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Steven is thinking his childhood was a practice run for what he's about to attempt: an aloof and unchallenged leader, together with a punctilious one and a sentimental one, being made to realize that the strange pink life form they're now responsible for is not what they assumed and not a replacement for his beloved and missing predecessor. He himself has already grown enough to for the Crystal Gems to acknowledge him as an equal, and his assumption is that this growth will be sufficient for him to get similar recognition from the Diamonds. And it ain't gonna work like that, because White Diamond isn't Garnet, Blue Diamond isn't Amethyst, Yellow Diamond isn't Pearl, and the Diamond Authority is the enemy of the ideals of the Crystal Gems. Steven isn't the successor to Pink Diamond, but the successor to Rose Quartz, whom the other Diamonds knew as Pink's assassin. The whole conflict of the series isn't gonna get resolved with one song's worth of epiphanies. A show as queer as this isn't gonna turn out to be about the redemptive power of family ties. All of this softening of the Diamonds is necessary to show us why Steven thinks what he's about to do is gonna work. What he's about to do is, effectively, ask "What if Pink Diamond just did with her family what I did with mine?" - which is a failure of empathy, taking it for granted that his experiences are applicable to others' without examining the effect of his own privilege. And it's gonna backfire on him, sure as Goku has to get beaten up before he can win. Ither posted:Are there male gems? Just Steven.
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Dec 26, 2018 08:57
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Bongo Bill posted:Steven is thinking his childhood was a practice run for what he's about to attempt: an aloof and unchallenged leader, together with a punctilious one and a sentimental one, being made to realize that the strange pink life form they're now responsible for is not what they assumed and not a replacement for his beloved and missing predecessor. He himself has already grown enough to for the Crystal Gems to acknowledge him as an equal, and his assumption is that this growth will be sufficient for him to get similar recognition from the Diamonds. The problem is it kinda has to work, otherwise there's no path to victory for Steven and the others that makes sense considering the massive power gap between them and the Diamonds(not to mention the rest of Homeworld's forces) I've said it before and I'll say it again, they've kinda written themselves into a corner here, unless they end up doing a really huge swerve out of nowhere like say having Sneople show up as an ancient enemy of the Gems or something
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Dec 26, 2018 12:41
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Why does the show need a perfectly satisfying ending? What if the best Steven can muster is getting the corruption healed but being unable to get reforms done on homeworld?
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Dec 26, 2018 13:12
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They've been made to sit on completed episodes for months and months now, I'm sure they're building up to something here. I get a bit of a calm before the storm feel here, right now we're getting an actual look of how Homeworld works from the highest vantage point, rather than the lowest. Like, I'm pretty sure the idea that while Steven is seeing the obvious parallels in the situation, he's not realising the Diamonds are in a very different, very unhealthy environment and still actively perpetuating a horrible empire and system, treating living sentient beings as property and literally as furniture. He's playing with fire at best- sooner or later, they're going to come across irreconcilable differences, and/or truly realise that the Pink Diamond they know is gone and never coming back, and start wondering what this thing carrying her body around thinks it's doing. Ghost Leviathan fucked around with this message at 14:14 on Dec 26, 2018 |
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Dec 26, 2018 13:59
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All I know is I demand diamond blood
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Dec 26, 2018 14:13
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steven is the only diamond capable of bleeding.
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Dec 26, 2018 14:35
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If the pebble maintenance/reconstruction system extends throughout homeworld instead of Pink's area (after all, Blue had a pebble-comb...), then screw convincing the Diamonds, Steven just needs to convince the pebbles. ARISE, PROLETARIAT!  MikeJF fucked around with this message at 14:50 on Dec 26, 2018 |
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Dec 26, 2018 14:46
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I just want to say the schedule for this show is awful. I'm catching up on the Diamond Days episodes and I didn't even realize I missed Reunited until I was wondering what the hell happened at the beginning of Legs.
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Dec 26, 2018 14:53
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Acebuckeye13 posted:All I know is I demand diamond blood Unfortunately, as of this episode, that is no longer a viable solution to the Diamond problem. After like 7 years and 6 seasons the show has finally given a reason why the Diamonds aren't 100% worthy of shattering, and that reason is: The gem species literally needs them to reproduce because their magical sweat is what brings gems to life. Of course, this kind of muddles the metaphor to the point where it's no longer applicable to the real world ("No, see, we can't kill Hitler because he's a brood mother and without him no new babies can be born"), but at this point, after all the awful things we've seen the Diamonds do, that's probably for the best if the show really is dead set on not killing them. There's really no way to justify allowing dictators to live unless you invent a magical one, which is why people like kings and pharaohs and kim jong-li spent so much time trying to convince the societies they oppressed that they were literally life giving Gods that the people needed to survive (as opposed to rich parasites exploiting an entire society for personal gain). The Diamonds are like if the propaganda various tyrants throughout history spread about themselves was actually kind true. Space Cadet Omoly fucked around with this message at 16:37 on Dec 26, 2018 |
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Dec 26, 2018 16:18
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If Diamonds can produce new gems like that, I'm surprised that Steven hasn't caused any new gems to sprout up just from daily living. I wonder if any of those corrupted gems were born from Steven. Not that they were born corrupted, but became corrupted later on. It would be kinda horrifying that they are just children looking for their "mother".
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Dec 26, 2018 16:55
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Mraagvpeine posted:If Diamonds can produce new gems like that, I'm surprised that Steven hasn't caused any new gems to sprout up just from daily living. I wonder if any of those corrupted gems were born from Steven. Not that they were born corrupted, but became corrupted later on. It would be kinda horrifying that they are just children looking for their "mother". Well, I assume it's the same power that created the Watermelon Stevens and Pumpkin and so on. That said, I wonder if he was put into... production mode, somehow, by visiting the extraction chambers.
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Dec 26, 2018 17:09
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It may also require certain environmental or emotional conditions, which Pink Diamond’s chambers are ideal for.
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Dec 26, 2018 17:19
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MikeJF posted:Well, I assume it's the same power that created the Watermelon Stevens and Pumpkin and so on. Yeah, that seems to be the direction things are headed. Remember back when Sour Cream's dad came back into town and acted like he was going to help him with his music career, but instead just used him to try and sell gross avocado sodas? Pretty sure that's what's happening here, just replace "music career" with "curing corruption" and "sell gross avocado soda" with "make gem soliders"
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Dec 26, 2018 17:20
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Would it really be so bad if they stopped making new gems Seems like there's enough and they don't really have a die off rate either
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Dec 26, 2018 17:23
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Hemingway To Go! posted:Would it really be so bad if they stopped making new gems Arguably no, considering how gems are treated after they're made. Might be better to focus on the taking better care of the gems who already exist rather than making new ones. Not sure if that's the direction the show is going to go though.
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Dec 26, 2018 17:30
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This creation process using the diamond "sweat" is clearly what creates the pebbles, and we can assume it's what animated plants and revived lion/Lars. From what we've seen, this is something all the diamonds can do, not unique to Pink/Steven. Now, I'm just wondering... Does this ALSO apply to gem healing? You'd assume so, right? Furthermore, how is this related to the normal gem kindergarten procedure? That one just grows gems on other planets by implanting SOMETHING in the earth, which then literally absorbs the life energy or something. Is that just a glob of diamond juice or what? Dear lord, just how much are these diamonds sweating?!
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Dec 26, 2018 17:39
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Torquemadras posted:Furthermore, how is this related to the normal gem kindergarten procedure? That one just grows gems on other planets by implanting SOMETHING in the earth, which then literally absorbs the life energy or something. Is that just a glob of diamond juice or what? I'm guessing that regular diamond juice can just make small things like pebbles, so they mix diamond juice with, like, crushed :insert gemstone here: and inject it underground, and it forms into a gem slowly and saps the life from around it in the process, which lets the result be large and powerful.
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Dec 26, 2018 17:55
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MikeJF posted:If the pebble maintenance/reconstruction system extends throughout homeworld instead of Pink's area (after all, Blue had a pebble-comb...), then screw convincing the Diamonds, Steven just needs to convince the pebbles. Could we please figure out a way to get the SU cast to sing The Internationale? Maybe have Rebecca Sugar reword some of the clunkier versus?
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Dec 26, 2018 18:01
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RandomPauI posted:Could we please figure out a way to get the SU cast to sing The Internationale? Maybe have Rebecca Sugar reword some of the clunkier versus? She-ra had the horse with "liberty, equality, hay!" so I think you're onto something
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Dec 26, 2018 18:12
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What the odds of Pearl getting the diamonds in a guillotine and then abducting YP and BP to start her own spin off in space? Because I think that's actually what I want out of this show these days.
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Dec 26, 2018 18:33
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I mean even if the gems need the Diamonds to survive, nobody said they ever had to be free or in charge. I doubt the show will go in that direction but I'd be all for it.
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Dec 26, 2018 18:36
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I really liked the song. Also I love that his Diamond outfit was actually made by the Pebbles cannibalising his earth clothes. Like his body, his outfit is a fusion of Earth and Homeworld.
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Dec 26, 2018 18:40
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Torquemadras posted:Dear lord, just how much are these diamonds sweating?! I mean, they live on a geological timescale. If they can sweat a teaspoon in a day, and she lives for ten bazillion days it adds up. Plus, needing more sweat could be a good reason to make more diamonds besides love. Yellow and Blue thought Pink exists for being the little sister, White sees her as more new gems per year. Could help the redeemable diamond(s) understand how their underlings feel and start a
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Dec 26, 2018 18:42
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Well, what if they do go down the corruption road for White Diamond? If she's spent the entire era broken in some way, she's arguably more redeemable than the other diamonds who are clearly more or less in control of their faculties. I have no idea where the diamonds will end up after season 6, but I doubt the final message of Steven Universe will be about the intrinsic and unforgivable evil perpetrated by the mentally ill.
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Dec 26, 2018 19:14
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T-man posted:I mean, they live on a geological timescale. If they can sweat a teaspoon in a day, and she lives for ten bazillion days it adds up. Plus, needing more sweat could be a good reason to make more diamonds besides love. Yellow and Blue thought Pink exists for being the little sister, White sees her as more new gems per year. Could help the redeemable diamond(s) understand how their underlings feel and start a This just makes it even weirder Giant silos filled with Blue's bathwater residue Spaceships transporting small oceans of Yellow's sweat to a newly colonized planet what
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Dec 26, 2018 19:34
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I’ll never get tired of this thread predicting that the crew has written themselves into a corner and everything will be horrible and there’s no way it can get better, and then the actual episode comes out and surprise the professional writers are better than amateur nerds and the show is still going fine.
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Dec 26, 2018 19:36
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If you recall from Legs, the diamonds seem genuinely surprised that Steven wants to heal the corrupted gems. If the diamonds have the ability to create new gem life by simply existing, it would seem to me that the effort to heal gems or fix unwanted behavior on their part is simply just not efficient. Why take the time and effort to fix stuff (or work through aberrant gem behavior) when you can just make MORE gems who are supposed to do what you say the first time you tell them? If it doesnt work, break them down into their component pieces or put them in a device where they can be useful. Harvest them as Peridot would say. The show now becomes an indictment of a system where everything is expendable and replaceable, even the citizens. Only the diamonds as the progenitors of the entire system are irreplaceable.
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Dec 26, 2018 19:43
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A party isn't gonna stop colonialism but it can definitely set up for a whole lot of drama and excitement.
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Dec 26, 2018 19:45
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Rome wasn’t deconstructed in a day.
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Dec 26, 2018 19:49
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chitoryu12 posted:I’ll never get tired of this thread predicting that the crew has written themselves into a corner and everything will be horrible and there’s no way it can get better, and then the actual episode comes out and surprise the professional writers are better than amateur nerds and the show is still going fine. I enjoy the confident assertions that despite the precedent of every literally other conflict in the series, the situation with the diamonds will not be resolved through the power of emotional growth.
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Dec 26, 2018 19:54
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No idea how this is gonna end, but I think it's safe to predict there will be some UGLY scenes of family tensions at this party! Blue seems like she could be a terrific Melodramatic Drunk Aunt
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Dec 26, 2018 19:56
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wizzardstaff posted:I enjoy the confident assertions that despite the precedent of every literally other conflict in the series, the situation with the diamonds will not be resolved through the power of emotional growth. Remember when the screen of the Diamonds standing by the house chatting with Steven was leaked and there was a tremendous uproar that the show was going to ruin itself instantly and we should all just give up on it because there’s NO WAY the crew could EVER do ANYTHING to make that work?
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Dec 26, 2018 20:00
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drrockso20 posted:The problem is it kinda has to work, otherwise there's no path to victory for Steven and the others that makes sense considering the massive power gap between them and the Diamonds(not to mention the rest of Homeworld's forces) There's no problem. The party just isn't the part of the story where he solves Homeworld.
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Dec 26, 2018 20:02
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chitoryu12 posted:I’ll never get tired of this thread predicting that the crew has written themselves into a corner and everything will be horrible and there’s no way it can get better, and then the actual episode comes out and surprise the professional writers are better than amateur nerds and the show is still going fine. I've not seen that.
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Dec 26, 2018 20:06
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I'm gonna be honest, while Yellow was less responsive than some people were theorising, the way the episode showed her motivations being closest to Steven and Pink's original ones (Pink wanted the other Diamonds to listen to her, Steven the Gems, Yellow clearly wants the same from White) is pretty interesting common ground for her and Steven.
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Dec 26, 2018 20:08
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Zulily Zoetrope posted:Rome wasn’t deconstructed in a day. Eventually they just gave up on deconstruction and just rebooted it into Italy. chitoryu12 posted:Remember when the screen of the Diamonds standing by the house chatting with Steven was leaked and there was a tremendous uproar that the show was going to ruin itself instantly and we should all just give up on it because there’s NO WAY the crew could EVER do ANYTHING to make that work? I've said it before and I'll say it again: I stand by my initial reaction. The ending to reunion was lame, and the Diamonds as a concept are kind of bullshit. Space Cadet Omoly fucked around with this message at 05:59 on Dec 28, 2018 |
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Dec 26, 2018 20:14
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A Sometimes Food posted:I'm gonna be honest, while Yellow was less responsive than some people were theorising, the way the episode showed her motivations being closest to Steven and Pink's original ones (Pink wanted the other Diamonds to listen to her, Steven the Gems, Yellow clearly wants the same from White) is pretty interesting common ground for her and Steven. You just know Steven's gonna have the idea that the only way White is going to listen is if they do something she can't rationalise or ignore. Steven: "The only way she'll pay us any attention is if we disrupt her operations, then she'll notice..." Blue: "You're asking us to misbehave?" Yellow: "It does seems like the only thing we haven't tried, and Pink's war got her 2 1/2 words in..." Blue Pearl: "This sounds like fun..."
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Dec 26, 2018 20:26
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White's gonna poof and bubble Steven for his insolence* *try to
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Dec 26, 2018 20:32
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Acebuckeye13 posted:All I know is I demand diamond blood Oh come on, that'd be like getting blood from a stone!
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Dec 26, 2018 20:53
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Samovar posted:Oh come on, that'd be like getting blood from a stone! But that'd require some kind of Bloodstone, and where on Earth would you find that?!!?
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Dec 26, 2018 21:10
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