Steven Bomb 4: Brief Notes

This post is here in lieu of a series of reaction posts for the individual episodes in Steven’s Birthday Week. I’m planning on using it for reference when working on new theory posts for Steven Universe.

• Ruby and Sapphire
•    Sapphire was a member of nobility, and her future vision was valued by her diamond, Blue Diamond
•  Before meeting Ruby, Sapphire was even more resigned to fate
•    Sapphire’s future vision before fusing with Ruby only showed one path. It’s not clear if fusing with Ruby or reflecting on Ruby’s actions when confronted by Pearl caused this change
•   Rubies are common gems that serve as bodyguards and possibly foot soldiers
•    Rubies seem to have a uniform
• Garnet
• Her appearance was a lot more mixed between Ruby and Sapphire's traits when she first formed
• Ruby and Sapphire’s fusing has always been quick and simple. The dances seem to be for show or perhaps to help meditate on the fusion form
• Ruby and Sapphire spend so much time fused that between the flashbacks in “The Answer” and now that they and Garnet know what Garnet is supposed to look like
• Garnet connected surprisingly well with Peridot and may be the Crystal Gem that Peridot is closest to
•  Garnet may have been the first fusing of two different gem types
• Steven
•   Because of his relationship with Connie, Steven is interested in both a human life and gem life
•  Steven’s status as a new creation seems to cause some discomfort for him because of the unknowns
• Steven’s really emotionally invested in trusting people
•  He views fun as something necessary to make life living
•  Music comes fairly naturally to him
• Peridot
• Very much indoctrinated in Homeworld ideas, which is going to make being a Crystal Gem hurt for a while
• Highly values logic and completion
• Really needs to work on her social skills (why doesn’t she just ask Greg if he can fly?)
•  Learning really motivates her to interact with people
• She wants to be viewed as funny by Amethyst and seems to want Pearl to view her as fancy
• Pearl
•  At the start of the rebellion, she dual-wielded swords instead of using her spear, so she may not have learned how to summon a spear until later
• Viewed as very ferocious by Homeworld during the rebellion, probably because a warrior Pearl was such an unusual concept
• Seems to be the least attached to Peridot because she wasn't as upset about Peridot's betrayal as Amethyst and Steven did
• Amethyst
• No one seems to fully grasp her insecurities about the Kindergarten
•  Really enjoys joking around with Peridot and views her as a friend
• Lion
• Has the disposition of an overgrown house cat
•  His Lion Warps seem to be influenced by physical distance
• The Diamonds
• Yellow Diamond really hates Earth. Maybe she took Rose’s rebellion personally
•  Peridot’s indoctrination to Yellow Diamond involved her viewing Yellow Diamond as the paradigm of traits that she valued the most
• Sapphire and most likely Lapis Lazuli were part of Blue Diamond’s court. Both are the two gems most resigned two their fate
• Blue Diamond’s Pearl seems a lot more passive than the Crystal Gem Pearl and Yellow Diamond’s Pearl
• Blue Diamond herself may be relatively passive and prone to leaving things up to fate
• Gems in General
• Shapeshifting and stretching require a lot of energy
•  Gem’s bodies automatically adjust to changes in gravity
• Gems don’t use fabric
• All Pearls and Rubies shown have the same shape/cut for their gem, but different placements

Steven Universe: Steven Bomb 4

I just got into Steven Universe this summer. It is amazing. The story is kid friendly, but also has a lot of depth and explores moral gray areas better than several shows aimed at older audiences. The plot is engaging, the world building is interesting, and the cast is large, well-developed, and diverse. It’s wonderful. Watch it if you haven’t.

This makes January’s upcoming Steven Bomb my first Steven Bomb. One week of new episodes. According to longtime fans, the first Steven Bomb was what really helped the fandom expand. Usually the episodes in Steven Bombs are linked together. The first one included the build up to and confrontation with the Homeworld Gems. Another was the week of Sardonyx which revealed Pearl and Garnet’s fusion and included the aftermath of Pearl’s desperation to fuse with Garnet as much as possible. I’m going to celebrate by reopening my blog with predictions for Steven Bomb 4.

According to iO9, the episodes are “The Answer,” where Garnet tells Steven the story of how she became a Crystal Gem; “Steven’s Birthday,” where during his birthday he decides to mature; “It Could’ve Been Great,” where the Gems take a trip to the moon; “Message Received,” where Steven begins to doubt believing everyone; and “Log Date 7 15 2,” where Steven listens to an audio diary, presumably Peridot’s. Personally, I’m the most excited for “The Answer” and “Message Received.” “The Answer” will probably include a ton of great backstory, world building, and maybe some information about Ruby and Sapphire, the Crystal Gems we know the least about. “Message Received” will probably force Steven to negotiate one of his greatest traits, his willingness to trust and give second chances to people, with the moral ambiguity of the world around him.

My first prediction is the focus of the Steven Bomb. This will be about Steven’s future, Garnet’s past, and how the past affects the future. With Steven choosing to experiment with growing up and losing some of his faith in others, Steven will be redefining Steven, and I think Garnet’s past choices and/or Peridots current choices may affect that.

I love Garnet, but sometimes her reaction to other gems is aggressive. She is willing to intimidate Steven to get the mirror back when Steven communicates with Lapis Lazuli, who is terrified of Garnet when trapped in the mirror. In “Monster Buddies,” she’s hostile towards the Centipeedle gem, who in turn is terrified of Garnet and panics when seeing Garnet’s gauntlets. There’s a few possible reasons for this aggression that comes to mind: these Gems were very anti-fusion and tormented Garnet, it was part of a secret request that Rose gave to Garnet, or Garnet/Sapphire’s future sight associates them with some disaster. I think there is a darker part of Garnet that will come to the forefront.

The battle between Peridot in her mech and the Crystal Gems means that something happens that makes Peridot decide to abandon the truce. The only thing I can think of is that Yellow Diamond responds to Peridot’s distress call with news of a rescue ship. Peridot may be attacking the Crystal Gems to redeem herself to Homeworld. Peridot is Steven’s newest friend, and the relationship exists because Steven was willing to ignore her allegiance to Homeworld and abrasive personality. This definitely means that the changes in Steven will be long lasting and drastic.

The promo also includes a trio of Rubys. One with a gem on her shoulder, one with a gem on the back of her hand, and a third whose gem isn’t shown, so she is most likely the Ruby that forms Garnet. The trio form a pyramid, which could be part of a fusion to form a bigger Ruby. It doesn’t have as much character as the fusions used in the rest of the series. Perhaps, the personalized dance moves that Amethyst, Garnet, and Pearl use when fusing are a form of self-expression that is key to the Crystal Gem fusions.

The preview for “The Answer” features Garnet telling Steven about how Ruby and Sapphire met. The story begins by talking about a rebellion that diplomats are sent to. Sapphire as a diplomat makes sense. She’s very calm and is able to focus on the bigger picture, partially because of her future vision. Also, her clothes are pretty formal, and the ability to create cold could help her stay comfortable in harsher environments. Real world rubies and sapphires are both types of the mineral Corundum. Since all kinds of quartzes are part of a warrior class in Homeworld society, Rubys are probably linked to Sapphires. Perhaps the Rubys are guards. The question is, is the rebellion that they’re looking at Rose Quartz’s, something related to fusions, or something else entirely. I really like the second. Ruby, Sapphire, and Garnet view fusion primarily as a way of showing romantic feelings and fusion is important to them, so to have their first meeting be tied to a change in fusion (perhaps fusing gems that aren’t the same type).

Those are my thoughts. I plan on being back with an update schedule later this month. I'll probably have after episode reactions to this, RWBY, and maybe other shows.

Steven Universe: The Gem War on Earth

What we know:

• Rose Quartz rebelled against the Gem Homeworld because she saw the beauty of it and didn't want the Homeworld to destroy it.
• Pearl chose to follow Rose into battle.
• Amethyst was recruited at the abandoned kindergarten, and some things about her, such as size, were not up to the standards of a usual amethyst.
• Rose, Garnet, Pearl, and Amethyst are the only surviving members of Rose’s army, to Jasper’s surprise.
• The remaining Gems (both Crystal and Homeworld) on Earth were corrupted and turned into monsters that Rose couldn’t heal.
• When the war was lost, the Homeworld left the cluster behind to destroy Earth millennia later. 
• Lapis Lazuli’s gem was cracked and stuck in a mirror.

Motivations:

I think that the war on Earth coincided with another event in Gem history, which would be the decision to use fusions solely as weapons. Why would an experiment on forced fusion be left to cook in the core of the Earth if fusion experiments weren’t another major Homeworld project?

This could shed some light on Garnet’s motivations. Peridot expresses discomfort with Garnet remaining fused outside of battle. In addition, when Garnet first deals with the Gem Shards, Ruby and Sapphire almost split, one of them wandering if it was their fault. I think that around the same time as Rose’s rebellion, Ruby and Sapphire chose to remain as Garnet as their default state. This brought Garnet under the scrutiny and persecution of the Homeworld Gems, which lead to her leaving to join Rose’s rebellion. Garnet is particularly hostile towards Homeworld Gems compared to the other Crystal Gems. Lapis is afraid of Garnet, although this could be because Garnet’s a full time fusion. The Centipeetle Gem is terrified of Garnet’s gauntlets, and Garnet is hostile to it in turn. I think that Centipeetle started as an anti-fusion Homeworld Gem.

If Jasper was on Earth during the Gem War, she fought because she opposed fusion. I think Jasper’s hatred of fusions is partially because fusion can make non-warrior Gems into warriors who might be able to defeat her. I’m not ready to say her motivations are pure loyalty, because “Jailbreak” shows that she is willing to act on her own agenda instead of Yellow Diamond’s. Why couldn’t they swing by the Cluster and check on it before heading back with Steven? Jasper made Steven's capture priority. In conclusion, Jasper fought for her beliefs about fusion and for the sake of fighting.

Lapis Lazuli was probably drawn to Earth because she is a hydro-kinetic gem, and Earth is mostly water. Before the war, there may have been attempts to put hydraulic energy to use for gem or weapon production. The potential failed project that I mentioned could be part of the reason that Lapis didn’t believe that Earth had potential. Regardless, Lapis didn’t want to stay on Earth, and the only way to go back to Homeworld would be to fight for the Homeworld. While Rose does operate on a morally gray scale, I don’t think that keeping Lapis imprisoned and injured in a mirror is something she’d allow. I don’t think this was done by any of the named characters. Lapis either was injured and captured by a Gem fighting for Rose then presented to Rose as a mirror, or Lapis was found injured by a Homeworld Gem and “recycled” as an object to spy on Rose with the false promise of rescuing Lapis later. The latter would explain why Lapis did at some point give information to the Crystal Gems, although the former would explain her hostility towards the Crystal Gems.

An Overcooked Amethyst:

The obvious side effect of Amethyst being overcooked is that she’s smaller than the standard quartz-type gem. Pearl calls her the one good thing that came from the Gem Kindergarten. I think that implies that Pearl (and probably Rose) felt that there was something “wrong” with the other quartzes made on Earth. Perhaps the Homeworld found a way to create quartz Gems that were naturally inclined to fight. Jasper is obsessed with strength and battle. Rose is motivated by her compassion, can create plant armies and heal, and is a skilled strategist making her a type of warrior-leader. Amethyst is light-hearted and goofy but plagued by a lot of self-consciousness that she tries to cover up with a laid back attitude. She’s also loyal but can chafe under too much authority, as shown in “Tiger Millionaire.” She's a capable fighter but can be reckless. These traits combined with her small size made her undesirable to the Homeworld Gems, and if they knew of her, she was probably abandoned.

Since she doesn’t know the role of quartz gems in society, she must have hatched much later than the other quartz gems, and that if any other gems hatched at the same time as her they were small kinds not meant for combat. Rose, as a fellow quartz, could have shared their ancestry but chose not to, probably because she either didn't want to keep the Homeworld hierarchy or was disgusted with the other quartz type gems made in the Gem Kindergarten.

Rose’s Army in the End:

Jasper is surprised that there are only three survivors of Rose’s army. The amount of hostile gems on a planet is valuable information that would have to be as accurate as possible, especially if they were sneaking noncombat gems on to check on the cluster. I say one or more because the Crystal Gems may not have known about Peridot if Steven hadn’t accidentally stuck his head out of the warp beam. The amount of enemies that could be faced would be passed on to Jasper, the warrior in charge of subduing the Crystal Gems. However, the small number surprises Jasper. This makes it seem like the Crystal Gems lost Gems between the first war and Steven's arrival.

My theory is that there were more who survived the Gem war at first, but they eventually became the corrupted monsters that Rose and the others fought to protect Earth from. Another possibility is that they could have artificially enlarged Rose’s army using Pearl’s battle holograms, but I find that one less likely. Surely the Homeworld Gems would be able to tell the difference. Also, I'm not sure if only her Pearl holograms were able to attack.

Steven Universe: Homeworld Hierarchy

There’s a slight change of pace. I’ve still got plenty of ideas for RWBY posts. I just wanted to do something because I really loved the episode “Too Far,” which has fantastic character development, even by the high standards of Steven Universe, and some intriguing bits of world building.

I should preface this with the fact that geology is one of my areas of geekdom, especially when it comes to gemstones, so I may be using more science than other Steven Universe theories. Future posts are especially in danger of this. On the capitalization, I capitalize gems when referring to a specific character, but not when referring to that group of gem. The word gem is capitalized when referring to the race in Steven Universe, but not real world gems.

My basic premise is that Homeworld runs on a caste society, and that system is based real world mineralogy. The caste system contributes to the hatred of fusions. There may have been a way to get an honorary position into a higher caste, but that was likely abolished after Rose Quartz rebelled.

Popular fanon believes that Renaldo is somewhat on point with his Diamond Authority conspiracy, and the rulers of Homeworld are the diamonds. Before the war for Earth, there were images four diamonds in Gem art: white, blue, yellow, and pink. The Homeworld ship used by Peridot shows only three diamonds: white, blue, and yellow. A gem called Yellow Diamond is Peridot’s commanding officer. Yellow Diamond, if she isn’t the lead diamond, is in charge of the section of space that Earth is in, since a yellow figure is shown in a mural of the Gem’s war on Earth, most likely as the leader of the Homeworld forces.

Popular theory states that Rose Quartz was Pink Diamond. This could explain why there was no attempt to find a new Pink Diamond. Rose has some abilities that don’t seem standard for a warrior. Her summoned weapon is a shield; she has healing tears, and she can make warriors from plant life. Amethyst and Jasper have not displayed these abilities (although this could be because Amethyst is overcooked and relatively young, while Jasper is very focused on physical strength), so Rose Quartz might be far stronger than the average quartz, possibly other rose quartz, because she can function as a healer and commander of her own non-Gem army. This could’ve earned her promotion to the status of Pink Diamond.

Next is the quartz warrior class. Although Peridot had been working on Earth for a while, and Lapis had been forced to stay on Earth for even longer, command was given to Jasper who might not have been to Earth since the war with the Crystal Gems, if ever. The theory I proposed in the above paragraph could’ve given Rose fame throughout Gem society as the most powerful quartz, so Jasper wouldn’t necessarily have fought on Earth to hear about Rose’s prowess. To me, this is a sign that warriors are a higher class. Of course, Jasper also probably has more battle experience than Lapis and Peridot, so that could’ve been a deciding factor too.

Homeworld seems to be an intergalactic imperialist power, so for the conquering they do, they’d need a lot of warriors, and those warriors would be well respected, as shown when Peridot was ecstatic that Amethyst thought that she was funny and was much more upset about hurting Amethyst’s feelings than the other Crystal Gems combined.

Interestingly, the sardonyx gem is a type of quartz. This means that fusion can give Gems a chance to change social groups, which could be a factor in why Homeworld doesn’t like fulltime fusions, because they have the potential to make a pearl on par with a quartz without the approval of the Diamond Authority.

Next is heading into a lot less substantial territory. Scientists like Peridot are probably another class. Another class I propose is an elemental ability class composed of Gems such as Ruby, Sapphire, and Lapis Lazuli. This is a less stable theory. Ruby and sapphire are variations of the gem corundum and lapis lazuli is a variation of lazurite, so this doesn’t have the same cohesiveness as the quartz warrior class. Plus, while Lapis’s skills are based on manipulating water, Sapphire and Ruby have skills besides that, such as Sapphire’s super speed and future sight or Ruby’s strength and weapon summon.

I think the proposed elemental class Gems would be above the scientist Gems. The elementals have a stronger source of power than the scientists, and Peridot’s comment in “Back to the Barn” about a peridot having a pearl suggests that the science class is lower, so possibly one or more classes below quartzes. Granted, based on the kindergarten, it seems likely that warriors are mass produced at times, so it could be a very large class, and since I’m making them second highest, they may just take up the majority of pearls.

Pearls and other Gems that contain a mix of organic material and minerals (petrified wood, for example) work as personal servants. This may also contain materials like glass and obsidian, that aren’t minerals per say but are sometimes considered gemstones. Alternatively, they could be a lower class.

Most likely because of the severe discrimination against Garnet and Pearl, the Crystal Gems do not practice this. There is still a clear hierarchy based on experience, which implies that Garnet (or maybe Ruby and Sapphire individually) is either older or fought in the war longer than Pearl.

Other Steven Universe analysis that I’m interested:

• Potential fusion analysis
• Character analysis
• Real life gem properties and Steven Universe
• The Crystal Gems during the War
• Gem mass
• Guesses about how weapon summons are determined (emphasis on guesses)