even more importance, and would open up opportunities for some interesting storylines.

I disagree, I think Steven being able to fuse with Gems would be far more interesting and could give much cooler possibilities than him not being able to. For example, they could have Pearl get over Rose by having her fuse with Steven in various ways. Maybe they break down mid-fusion, maybe their fusion is monstrous at first because Pearl wants to fuse with Rose but it gets better later on, maybe they aren't able to fuse at all until she gets over Rose, etc.

I don't agree with your examples because, from what it's shown on the show, fusion is the result of a good relationship, not the means to achieve it. The idea that Pearl will get over Rose though fusion does not sit well with me, and in my eyes contradicts how fusion itself is represented within the show.

About the possibilities though, it's obvious that Pearl would be a prime target for fusion drama. If it were impossible for Steven to fuse with gems, we could have an episode about Pearl accepting that Rainbow Quartz may never return, let go of nostalgia, and even move on.

What about Garnet? One of her biggest characteristics is her views about fusion, and her knowing that Steven is not able to fuse like a normal gem could be a perfect cause for some Garnet drama.

I know it may not sound as "cool" as your ideas, but personally I'd find them more engaging.

Fusion is more of a representation of the relationship between the individuals that fuse. Sometimes, seeing how the relationship is between two people will give them the chance to help each other out with the relationship.
As for your other points, I get what you're saying but I really don't think that Pearl would be able to move on without some direct involvement and/or help from Steven. And I think Garnet would blame herself for Steven not being able to fuse with Gems.
I think it would only make Steven get really, really depressed if it was shown that he couldn't perform fusion with the Gems. You remember how he barely moved at all in An Indirect Kiss when he thought that he had no healing powers at all? I could only imagine that but amplified by around ten if he attempted fusion with one of the Gems and failed.
Even then, I still strongly think that Steven/Gem fusions should be possible. Garnet said that there are three things required for fusion, a body of light, a Gemstone, and then trusting the body to another with a body of light and a Gemstone. Steven is different because his body is organic, but it's been shown that he can turn his body into light (We Need To Talk, Steven's Birthday), so the resulting fusion would be 75% Gem 25% Human, a reverse of what Stevonnie is (75% Human 25% Gem).

I really do think that this has been avoided for far too long, though. All we know is that Garnet said that Steven would be great at fusion one day, that Steven has mentioned the fact that he haven't fused with Gems (In the guide, on one of the Stevonnie pages, Steven mentions that he can fuse and that he haven't fused with any of the Gems yet), and at SDCC Rebecca was asked if Pearl and Steven would form the same Gem as Pearl and Rose did if they were ever to fuse, she responded "There's really no way to know until it happens". Hopefully we'll get a confirmation as to whether or not he can/can't fuse with Gems in the next bomb.

The whole thing about fusion got complicated the moment Stevonnie was introduced. It was originally established that humans can't fuse with gems, due to humans being organic. However, it was then established that a half-human hybrid like Steven can indeed fuse with other humans (both of them having organic bodies), and during that process, both partners have their bodies turned into the light. So a question arose to me: if it is possible for humans to turn into the light, why can't non-hybrid gems and humans fuse?

Of course you can write it off as Steven's own hybrid capability, and he will eventually fuse with other gems too, but it does still raise some interesting implications, like my original theory.

I'm pretty sure that it is Steven's hybridity that turns the human bodies into light, but if he can turn human bodies into light then is it possible for him to turn organic bodies in general into light, like Lion?

And yeah, Stevonnie made the whole fusion aspect way weirder. It wouldn't be as bad if we got some answers about fusion right after they were introduced, or if Steven tried fusion with the Gems soon after, but it's been almost two years now.

IMO fusion really got complicated when malachite got on the scene. The whole being able to become one is a bit confusing when malachite is still two people with 2 voices. And that you apparently don't need to willing give yourself to this relationship because you can just brute force it to keep going. At least Stevvoine is a fusion based on consent where a new personality if formed.

I think fusion has always been complicated, and although some of our earliest questions about fusion have been answered, there's still a lot of stuff we don't have answers for.

I could be completely wrong about this and I am too lazy to comb through twitter looking for proof, but I believe it was stated by one of the crew members that Steven can fuse with other gems and will in the future

The only thing that any crew member has said about it (besides Rebecca at SDCC) was Joe Johnston in response to an ask about if we'd see Steven fusing with Gems soon. He said it seems like somrthing that should happen at some point.

Steven Universe renewed through season 5, Summer of Steven announced, airing from June to August.

Awesome, so this summer we're going back on regular scheduling?

I think it's more likely we'll enter the Summer of Steven with a bomb, then go back to regular scheduling.