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KYM Steven Universe General

Last posted Jul 04, 2018 at 11:03PM EDT. Added Apr 07, 2015 at 03:01AM EDT
1707 posts from 86 users

Funny thing, today in the morning they where airing "marble madness" in my country, and I noticed something interesting:

See it? Peridot came to check on the experiment, she didn't actually create the cluster, it was already there. I guess this is good news for Peridot fans. On the other side, it's even more horrific to think that the cluster has actually existed for thousands of years, silently suffering with no one knowing. This also kinds of explain the "There's no way Rose could have known!" line from Garnet.

So turns out, Steven is fucking psychic, he could communicate perfectly with Lapis, Jasper AND Malachite in his dreams. This episode was more Twin Peaks than anything I've seen in a long time.
By the way, Pearl's dream made me laugh. Hard.
Last edited Jun 19, 2015 at 06:18PM EDT
Today's episode was a tedious at the beginning, but when the moment Steven's dream took a turn, there was something a miss. Looks like Steven can dream link into someone's conscious(especially Lapis') and communicate with them. Was his dream a meaning on something? I wonder. Also Pearl's dream was funny and how Garnet fell asleep was hilarious.

And so the week of Pearl's unmitigated thirst comes to an end. Not even the entire ocean could quench it. Oh and, also, some important plot stuff happened too. But, yeah, that gem's got issues.

-I am legitimately impressed with how powerful Lapis is. She's been keeping Jasper down for what, weeks? Months? With the whole weight of the ocean, too. Clearly gem size does not correlate with gem power. I wonder what they had to do to get her captured in that mirror in the first place.
-Also, all three Homeworld gems have now made at least one post "Jailbreak" appearance.
-Garnet remains most practical gem.
-Also, "don't do anything I wouldn't do" includes permanently fusing to create a super-powered love body.
-For some reason I get the feeling that the story Steven told about the dream with Lion driving the van is foreshadowing something, but I don't know what, how, or why.
-It's strange that Pearl seems to have no concept of what sleep is or what it involves despite the fact that she apparently likes to watch Steven do it every night.
-Also, they don't need sleep, but they do look very tired after the boating trip. I wonder how they get their energy and focus back.
-I don't remember hearing anything about Rose having telepathy powers, so it's strange that Steven would be able to do that. Could this be one of Lapis's abilities?
-"Who lives in a prison she built in the sea? / LAPIS LAZULI! / Deep blue and empowered and tortured is she / LAPIS LAZULI! / If confusion and sadness is something you feel / LAPIS LAZULI! / You watched Steven Bomb and you and the struggle is real / LAPIS LAZULI!"

Last edited Jun 19, 2015 at 06:35PM EDT

YOU CAN'T DO THAT TO ME, SHOW

YOU JUST CAN'T DO THAT

I really need to know how Steven is able to communicate with Lapis through his dreams, and more importantly I need the team to find Malachite right now

Are Steven's dreams going to constantly be about Lapis now? I really hope this plot doesn't get completely ignored for several episodes. I really need closure here, guys.

There are two things that bugged me about this episode, by the way:
- Why is Pearl freaking out about finding Malachite now? Presumably several months have passed since Jail Break and the only efforts made by the gems to find her so far have been by Garnet scouting the bottom of the ocean. The only explanation I can come up with is the gems have been working on finding her this whole time off screen and this is the first time we are getting any "results", hence why it's being shown in an episode

-Why is Garnet ignoring what Steven has to say? One of the reasons I love Garnet the most is that she puts her trust in Steven and always hears what he has to say in a matter. Why is she suddenly just ignoring all of that? Surprisingly enough, it was Pearl that easily believed him when he told her about his visions. It feels like they just forced Garnet to be this way because "whoops the episodes over time to just drop this subject entirely until next week (maybe)".

I feel like this episode should have been in two parts, similar to The Return/Jail Break. I hate to be "that guy" but if Rising Tides/Crashing Skies were taken out of the Steven Bomb, then we probably would've gotten that two-parter that this plotline needed. And I hate saying that because it was good to have RT/CS in there as a breather episode. I just feel this episode really suffers from the 11 minute time slot.

So Pearl watches Steven sleep often, but she doesn't understand sleeping? That's weird. So does she actually watch him sleep because that makes her calm and it gives her the energy a normal human would get from sleeping, hoping that she never actually has to do the act herself? It's easy to say that she's still the least adjusted to human life and culture.
Also I made a bet some time ago that there'd be more shipping material for Pearl and Greg. GUESS WHO IS RIGHT, MOTHERFUCKERS

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR FIXING MY VAN!

Edit: the spoiler tag didn't work at first, so I went in and fixed it. – Platus
I edited it myself, but thank you nonetheless.

Last edited Jun 19, 2015 at 06:44PM EDT

Well, I have little to say about this episode that has not already been said. And now we go back to the hiatus… damnit.

Pearl mut have lost any wish to sleep again after the turn her dream took.
In a sadder note, Steven himself must feel uncomfortable sleeping now that any night he can end up seeing Lapis trapped; It can't be a good experience.

Is it actually confirmed that there's going to be another hiatus? Matt just said there was going to be another bomb, nothing about the show taking another break. I feel like we may be jumping to conclusions here a little bit.

Crimson Locks wrote:

Is it actually confirmed that there's going to be another hiatus? Matt just said there was going to be another bomb, nothing about the show taking another break. I feel like we may be jumping to conclusions here a little bit.

Well, today's episode . . . which I guess has been yesterday's episode for over two hours now . . . is the last one for which we have a definite title and air date. If there was going to be an episode next week, they would have announced something by now. So at the very least we're going to have a week or two of nothing before we get back into regular weekly broadcasts.

I still haven't finished the Diana – Pearl pic I mentioned, but it's almost done by now. The reason I haven't finished it, is that I got an idea for a stupid pic, and just had to draw it. Or to be honest, I just wanted to draw moar Pearl, and this was more interesting to do than a generic portrait.

Back to my roots in doing stupid crossover stuff than no one understands, and even if they do, it's only remotely funny anyway.



Platus wrote regarding the Keeping it Together episode:

Also confirmed: the Homeworld gems were sucking the life out of the planet to make new gems at Kindergarten, which is at least one of the things Rose rebelled against.

Funnily enough, I scetched the pic above before "Keeping it Together" aired, and when I saw the episode, and the revealed purpose of Injectors, I was immediately reminded of FF7's Lifestream and Mako Energy. Epic foreshadowing.

At first the Pearl x Cid thing was supposed to reference only the "Space Race" episode, but somehow it all got tied together in other ways as well.

@The next Happening

One user speculated that Sardonyx is the name of a Jasper/Peridot fusion, and the case seems to be fairly strong, since both Sardonyx and Peridot are birthstones for August.

Hopefully this at least means that Lapis will be free.

I made some fanart of Steven and Connie. Because Stevonnie is both best fusion and best ship

This Steven Bomb has gotten me into a bit of a fanart frenzy. I already made this and I also have fanart of Greg and Rose in the works as well as plans to make a piece with Rainbow Quartz.

Oh, so here's a thing I noticed while I was watching the opening theme for the twentieth an unspecified number of times:

Where exactly are they here? We can see the moon in the background, and then the earth on top – they appear to be in some kind of space platform high above the world. The only other time I can remember them being that high up is at the end of "Ocean Gem" when they are on Lapis's water tower, but that's gone now. For a while, I thought they were at the Galaxy Warp, but I re-watched its first appearance (at the start of "Space Race") and it's clearly on Earth.

But even more unsettling is that moon. I mean, look at the shadow – that is not a normal eclipse. It's too irregular, with some sort of L-shaped object obscuring part of it, rather than the smooth curved line you see on its shadow normally. Why would they add that little error?

I mean, at this point I might be paranoid, but I wouldn't put it past the writers to hide some foreshadowing in the new theme. They did, after all, allude to Ruby and Sapphire in the opening bit of the pilot. Clearly, they are not above trickery. And what better way to screw with us than to hide some major thing in one of the first moments of the new theme?

Anyone noticed how Pearl took Steven seriously when he said he sensed Lapis in his dreams? Bear in mind, Pearl was the one who said "Steven, that's not possible" in Warp Tour, and then went to "Wait, how do you know?" in Chillie Tid.
Pearl took Steven with full seriousness, and tried to see if she could help him. But Garnet, she just took "falling asleep" too literally and didn't consider to listen to Steven. Are we getting some good character development out of Pear now? Because after this Week of Thirst, that's what she really needs.

EDIT: Cleared up with which episode the first quote came from.

Last edited Jun 21, 2015 at 03:28AM EDT

Platus wrote:

Oh, so here's a thing I noticed while I was watching the opening theme for the twentieth an unspecified number of times:

Where exactly are they here? We can see the moon in the background, and then the earth on top – they appear to be in some kind of space platform high above the world. The only other time I can remember them being that high up is at the end of "Ocean Gem" when they are on Lapis's water tower, but that's gone now. For a while, I thought they were at the Galaxy Warp, but I re-watched its first appearance (at the start of "Space Race") and it's clearly on Earth.

But even more unsettling is that moon. I mean, look at the shadow – that is not a normal eclipse. It's too irregular, with some sort of L-shaped object obscuring part of it, rather than the smooth curved line you see on its shadow normally. Why would they add that little error?

I mean, at this point I might be paranoid, but I wouldn't put it past the writers to hide some foreshadowing in the new theme. They did, after all, allude to Ruby and Sapphire in the opening bit of the pilot. Clearly, they are not above trickery. And what better way to screw with us than to hide some major thing in one of the first moments of the new theme?

wow, you are right, I didn't pay it that much attention, But this is definitely foreshadowin something. The moon thing it's not really worth paying much attention, I mean, tou are probably right, but the detail is so small that we simply won't be realizing what it means until it smacks us in the face. But the more obvious, WHERE are they indeed? This is definitely going to be very important sooner than later.

Tentacles wrote:

wow, you are right, I didn't pay it that much attention, But this is definitely foreshadowin something. The moon thing it's not really worth paying much attention, I mean, tou are probably right, but the detail is so small that we simply won't be realizing what it means until it smacks us in the face. But the more obvious, WHERE are they indeed? This is definitely going to be very important sooner than later.

Well one thing is for sure: They are in space. But Steven can't be in space, or what if he can? What if he actually doesn't need to breathe air because of his gem-half?

Zaccharine wrote:

Well one thing is for sure: They are in space. But Steven can't be in space, or what if he can? What if he actually doesn't need to breathe air because of his gem-half?

I watched Mirror Gem/Ocean Gem again last night (for, uh, research reasons) and while I don't necessarily think he doesn't need to breathe at all, I theorize he doesn't need as much oxygen as a normal human does. When the water clone of Steven tried to drown Steven and Connie, Connie was the one to start drowning and going unconscious first. And when Steven went to the top of Lapis' water tower, they were clearly in space but probably still in the Earth's atmosphere. I'm no astronaut, but I imaging the air is so thin that high up that a normal human might not be able to actually breathe very well, let alone talk, without some sort of equipment to give them extra oxygen. However, when Steven enters the water tower he says "I'm coming up, so please don't drown me" and when he was finally at the top of the tower he was gasping for air. I imagine Steven knows how to swim and knows that he can't breathe underwater/knows he needs air. So just like how Steven is physically stronger than a normal human but not stronger than the crystal gems, he also does not need as much air to breathe as a normal human but he does still need it.

Zaccharine wrote:

Anyone noticed how Pearl took Steven seriously when he said he sensed Lapis in his dreams? Bear in mind, Pearl was the one who said "Steven, that's not possible" in Warp Tour, and then went to "Wait, how do you know?" in Chillie Tid.
Pearl took Steven with full seriousness, and tried to see if she could help him. But Garnet, she just took "falling asleep" too literally and didn't consider to listen to Steven. Are we getting some good character development out of Pear now? Because after this Week of Thirst, that's what she really needs.

EDIT: Cleared up with which episode the first quote came from.

I think she took it more seriously because it's either some power Rose had or, having recently had a dream for the first time, she was confused by it.

Grord wrote:

I think she took it more seriously because it's either some power Rose had or, having recently had a dream for the first time, she was confused by it.

Considering how surprised Pearl was over his telepathic powers, I doubt Rose had them too.

Zaccharine wrote:

Considering how surprised Pearl was over his telepathic powers, I doubt Rose had them too.

Indeed, this might be one of the first signs of powers Steven has that Rose doesn't (other than fusing with humans) which has been theorized to happen for some time now.

Crimson Locks wrote:

Indeed, this might be one of the first signs of powers Steven has that Rose doesn't (other than fusing with humans) which has been theorized to happen for some time now.

Since humans can adapt and grow, maybe Steven can develop more powers, or have more powerful versions of abilities Rose had?

Incoming mini-rant.

I don't like how Lapis has been portrayed recently. It's mostly due to the stark contrast of her first two appearances and her three (technically four with the Wailing Stone message) Steven Bomb appearances. She knows what Steven is capable of with his healing powers and shield, plus the fact that he was the reason she's free from the mirror in the first place. But as soon as Homeworld Gems capture her, she becomes all moody and brooding, basically becoming the Gem equivalent of Batman. She's even become a Deus ex Machina of sorts with how she got rid of Jasper, which brings up the question of why she didn't summon the giant water hands and chains without fusing. On top of that, if Malachite was as big of a threat as the Crystal Gems say she is, why wasn't it at least hinted in episodes that aren't Chille Tid that they're looking for her?

I'm not sure if anybody agrees with me on this, but on the bright side, I at least got it off my chest.

Last edited Jun 22, 2015 at 03:07AM EDT

Wallstreet Wolfman wrote:

Incoming mini-rant.

I don't like how Lapis has been portrayed recently. It's mostly due to the stark contrast of her first two appearances and her three (technically four with the Wailing Stone message) Steven Bomb appearances. She knows what Steven is capable of with his healing powers and shield, plus the fact that he was the reason she's free from the mirror in the first place. But as soon as Homeworld Gems capture her, she becomes all moody and brooding, basically becoming the Gem equivalent of Batman. She's even become a Deus ex Machina of sorts with how she got rid of Jasper, which brings up the question of why she didn't summon the giant water hands and chains without fusing. On top of that, if Malachite was as big of a threat as the Crystal Gems say she is, why wasn't it at least hinted in episodes that aren't Chille Tid that they're looking for her?

I'm not sure if anybody agrees with me on this, but on the bright side, I at least got it off my chest.

The entire reason Garnet was in the ocean in Love Letters was trying to find Malachite.

Just saying.

But now the fandoms got a whole new gem to wonder about. Sardonyx. Will she be her own gem, or a fusion of 2 other gems. Could be Jasper and Peridot though I doubt it, since I can't see Jasper ever wanting to fuse again after this experience.

Could be Garnet and Pearl fusion, which we haven't seen yet. Could be a homeworld gem come looking for what happened to Jasper and Peridot after the mission went belly up.

Personally I'm hoping for the later. Maybe a gem that's not so evil to add some depth to the whole homeworld situation. After all, if any series could pull something like that off, its this one.

Wallstreet Wolfman wrote:

Incoming mini-rant.

I don't like how Lapis has been portrayed recently. It's mostly due to the stark contrast of her first two appearances and her three (technically four with the Wailing Stone message) Steven Bomb appearances. She knows what Steven is capable of with his healing powers and shield, plus the fact that he was the reason she's free from the mirror in the first place. But as soon as Homeworld Gems capture her, she becomes all moody and brooding, basically becoming the Gem equivalent of Batman. She's even become a Deus ex Machina of sorts with how she got rid of Jasper, which brings up the question of why she didn't summon the giant water hands and chains without fusing. On top of that, if Malachite was as big of a threat as the Crystal Gems say she is, why wasn't it at least hinted in episodes that aren't Chille Tid that they're looking for her?

I'm not sure if anybody agrees with me on this, but on the bright side, I at least got it off my chest.

While I can see where you're coming from I also disagree with you. I don't see her characterization being all that different in her Steven Bomb appearances. It seems that Lapis has a huge problem accepting help from anyone, with the only exceptions being when she knew she really needed it (like when Steven released her from the mirror and healed her cracked gem). Even then when she was trying to get home by taking the earth's ocean and knew her plan would fail she was vehemently refusing help from Steven until he insisted enough. She doesn't want to rely on anyone and she probably doesn't even know how to rely on someone else. On top of that, with being trapped in the mirror for thousands of years and upon returning to homeworld being immediately imprisoned again, I imagine she doesn't really know how to be anything but a prisoner anymore, whether it be someone else's or her own prisoner. Putting that into consideration, I can see why she would decide to trap Jasper through fusion. I also don't think she was strong enough to trap Jasper on her own. She had just suffered a crash landing unprotected by a shield or anything and we can see she couldn't even manage to escape and Jasper caught her out of the sky easily. We already know that fusions make gems stronger than the sum of their parts, and so fusion was the only way Lapis was going to be strong enough to trap Jasper. Not to mention fusing would mean Jasper would be off her guard, meaning she would be trapped even more easily.

Although I also showed frustration at the threat of Malachite not being apparent in any episodes before Chille Tid other than in Love Letters when Garnet was shown coming out of the ocean after looking for her. I think it is possible to say the gems have been searching the whole time but it's only been off screen up until this point.

Crimson Locks wrote:

While I can see where you're coming from I also disagree with you. I don't see her characterization being all that different in her Steven Bomb appearances. It seems that Lapis has a huge problem accepting help from anyone, with the only exceptions being when she knew she really needed it (like when Steven released her from the mirror and healed her cracked gem). Even then when she was trying to get home by taking the earth's ocean and knew her plan would fail she was vehemently refusing help from Steven until he insisted enough. She doesn't want to rely on anyone and she probably doesn't even know how to rely on someone else. On top of that, with being trapped in the mirror for thousands of years and upon returning to homeworld being immediately imprisoned again, I imagine she doesn't really know how to be anything but a prisoner anymore, whether it be someone else's or her own prisoner. Putting that into consideration, I can see why she would decide to trap Jasper through fusion. I also don't think she was strong enough to trap Jasper on her own. She had just suffered a crash landing unprotected by a shield or anything and we can see she couldn't even manage to escape and Jasper caught her out of the sky easily. We already know that fusions make gems stronger than the sum of their parts, and so fusion was the only way Lapis was going to be strong enough to trap Jasper. Not to mention fusing would mean Jasper would be off her guard, meaning she would be trapped even more easily.

Although I also showed frustration at the threat of Malachite not being apparent in any episodes before Chille Tid other than in Love Letters when Garnet was shown coming out of the ocean after looking for her. I think it is possible to say the gems have been searching the whole time but it's only been off screen up until this point.

Lapis Lazuli is a good example of an abuse victim who continues the cycle of abuse due to their own mental damage, and Steven is an example of the hopeless rescuer who tries in vain to help someone who is fundamentally damaged.
In Jailbreak, Lapis was given a choice between seeking refuge with Steven (Who failed to deliver on his promise to free her from the cell) and the Crystal Gems (Who referred to her as a tool and were likely affiliated with the gems who imprisoned her), or being trapped in a body with Japser (Who had held her prisoner).
Lapis didn't make the choice based on what was best for her (Steven would have done his best to protect her from the other Crystal Gems like he did with Uncle Grandpa), rather, she made the choice based on what experience she was familiar with, being imprisoned.
She also probably wanted someone to let out all of her pent up frustration and pain onto, and as the dominant in Malachite, she was able to do that. Lapis tried to justify her mental torture of Jasper as doing it for Steven, but I doubt that Steven or any of the Crystal Gems actually want Jasper in the bottom of the ocean

Now that she seems to have receded into Malachite however, her own toxic feelings and attitudes (Crystal Gems hurt me, I'll always be a prisoner, Steven doesn't know what I need, I have no place in Homeworld anymore, I never believed in Earth, I am stuck here)are now going to be merged with Jasper's toxic feelings (Crystal Gems are traitors, Fusion is for the weak, I am weak, Rose Quartz cheated me out of a fight by making herself weak, Steven is taunting me, I cannot show my face in Homeworld, Earth is a garbage planet, I am stuck here).
Malachite hates Earth and the Crystal Gems, she cannot go to Homeworld, and she is frustrated with Steven.
I predict that Malachite is now going to try to kill the Crystal Gems, flood Earth, and keep Steven alive so he can watch. I also predict that due to the toxic permafuse we've previously seen with Sugilite, that Malachite can be broken in two ways: Either Alexandrite busts her open, or one of the gems tries to fuse with Malachite to freshen the fusion and destabilize it from the inside.

Someone should really tell Pearl "A Rose by another name is just as sweet".

Also, ever since I saw Rainbow Quartz I've always wondered how she'd look like if Pearl and Steven fused instead.

Zaccharine wrote:

Someone should really tell Pearl "A Rose by another name is just as sweet".

Also, ever since I saw Rainbow Quartz I've always wondered how she'd look like if Pearl and Steven fused instead.

Can't help but remind me of this.

I've been wondering that as well. I wanna say that it'll be different since Steven's half human, though.

Last edited Jun 22, 2015 at 09:25PM EDT

Okay, here's the Pearl x Diana pic I was working on. I hope I didn't hype it too much, since it's not that special, due to it being just a simple portrait, and neither actiony, dynamic, or funny. Gotta say though. SU fanart is pretty damn difficult for me to do. The style is just so different from what I'm used to drawing.

I think I have one more SU pic that I could draw sooner or later. I just need a good idea.

Last edited Jun 23, 2015 at 12:12AM EDT

@Muumi

Congrats on your FFVII crossover fan-art getting featured on BCB :3

Any thoughts on This?

Personally, I think some people are just outright blind if they can't see that Pearl is gay for Rose.

Also, not too long ago the Steven Universe page was confirmed. A lot of relevant stuff was decently covered, but I think there are still some other things the entry could have. If you guys know a thing or two that would make the page better feel free to suggest. Personally, I think the characters being associated to certain nicknames (e.g. Pearl as 'Birb Mom' or Garnet as 'Square Mom',) should be mentioned I'm just not sure how to squeeze that in. There was huge site drama regarding character entries so I don't think that's an option.

Last edited Jun 23, 2015 at 12:40AM EDT

@Onion Syrup:

Oh, they're just so precious. Matt Burnett said himself that Pearl's feelings for Rose should be abundantly clear after this past Steven Bomb

"Ruby and Sapphire aren't in a romantic relationship, also I think Ruby is a boy and their relationship is platonic"

Oh. Oh Sweetie… No…

I find it incredibly interesting that people are trying to push that Pearl is romantically interested in Greg. Is fixing people's vans a sign of love now? Is that what the kids are doing these days? Because the downright obsession Pearl has with Rose is a "teacher-apprentice" relationship, but fixing a guy's van? That's real love right there. It seems the fandom in general wants to make all the gems fall in love with Greg. There are multiple theories and headcanons that Amethyst is in love with Greg too (although this is one that I feel actually holds water and I personally believe it). Next thing you know the fandom will be shoving Garnet in there, too. Apparently once Rose had her turn with Greg, everyone wanted a piece. Also I love how claiming Pearl loves Greg somehow erases the possibility of her being in lesbians with Rose. Because people love to forget bisexuals exist, I guess.

Crimson Locks wrote:

@Onion Syrup:

Oh, they're just so precious. Matt Burnett said himself that Pearl's feelings for Rose should be abundantly clear after this past Steven Bomb

"Ruby and Sapphire aren't in a romantic relationship, also I think Ruby is a boy and their relationship is platonic"

Oh. Oh Sweetie… No…

I find it incredibly interesting that people are trying to push that Pearl is romantically interested in Greg. Is fixing people's vans a sign of love now? Is that what the kids are doing these days? Because the downright obsession Pearl has with Rose is a "teacher-apprentice" relationship, but fixing a guy's van? That's real love right there. It seems the fandom in general wants to make all the gems fall in love with Greg. There are multiple theories and headcanons that Amethyst is in love with Greg too (although this is one that I feel actually holds water and I personally believe it). Next thing you know the fandom will be shoving Garnet in there, too. Apparently once Rose had her turn with Greg, everyone wanted a piece. Also I love how claiming Pearl loves Greg somehow erases the possibility of her being in lesbians with Rose. Because people love to forget bisexuals exist, I guess.

Personally, i just find it funny with Pearl x Greg. It's high level crack ship and i'm up for it.

@"The heteros are at it again"

This is bloody hilarious. Crimson Locks pretty much said what I have to say, except this: when Pearl and Rose do their fusion dance, it almost certainly ends with them making out. Now, in the scene itself though their faces are close together there is a lock of Rose's hair blocking the view. But later on we see Greg trying to imitate the dance, and look at what he does (7:28):

At the climax of the dance, when he thinks it's going to work, he leans in and kisses Rose. Why? Because that's what he saw Pearl do. Maybe he thinks that kissing is what activates it? And maybe the reason why he becomes so desperate to fuse with Rose is that, now that he saw Rose making out with Pearl, he feels threatened by, and maybe a bit jealous of, their relationship. So yeah, not only is it strongly hinted at, but it also fits in perfectly with the plot and theme of the episode.

Also, unrelated side-note: at the start of that episode Greg has a pile of "transcendental space rock" albums. Well, "space rock" is a good description of what a gem is – so is the "transcendental" part foreshadowing something? Also also: this show is turning me into Howard Hughes.

I can't help but be creeped out by Pearl and Roses relationship. Mostly because it is like Teacher and Student, but also a Mother Daughter type relationship form how maternal rose was apparently, and how young the gems all seem when they were around her, and the way all of them look up to her is similar to how kids look up to parents they really care about and like.

The whole lover angle added into the mix, while I'm not disputing it, just makes the whole seem have an additional level of very creepy emotional stuff tied into it. Especially with how obsessive and utterly devoted Pearl is with Rose. I've no doubt their relationship evolved over the thousands of years they were together, going through the different stages, it still just rubs me a bit too on the nose.

Creepy anime stuff has luckily prepared me for the weird where fictional love is concerned. And shown what true mentally scaring insanity can look like when put in a 2D form.

Guys, come on, there's no way Greg loves Rose romantically. Their relationship is totally platonic. I mean, who would put straight people on a kids show? Who cares about what the writers actually said about the relationship, I just don't see it. Besides, I think Greg is a girl anyway. I mean look at how long that hair is! Sure, I mean they had a kid together, but I think it was a way of showing just how strong their friendship is. You people that say Greg and Rose were in a relationship just want to shove straight people into everything.

This raises an odd point about gems though. Are there any male gems at all? Are gems like asari from mass effect and all "monogender". Are they just straight up an all female space rock race? Is life sucking a planet the only way gems can reproduce and make new member's of their species?

Black Graphic T wrote:

This raises an odd point about gems though. Are there any male gems at all? Are gems like asari from mass effect and all "monogender". Are they just straight up an all female space rock race? Is life sucking a planet the only way gems can reproduce and make new member's of their species?

I'm pretty sure "genderless, but appearing 'feminine' to humans" is the gist of how it works.

In fact, I dug up a Reddit comment that Rebecca Sugar made which covers this: "Steven is the first and only male Gem, because he is half human! Technically, there are no female Gems! There are only Gems!"

So that ought to setting the "are there male gems" debate.

Platus wrote:

I'm pretty sure "genderless, but appearing 'feminine' to humans" is the gist of how it works.

In fact, I dug up a Reddit comment that Rebecca Sugar made which covers this: "Steven is the first and only male Gem, because he is half human! Technically, there are no female Gems! There are only Gems!"

So that ought to setting the "are there male gems" debate.

Now all that leaves is the much creepier and uncomfortable question.

Do gems need a planets life energy to create new gems, in a similar fashion to the Kindergarten?

Last edited Jun 23, 2015 at 03:03PM EDT

Black Graphic T wrote:

Now all that leaves is the much creepier and uncomfortable question.

Do gems need a planets life energy to create new gems, in a similar fashion to the Kindergarten?

I'm going to give a tentative "no," for a few reasons:

- Rose and Greg made Steven without sucking life out of the Earth
- Amethyst coming from Kindergarten has been treated as a mark of shame, which would not be the case if Pearl and Garnet had similar origins
- Kindergarten seems to also have had minimal success. Amethyst is called the "one good thing" that came from there
- The presence of Cluster suggests that Kindergarten was a place of experimentation, so perhaps the energy theft was a test as well
- The dependance on industrialized energy extraction for gem reproduction created a chicken-and-egg problem: if gems need those machines to be made, then who created the machines
- Rose probably would not have rebelled if this is the only way gems can be made, if only because it would be useless: she would know that this process would just be repeated on another life-filled planet, and so saving this one planet would be almost meaningless

Probably, there is a less efficient but less terrible way for gems to be born. Perhaps they can take energy from stars or non-inhabited planets? Maybe they can be made through a kind of fusion-based magic, like Steven might have been? In all likelihood, then, Kindergarten was created as a way for the gems to expand their power base more quickly by generating more troops, and it's for this reason that they are still interested in Kindergarten on earth.

It also begs the question of how much intelligent life there is in the galaxy. So far, all we've seen are gems and humans. Is there anything else? And how many other living planets have the gems sucked dry?

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