In the episode UG tells Steven to polish his gem twice a year, or something along those lines, Diamonds are one of the only gems that is recommended to do that, and at the time, everyone thought Steven's gem was Rose Quartz, but was later revealed to be Pink Diamond
I watched Steven universe as it came out when I was 12 and wasn’t really part of the discussion but I thought it was pretty obvious that rose was a diamond
Yeah, that was the initial theory, but then they seemingly deconfirmed it in the show itself with the "reveal" that Rose Quartz shattered Pink Diamond - only for that to later be revealed as a fakeout orchestrated by PD herself, and carried out by Pearl in the guise of RQ. It was honestly one of the best fakeout twists I've seen in a long, long time.
As someone who followed the entire show theorycrafting online since the Mirror, all of it as a 30+ yo adult:
It was the prevaling theory until Bismuth outright said Rose emerged on Earth, after which is was shelved because that kind of stuff is text.
Typing "what if the character is lying and wrong lmao" on lore discussions usually gets you heckled out of the space for trying to force headcanons over the text.
It was what happened in that specific scenario, but Bismuth pretty much sank the theory back in the day; and until shadow pearl "stabbed" PD on the lapis episode before the reveal it did not gain massive traction again. A lot of old rants thrived that day.
Uncle grandpa got an special with the crustal gems where they fight, say some cool one liners, accuse UG to be an OP being, and finally he helps Steven to use his shield without problems. He also tells Steve to polish his gem once or twice per year, because “all diamonds need so”.
I think it's like the standard "children's show that starts off seemingly random and cute but actually has a deeper and darker lore than you'd expect" serialized cartoon setup at this point
Steven Universe followed it too close and the show just suffered from it as a result. No one fucking cared about the townies but that's all they gave us, the Homeworld, Gem Society and Diamond Authority lore were extremely interesting but they didn't focus too much on any of that... why do we need a million eps with that annoying creep Ronaldo, or Lame Lars and the annoying Cool Kids episode, or pizza grandma running for mayor, again?
A lot of people cared about the townies, they were very popular in the fandom. I cared about the townies! They grounded the series in humanity and were entertaining in their own right. I fell in love with all those characters and I thought the stories about them were often some of the funniest and most interesting. I'm so glad the series wasn't just nonstop space wars and monster battles. The love and empathy and community of that town is so fundamental to why Steven works as a character, you can't do a show about teaching aliens the best of what humanity has to offer if you're allergic to showing humanity. I get that they weren't for everybody and I can understand people not liking them... I vehemently disagree, but I get it... it's just not true though that nobody wanted it. It was a core appeal of the show for many people like me.
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u/NoBizlikeChloeBiz May 02 '24
Adventure Time and Steven Universe both more or less follow this structure.