Fusions (Steven Universe Roundtable #10) – Overly Animated Podcast #191
By: Dylan Hysen
We talk about everything about fusions in this week’s Steven Universe roundtable.
On this week: Dylan Hysen, Delaney Stovall, Justin Cummings, and Michelle Anderer.
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Dylan Hysen
Dylan is a software developer from the DC area who hosts the Overly Animated podcast discussing everything animation.
7 Comments
Another great round table. Excluding Garnet, Opal is my favourite fusion.
I love her design and weapon as well as her personality, yes we didn’t get to see alot of it but you still get an idea that Opal is this Zen master who still kicks butt and even has a playful side. In the comics, which are deemed semicanon by the creators (ie anything in it can be treated as canon unless it contradicts something in the show), there is adorable side story where Steven convinces Opal (who just came back from a mission) to go with him to Funland. I would love to see more Opal/Steven interactions.
I think I also love what she symbolizes. In the early parts of the show, aside from steven’s growth what I loved was watching Pearl and Amythesist’s relationship heal. And Opal is a great metaphor for that relationship. In Giant Woman you could see that even when they are at it’s other’s throats they still have one thing they can agree on (their love of steven). When we get to Log Date and you see how easy it was for them to fuse in contrast to how hard it was in Giant Woman, you can appreciate how far those two have come.
I liked Sugalite and what she brought to the table. The only flaw to me is in the voice. This is not a dig against Nicki Minaj, I felt she did an excellent job in bringing this character to life but the problem she sounded too much like Amythest’s default voice. Why this was a problem to me is that it carried the implication that Amythest was the reason the fusion went bad. My understanding of fusion is that when it is done properly (and not the train wreck that is Malachite) neither of fusing gems are in the drivers seat, they come together and create a new entity which is now in control. Garnet her self said in Cry for Help that the last fusion into Sugalite was a disaster because of both parties not just Amythest. Sugalite sounded less like a new entity and more like Amythest went all Mr Hyde.
Still I love all the fusions and I love seeing more down the track. I kinda like the idea that Stevonie doesn’t adhere to conventional fusion rules, it reiterates how Steven is something completely different and not just a copy of Rose but with occasion power incontinence.
It is funny that Pacific Rim was mentioned since in a lot of ways that’s how I view Stevonie, rather than the rest where it was it was a new entity Stevonie honestly felt like it was Steven and Connie sharing a drivers seat.
What I also love is seeing the personalities of the fusions and how it relates back to the gems fusing.
You have Opal, a Zen, peaceful fusion born out of a neurotic and a rebel, both with more baggage than an airport.
You have Sugalite, this muscle bound powerhouse and Sardonyx, a spotlight stealing deva, both made when Garnet fuses with gems with inferiority complexes.
Even the fact that fusions made by the stoic Garnet are nearly all quite emotional is also interesting.
I really want to see Pearl and Lapis fusion, not sure what reason would be for them fusing especially since Lapis’s traumatic fusion with Jasper but I would love to see the resulting fusion. Though I am curious to see what would happen if Pearl and Jasper fused. The idea of a Pearl and Peridot fusion actually terrifies me slightly
Thanks and cool stuff, a lot of different angles than what we talked about! Hmm Pearl and Jasper is interesting.. hard to imagine.
I hope we get a Sugilite redemption episode. Now that Amethyst got some of her issues worked out, maybe next time we see her, she will get along better with the others. I know she was in “Cry For Help” and did her job with no problems and just didn’t talk. Still I want to see Sugilite mellow out and become a nicer fusion.
A question I have, is if Jasper came over to our side and become ally, and somehow Lapis and Jasper are able to work things out a bit. If they fused again under better circumstances, what would happen? Would Malachite have her own voice? I am pretty sure she would and they would need to get a voice actress for her, would it even be Malachite? It might be a whole different fusion.
Interesting Q! Yeah I think Malachite would be quite different, maybe a new VA, maybe would look different.
Matt Burnett or someone on the crew said that they’d form the same fusions, it’s like 1+3= 4 and 1+1+1 is still 3. He used math as an example. So Garnet and Amethyst will make Sugilite and Ruby and Sapphire and Amethyst will also make Sugilite.
I’m on team Amethyst and Garnet or Amethyst fusing with Peridot first and I also think she’ll fuse before Lapis. It has to be one of them or Steven, but I’d rather it not be Steven.
What’s interesting to me is Alexandrite doesn’t seem to have one consciousness/personality the way Opal,Sugilite and Sardonyx do. I think it’s because so many of them are fused, it makes it difficult for them to both sustain the fusion and for the fusion to have any sort of concrete personality. The other fusions don’t seem like 2/3 gems piloting a larger gem like some kind of mech, but Alexandirte does come across that way for me most of the time. I wonder if that’s just because of the CG’s and how they interact/how in sync they specifically are or if 4 is really the threshold for different gem fusions.
sorry i meant *1+2=3 and 1+1+1=3
Oh cool that Matt said that yeah. Yeah the Alexandrite stuff is interesting, things definitely seem to get wonky once you add in too many gems.