Lunar Sea Spire podcast episode 94: Alone Together

PodcastTitleGC13 and Hunter are alone together to discuss Alone Together, one of the heavier-hitting episodes of the series.

So, this episode was a big one. Not so significant for the story arc (which Warp Tour was a crucial episode in), but with so much to say not just about the characters but about relationships in the real world.

Of course Steven and Connie are just adorable, and the real question is when we’ll get to see more of Stevonnie (not counting their very brief appearance in We Need to Talk).

For those curious, this is the article about the episode mentioned by Hunter, and this is the drawing of Stevonnie by Ms. Mitroff.

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    • Alice on July 4, 2016 at 4:41 pm

    GC there are real people who use they/them pronouns. You should use what makes them feel comfortable. Not you.

      • MeingroessterFan on July 5, 2016 at 1:03 am

      Stevonnie isn’t a real person though, so I don’t think we have to worry about her feelings too much.

        • SUfan on July 5, 2016 at 5:42 am

        Stevonnie wouldn’t be one gender to begin with.

          • Bugberry on July 5, 2016 at 11:48 am

          We don’t know what pronouns Stevonnie would prefer. All we know is what the crew uses, so that probably indicates it, but until it they/them gets used in the show, we can’t know. Just like how the Gems don’t have a gender, yet use She/Her pronouns.

            • And I'm Hunter on July 5, 2016 at 12:28 pm

            I think if the crew uses it, it’s safe to assume that they prefer they/them pronouns. i understand the weight that this argument carries and has carried for years regarding the rights of other human beings, but in the context of a fictional space rock/human hybrid I’m not so sure this argument is all that important. I apologize if anyone was made uncomfortable by anything i said.

      • TBC on July 5, 2016 at 2:50 pm

      I call Stevonnie a she just to make things easier grammatically and contextually. Yes technically she is officially a “them” according to the crew, but it’s too weird to have to plug that in everywhere necessary.

    • Bugberry on July 5, 2016 at 11:45 am

    At this time, I agree that many suspected Garnet was a fusion, but to me at least it seemed so obvious that I thought there was going to be a twist. As for Amethyst’s funny comments, while they aren’t “jokes”, Amethyst is the one to make the blunt observations about others, like Steven’s tendency to do the unexpected, or the uncharacteristic goofiness of Garnet’s expression. At this point she is definitely funny, and she’s more likable because she’s far less mean-spirited than she used to be, but even that crops up again from time to time (Too Far). What I find most unusual about this episode is how 1. it directly precedes Warp Tour 2. we aren’t shown what spurred this sudden interest in teaching Steven to fuse. While it isn’t shown or mentioned, I suspect the possibility of Homeworld returning spurred them into teaching Steven more. Another thing I find odd in retrospect is why Garnet didn’t give Steven the same fusion advice she gave Greg in “We Need To Talk”.

    • TBC on July 5, 2016 at 2:49 pm

    Can we not have any mention of a Steven Greg fusion? Given that the idea of fusion is so linked with intimacy and physicalits, it’s just really a nauseating prospect to think about. I think my stomach actually turned a little when you went into that topic.

    Just. No.

      • Bugberry on July 6, 2016 at 7:48 am

      Fusion is not just sex. Steven is Greg’s son, he literally came from him, and Greg changed his diapers. If anyone comes close to being able to fuse with Steven, it’s Greg, probably even more so than Connie. You need to get your mind out of the gutter.

        • TBC on July 6, 2016 at 12:54 pm

        Obviously it isn’t, but there is little question that intimacy, and romance, plays some role in it. Which is why Steven can’t fuse as easily with other Gems as he can with Connie. Given how Stevonnie and Garnet fuse and the underpinnings there, it’s difficult to imagine the same for Steven and Greg and not get skeeved out. I hope it doesn’t happen.

          • Bugberry on July 6, 2016 at 1:16 pm

          Did you think perhaps the reason he can fuse with Connie because she is a human, as well as someone around his age? Also, we don’t know if Steven CAN fuse with Gems. Steven also hasn’t tried fusing with Greg. Fusion certainly involves intimacy, since you are sharing your entire being with someone, but that doesn’t also mean romance. Not every fusion has resorted from romance, and while you are skeeved by Steven fusing with his dad, you seem unskeeved by Steven trying to fuse with his adoptive mothers in this episode. I hope he does fuse with his dad, since it would further emphasize the unromantic aspect of fusion, something we are already aware of.

            • TBC on July 6, 2016 at 3:37 pm

            But the mere fact that it does exist at some level in each fusion we’ve seen (or at least suggestive of it in the case of Sardonyx and Sugilte going by the fusion dances) is enough for a Steven/Greg fusion to be looked at as incredibly distasteful and borderline perverted.

            In this episode, we saw that Steven trying to fuse with the other Gems was an awkward experience for him, so barring a plot development, that is unlikely to happen. I’m less skeeved about that because you see how it was an abortive attempt. Even in a hypothetical, Steven and Greg fusing is really not something id like to see, especially given what we now know about fusion and its underpinnings.

            • Bugberry on July 7, 2016 at 6:52 am

            What we know about it’s underpinnings is that it’s any kind of relationship, the crew has even said this. Even with Homeworld they use fusion, it’s just the fusion of different Gems they find taboo. And we’ve also seen that there isn’t just one dance per fusion to fuse, so using those mature examples isn’t reliable either. We also have seen Malachite, a fusion with no romance behind it, and while people like to ship Pearl and Amethyst, there hasn’t been anything directly stated about them being romantic, so Opal isn’t guaranteed to be romantic. And the only reason Steven’s fusion attempt was aborted was because it wasn’t working. I would think the attempt would be just as skeevy, given how you view fusion.

            • TBC on July 7, 2016 at 2:06 pm

            I don’t consider it as skeevy on first view, but the fact that it didn’t work was that he doesn’t have the kind of relationship with them as he had with Connie, so he couldn’t get on the needed wave length. Based on how they’re his parental surrogates, it would still be a little weird, but not as weird as fusing with an actual blood parent. For me at least, what we’ve seen from fusion in the past is enough to severely taint any possibility of a Steven/Greg fusion either working or being palatable.

            • Bugberry on July 7, 2016 at 7:17 pm

            The only overtly romantic fusions are Garnet and Rainbow Quartz. Stevonnie is more young love, not quit the same level. Sugalite and Sardonyx have risque dances during their first fusions, yet both times they fuse a second time it’s quick and not presented that way at all. Opal is presented more as a old friends, or sisters, but not overtly romantic. Alexandrite and Fusion Ruby are shown as strictly professional, and Malachite is outright hateful. So out of all those fusions, only 3 are connected to romance. The rest are all various kinds of relationships. You need to pay attention to how the creators as well as the show, especially Garnet, treats fusion. It’s something intimate, not inherently romantic. The relationship between a parent and child that love each other is intimate, and not at all skeevy, and Fusion is literally just an expression of a relationship, not inherently romantic.

            • TBC on July 8, 2016 at 8:22 am

            Even considering that, a parent/child fusion falls under none of those descriptions, and I get how the show describes and considers fusion in context, but even there a Steven/Greg fusion still doesn’t jive.

            Yes it is an initmate connection, but that doesn’t merit the need, or desire, for it to get to the point of an actual fusion, which as we must remember was introduced as quasi-romantic intimacy rather than utilitarian (heck even Alexandrite has SOME intimacy given the Crystal Gem backstory), or in the context of an abusive relationship similar to real world examples of hostile relationships (Malachite). Aside from the Mega-Ruby, there is at its core a need for a partner that can be at least at a base level romantic even if it gets to abusive levels down the line.

            In such structures, Steven/Greg fusion simply doesn’t fit and given what the most identifiable fusions are and why they fuse or stay fused, its just not something I can see working from a plot standpoint or from a character standpoint.

            • Bugberry on July 8, 2016 at 8:24 pm

            You are applying romance to non-romantic relationships. Opal was our introduction to Fusions, and the show hasn’t presented Pearl and Amethyst’s relationship as romantic. And I don’t know how Alexandrite is a more appropriate kind of intimacy, which it’s the worst example of because of how unstable she is. Also, nothing about Malachite is romantic. While you can draw parallels to an abusive couple, Lapis and Jasper have barely known each other, so it’s more like any hostile relationship, like one you might have with a coworker you have to work a lot with but you hate each other. And you can’t just put Mega-Ruby aside, that is another legitimate example of a non-romantic kind of fusion. Mega-Ruby disproves your claim that romance is needed. There have only been three fusions directly presented as romantic, and the rest are at various ranges of closeness, from sibling-like, professional, to hateful. Fusions represent ALL relationships, especially close ones, and that includes parent/sibling relationships.

    • Jon P on July 5, 2016 at 8:52 pm

    I’m glad you mentioned my favorite subtle gag in the episode, namely Amethyst trying to get Steven to do the Macarena. Every bit of this episode is so on point, like how the background lightens and darkens during the two donut conversation.
    I also wish the music in the opening scene had gotten a name and a release. I just call it “Dance Lessons” for lack of a better option.

    • Something Witty on July 6, 2016 at 10:36 pm

    HI HUNTER!!!

    Also, I’ll call Stevonnie a girl if only because she looks more feminine and is voiced by a female voice actress. Also she is one part Connie, one part Rose, and one part Steven. So primarily female pronouns. Also it seems that male characters are attracted to her (sadie blushes, but that’s just one example) plus on the grounds of being a “Gem” I’ll just call her female.

      • And I'm Hunter on July 7, 2016 at 12:58 am

      HI KIDDO!!!

      idunno, i feel like if it’s a fictitious character then it’s probably correct to use the same terms that the creators of the character use. BUT WHATEVER BUD, YOU DO YOU.

        • Something Witty on July 17, 2016 at 1:22 am

        I am no kiddo! I am twenty! :U

        You’re probably rite tho, for all purposes “they” and “them” would probably be better to use. I guess we’ll see what people refer to them as in this *new* stevonnie episode, huh!

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