Streamily.com Presents: The Steven Universe Cast Reunion Q&A Part 1

Here's a complete overview of the Q&A that was put on by Streamily, hosted by Elijah ("Not-So-Average Fangirl"), featuring Rebecca Sugar as the showrunner/creator, Deedee Magno Hall as Pearl, Lo (formerly known as Charlyne Yi) as Ruby, Estelle as Garnet, Susan Egan as Rose Quartz/Pink Diamond, Tom Scharpling as Greg Universe, Michaela Dietz as Amethyst/Famesthyst, and Larissa Gallagher as Bluebird Azurite. Read below to find out about a secret scrapped episode, Rebecca's comment on how to look at Rose Quartz, and lots of hilarious commentary from the cast about the experience of voicing characters on Steven Universe.

When the stream opened, everyone did their introductions:

Estelle was not on the call at the very beginning but joined shortly after the questions began.

Here are the questions and the participants' answers!

Q: There were so many messages in SU. Which one do you hope viewers keep with them the most?

A (Rebecca): Rebecca learned to trust themself in being the authority about who they are. They were a bit rocky on this issue when the show began in their twenties, and learned they needed to be true to the art they made. That was reflected in the characters too. They hope people watching will learn to trust in themselves too, in the face of other people trying to tell you who you are.

Q: For Deedee Magno Hall: Pearl grew and changed in the show. How did it feel playing her in the first few episodes vs. the last few?

A (Deedee): There was no way for Deedee to know Pearl's journey when she started voicing her. She relied on Rebecca and the Crew to learn how to voice Pearl. The group had been talking about the pilot before they jumped onto the call, and Deedee says if she had listened side by side to what Pearl sounded like in the Pilot and what she ended up sounding like at the end, Pearl (along with character growth), vocally got exaggerated--it was Deedee's voice but really "went there"! Pearl felt so many feels. Deedee hopes she executed it well direction-wise. What a blast to play Pearl! And to see the growth in her character! It was fun and a challenge, and Deedee was grateful!

Q: For Michaela Dietz: Amethyst is silly and chaotic usually--what did Michaela pull from for the more emotional and serious moments?

A (Michaela): Many of the more emotional moments are about figuring out origins (the Kindergarten, etc.). Michaela is a transracial / transnational adoptee, so she pulled from that and was looking for her birth family while they were recording the Kindergarten episode. That was an easy well to tap. The growth that Amethyst had over the course of the series and movie and Future, Michaela feels like it parallels her relationship with the other actors and their characters. She's grateful to have made so many friends and is so happy to have learned so much from Rebecca (she joked about calling Rebecca "Reba").

Q: Question for all: If you could hang out with your character for one day, what would you do?

A (Rebecca): Steven is based on their brother, so they would love to spend time with Steven. It was challenging through Covid to not spend time with Steven. They always make time for Steven. They love spending time with people who played the characters! They never got to have a wrap party because of Covid! They were together for 8 years and they still want to have a belated wrap party. They would also love to spend time with Ruby (the self-insert character) and they love spending time with Lo too. Then they said "I need to be stopped because I'll go through every person."

Announcement: Estelle just joined!

Belatedly, the mod asks Estelle's question: Garnet is such an iconic character. Did Estelle know she was a Fusion from the beginning?

A (Estelle): No. She was the big grown Gem who took care of the others. She found out in real time with the cast when she did the recording. She was surprised by the lines in real time and had to calm herself down to record each line. She felt it was an honor.

Back to the "all: question of what each would do if they could hang out with their character.

A (Deedee), misunderstanding the question: If she could hang out with characters, would do tae bo with Garnet, get french fries with Steven, and have a karaoke and dance party with Amethyst.

A (Lo): When they were in kindergarten they would spit all over a tree and try to cover it with their spit. If they hung out with Ruby, they would ask for Ruby's help spitting on trees. There would be lots of hugging, punching pillows, etc. The moderator Elijah thinks fan artists will have fun with that.

A (Estelle): If she hung out with Garnet, she would ask Garnet to give her all the future information. She would want to borrow her "future vision goggles" too and want to know the future.

A (Tom): He would just drive around with Greg and listen to records. Go eat more. And end up going bowling.

A (Michaela): She would eat trash with Amethyst (and also some quality food?). They would mess around the San Gabriel Valley, get meal after meal, maybe buy an illegal turtle? No, that's not funny. They might hit up Ruby and spit on trees. Take in some underground wrestling. Amethyst is very intensely chill, and Michaela thinks they could do a great many things together.

A (Larissa): Going from intensely chill to intensely chaotic. She wants to bring it down from chaos and go ride Lion on the beach, with Bluebird carrying swords.

A (Susan): She wants to go into Rose's room to unpack. Pearl would need to be with her to Marie Kondo the situation. Then she would throw on a Universe shirt and hit music festivals.

Deedee realizes she misunderstood the question and wants to add: if she hung out with Pearl they would do laundry and some spring, summer, winter, and fall cleaning. Definitely Marie Kondo-ing the whole universe together.

Q for Susan Egan: Rose turned out to be a very complex character. As the story progressed and more about her was revealed, did Susan's approach to voicing her change?

A (Susan): She can't sing the praises of Rebecca enough: Susan didn't know at all what Rose's deal was. She got some hate comments when it was revealed that she was Pink, and she LOVED that because it meant the fans were invested. She was as shocked as everyone else. Pink was aging in reverse; Rose was wise and flawed, and then Susan would be voicing Pink and had to be petulant and immature, and she's thankful for Rebecca's direction in getting that right.

Q for Lo: Ruby is adorable. We got to meet so many versions of her. Other than Garnet's Ruby, which Ruby was Lo's favorite to play, and why?

A (Lo): They loved playing Navy. They got to be hammy. They ask if you know how when you order stuff at the drive-thru and you become that? They don't know why. It felt good. While voicing Ruby, they got to get in touch with how angry they were. Being seen as an Asian woman, it was nice to have a spot to channel that anger, and being Navy is like making fun of who you have to become when you're a people-pleaser. "I LOVE DIRT!"

Q for Tom Scharpling: Greg is an eccentric but loving father. What was Tom's favorite part of playing him and does he have a favorite scene?

A (Tom): Doing Greg was so fun. It's not Tom but it's more him than he thought all along. He had never done voice stuff before this, so he went in completely new. A script would say "walla walla" but he thought he was supposed to say "walla walla." Everybody laughed at him. He knew literally nothing about proper voice acting. So he got to really try and work at it. It was so satisfying to get to better at it. Anything from "Mr. Greg" was the big one in terms of a memorable episode. It was the best time.

Q for Larissa Gallagher: Bluebird Azurite is quite a menace. Did she listen to the individual Ruby and Aquamarine voice acting for inspiration?

A (Larissa): Yes. The script said Bluebird was Cockney, so she already knew what to aim for, but it turned out that taking those inspirations from the two characters she's made of would have led to this kind of voice naturally.

Q for All: Where do you each of the participants think their character is now and what are they doing?

A (Rebecca): To the cast, they know what the characters are up to post-show, but they can't say, it's too canonical.

A (Deedee): Says she doesn't know what canonical means. Pearl is probably doing more laundry and working on an album.

A (Lo): They guess they're just . . . fused. (Perhaps separating for scouting?) They might play Ruby Rider but not alone anymore. Interdependence, learning how to ground; Lo is not really sure how to answer since they feel like Ruby would spend most of her time as Garnet.

A (Estelle): She doesn't know. She figures Garnet sees what was gonna happen and just said "mmm." Just chilling. Even when she's fighting she has to be chill with the fighting-related grunting. She got direction to "flatline" her acting. She found it pretty natural though.

A (Tom): Greg is probably right where everything started again. Maybe working at a GameStop. Maybe he owns a bowling alley now. When asked what Greg would name it, he replies "Strikes and Spares."

A (Michaela): Amethyst would randomly get rich with Bitcoin and is retired. Maybe she would play Taiwanese Mahjong. Living a great retired life.

A (Larissa): Bluebird would be plotting and scheming and planning. Probably on a big planning board.

A (Susan): If Rose and/or Pink exists on any level, the only appropriate thing for her to be up to is community service. Like cleaning up trash at the bowling alley? Susan thinks it's time to start having a positive impact.

Q for Rebecca Sugar: Were there any scenes that ended up on the cutting room floor that you wish you could have included?

A (Rebecca): There was a bunker episode that they spent weeks on trying to crack; they wish they'd finished it. Ronaldo had a doomsday bunker. Sadie and Lars were trapped in it (with Steven). There's no way to leave. They were working on it so long and just couldn't make it work but they were determined to (maybe a little bit of the sunk cost fallacy!).

But usually the things that got left on the floor ended up evolving and changing into something different, even if they were really attached to the original idea. The idea for "Barn Mates" was originally that Sadie and Lapis would be the roommates with Sadie going to college. They feel that the Sadie story they ended up actually using was great. They love what they ended up doing with Lapis too.

In the very earliest version of "Giant Woman," Steven was going to unfuse into the two parts of him. And his "perfect" form, the big glowing muscular adult-looking Steven, was a Season 1 idea, and they didn't use him until Future. (After all, our roly-poly Steven is perfect!)

Now there are some fan-submitted questions. Their usernames are included.

Q for Deedee Magno Hall, from Makittuu: In what ways is Pearl special to you?

A (Deedee): She feels like a broken record, but she says again she was grateful to be voicing someone with the same natural voice as she had, and she had always wanted to be able to sing in a cartoon. She loves that she got to sing in the show. Pearl was the first major voice acting role that she had ever done and there's no way she would have known what the show was going to become and how successful it would be. She was auditioning for everything and was new to voice acting at the time. But one thing that she loved about voicing Pearl is that she got to share the experience with her kids. She connected the love Pearl had for Steven with the love she had for her sons. When she started voicing Pearl her kids were 2 and 8. For them to be able to watch Steven Universe on TV and hear Mommy's voice was so cool to share with her family. Now her kids are 13 and 19!

Q for Estelle, from Gonosoi: Do you have any fun stories from recording your lines on the show?

A (Estelle): When she was going through things in her life--and she thinks this is true no matter where you are or how you identify--the show somehow could speak to whatever she was going through. The lines would often be relevant. She'd come in with sunglasses on because it was early for her and her voice would be low. She'd be crying behind her glasses in difficult moments. She liked a fresh first take instead of knowing ahead of time what she'd be reading, so she didn't read the script ahead of time. She was surprised by needing to do the "ugh" and "ah" noises in different ways. It'd be difficult vocally. With Michaela, Zach, and Deedee, in between the lines and reading things together, hearing them switch back and forth between talking about life and then doing their recordings, it was so cool to see them do their work.

Q for Michaela Dietz, from Mal: Which one of your other characters would get along well with Amethyst?

A (Michaela): Definitely Vee from The Owl House. Maybe Maj'el from Star Trek Prodigy. She would be so "What is this purple being? Why do you eat? Where does the food go?" She'd be fascinated with Amethyst. And Michaela feels like Amethyst would thrive and try to do weird stuff in response. The shapeshifting she has in common with Vee. They'd get up to some trouble. Fun trouble. Harmless trouble. (Another fanart cue!)

Q for Susan Egan, from Gladde: Does Susan feel that Rose forgot about Spinel? Does she think she wanted to go back?

A (Susan): Susan thinks a lot was forgotten in her mind when she became Rose. Rose was so enamored of what's in front of her in every moment; she lives in the moment and can be a good quality but obviously Susan didn't know all of that when she was recording! Steven Universe is her kids' favorite thing she's done. Rebecca?

A (Rebecca): So much of the show is about how--something that was ultimately captured in the end credits song-- when you don't think of yourself as someone with power, Pink had less power than everyone around her, and she didn't know how much she mattered to others. She did things to them that she didn't think twice about because her importance to others didn't register. Feeling that she didn't matter, it radiated out. To her--her relationship with Spinel, Spinel was a toy to her. When she got a chance to grow up, she thought it made sense to leave Spinel behind. Pink is actually a softened version of what she was originally planned to be like. The sympathetic side of that and her self deprecation grew as they developed Pink over time. In aspiring to be a better person than she thought she was, that became who she was.

A (Susan): Rebecca brought all these characters' complexity to the table. It's easy to make things two-dimensional but people are complicated and we need to look at that in context. Good and bad can exist in the same person. She doesn't want Rose to always want to think about being Pink, but she thinks it helped her want to save more characters as Rose.

A (Rebecca): Rebecca likes to think of the Pink Diamond / Rose character as a cautionary tale.

Q for Lo, from stiffcorpse00: What kind of dates would Ruby and Sapphire go on?

A (Lo): Axe-throwing. They reference walking through doors and accidentally crashing into the frame, and they say "That's me." So they wouldn't do axe-throwing personally. Maybe Ruby and Sapphire would get some boba. Go walking. Teach Ruby how to float in water back because anger makes Ruby sink. Helping Ruby get anger out by screaming into pillows. Swinging one way and the other way.

Michaela suggests they could go to a rage room.

Lo objects that they're so expensive, and that they could just break stuff without needing to pay for it.

Susan suggests it'd be a writeoff because it's for work.

Lo says they'll go there and take a date.

Michaela says the experience is exhausting and therefore you don't need much time there.

Lo says a Ruby and Sapphire date involving paintball would be great, but everyone would run from Sapphire. Ruby's rage would get in the way. Sapphire would coldly get everyone.

There is more discussion of smashing fax machines and glass etc. in a rage room. Deedee asks "What is a fax machine?"

Q for Tom Scharpling, from GalixyYouniverse: What was his reaction to Greg getting his hair cut and was he upset?

A (Tom): He was fine with it. He was always coming from a different place than everyone else. His change would be getting rich or getting a haircut. Everyone else's was huge and cosmic. Anything with Greg, he related to Greg more than he should admit to.

Rebecca points out they have like drawings from 2013 with Greg with short hair. Sacrificing hair in a battle is something they always wanted to do.

Q for Larissa Gallagher from 1F4cnt4ND: How does she think Aquamarine and Ruby met and what was it like when they fused?

A (Larissa): She says it was a little bit mean to put her after Tom answering about the hair cut! But she doesn't know. If she had to say anything, it'd be existential. When you meet someone and you get that ball of energy inside you and you don't know whether it's good or bad--you don't know what's going to happen but something will happen. She likes to think that's the kind of energy that evolved. It didn't go in the most helpful emotional way but it was that moment attraction that no one can explain. Rebecca?

A (Rebecca): They had discussed in the writers room what Steven's influence is on Homeworld, how there'd be all these Gems on the wrong side of history, whether they were high status like Aquamarine or low like Eyeball, they'd pool into an out-group and meet to be frustrated about it. They'd been working on something that made sense before Steven changed the rules. Different types of fusions / collaborations and one born out of frustration and spite was one they wanted on the show.

Q for all participants, from trynottohappen: What was the hardest scene to record?

A (Susan): The first thing she did as Rose was the VHS tape. The monologue was her first time playing a mother, and it spoke to her heart. Like Michaela looking for her biological parents, there's something the character can teach you. Susan had to pull herself together after reading it--she needed to be joyful about her progeny coming. It makes her weep even today. It was one of her favorite things. She loved recorded with Deedee, and loved the love between them, the betrayal of Rose to Pearl, when we finally get to know what was really going on between them.

A (Larissa): The scene where Bluebird revealed her backstory of why they felt the way they felt. The complexity of the characters in the show, the hate isn't just "I hate because someone did this and said that." It's grounded, a real space of hurt that can never be fixed. Having to recreate that and not hate the character but love the character because of how much pain they were in. That was difficult but incredible.

A (Michaela): The hardest scenes were toward the end because she knew the show was ending. They were cherishing every moment together. In 2016, the day after the election, that was a hard day. Everybody was really distraught. There was a group hug at the end. In a time of such uncertainty, it gave her so much solace to know they had each other and they had art, they had ways of expressing themselves, that day sticks out.

A (Tom): For him, the songs were difficult. He would get sent a demo Rebecca recorded the night before, he's driving into NYC from New Jersey and listening to the song for hours all morning so he'd have it in his head, and then would be so nervous doing the songs because he didn't want the whole recording to be just him going word by word, line by line. The songs were the big thing he was hung up on. He'd try to do the songs first, then the spoken lines, and then the things where he yelled--he'd end up screaming sometimes and he'd not have a voice left. He wanted to do right by these very special songs. He jokes that Rebecca said he let them down over and over. (Rebecca denies.)

A (Estelle): She doesn't remember many hard moments. She'd attribute that to Rebecca's direction. She took a laid-back approach. The grunts and noises weren't familiar but also weren't difficult for her. She'd drink tea after. Real life would be happening but they always had each other in their bubble.

A (Lo): The Ruby Rider episode was the most fun and the hardest. They always wanted to play a cowboy! They were also going through a divorce during the recording. It was tough leading up to marrying Sapphire, delivering the lines, and they started crying because the opposite was happening in their life. And then they got direction to be more emotional even though they were crying. They said their voice was dead inside even though they were quite emotional. They're shy in the booth. Lo felt sweaty and weird doing the acting in front of other people, feeling awkward, and this is the first time they had to be a voice actor. This was THE WORST playing multiple characters during the baseball episode.

Michaela was so impressed with Lo having to be "like 800 characters."

Lo comments that doing 5 voices around other people as a neurodivergent person was so difficult.

A (Deedee): She loved receiving the demo recordings before having to sing a song. One of her favorite things was the singing. She wants the album of all Rebecca's demos. She remembers getting a script Monday to prepare and record on Wednesday. She heavily depended on the voice director and Rebecca. The really wordy scripts were difficult for Deedee with "ten-dollar words." The screaming was also really difficult. (She'd also do singing at the beginning, speaking in the middle, screaming at the end.)

A (Rebecca): Instead answering what scene was the hardest to write, they say there are so many. Because it was storyboard-driven, the script was in flux until it was animated, and they'd still be working with dialogue. With the potluck, when Lars doesn't show, Sadie has dialogue as she's walking down the street talking about Lars. They did a thousand drafts of it. With Sadie's story, there's a matryoshka of struggling with self-esteem while commenting on other people's self-esteem. There was a long path to get Steven to step into his mom's shoes. The biggest thing was tracking the ongoing storyline in a storyboard-driven show. Rose's speech was pored over as well. They wanted it to be layered and make more sense as you learn more about her. Does this line encapsulate everything you're going to learn about this character 60 episodes from now?

Q from CaughtMoonlight: If each of them could play any other Gem, who would it be?

A (Susan): Everyone wants to be Garnet, but could never!

A (Larissa): Ditto. 100%. Also, not a Gem, but she wants to be Lion.

A (Michaela): Peridot. All the way.

A (Tom): He says he can't do that and he's just a slob doing the voice of a slob. These things are all out of his reach.

A (Estelle): She'd go with turbocharged Peridot. She says the things that are in Garnet's brain. She'd get spicy with it.

A (Lo): Lo would choose Greg. They say he's not a slob. The world should be more relaxed and accessible.

Tom says he doesn't mean slob in a bad way. But he owns his slobbiness.

A (Deedee): Hard question! She loved voicing Pearl and all the Pearls. Everybody else, it would be so hard to voice. No comment.

A (Rebecca): Early on they decided to take a back seat and not cast themself. They loved being in the director role. They put a lot of themself into SO many characters. That let them have a presence in everyone. One thing they're really grateful for, but their former boarder Adam Muto on Adventure Time, they got to voice Marceline's mother. The composers aivi and surasshu asked them to sing "Love Like You" because it's really a reflection of so many characters that they got to write.

Q for All: They are asked to share their projects and socials.

A (Rebecca): Working on things they can't talk about yet. Last year they released an independent album. Years ago Estelle said Rebecca should tour. Susan said kind things. Lo texts songs back and forth. They would not have been able to make that album without that encouraging. Tom had them on the radio show. So humbling. Spiral Bound is a little EP and they're so grateful. They'd love to do more stuff like that.

A (Deedee): She loves the album. She is doing some recurring voices for Kiff on the Disney channel, and singing praise and worship at church.

A (Lo): They're playing Larry in StuGo who's shirtless and gender fluid on Disney. They want everyone to know sunsets are awesome. Catch them while you can to chase away depression.

A (Estelle): She has a new album coming out early next year, with two singles out now. The music is uplifting. And there's the Estelle Show (on Apple radio!). She's just living her best life.

A (Tom): The Best Show/podcast is still on every week. He started writing a new book--he wrote one a few years ago and thinks the one he's writing now will be done in maybe 11 years, so check it out in 2038. Just working on TV stuff and dealing with whatever happens.

A (Michaela): Exciting stuff we can't talk about. It's tangerine season! Trees going off! Been harvesting.

A (Larissa): Just got back from Japan. Trying to get back there. Video games are coming out but she can't talk about it. She is working on a startup called Ethovox, trying to protect voice actors int he age of AI. Larissa got so much fandom just from doing Bluebird for two minutes! She's so grateful for that.

A (Susan): She produces live concert content for Disney worldwide. She loves being behind the scenes and creating jobs for others and bringing joy. They've been in 18 countries! She wrote shows for the Hollywood Bowl.

Part Two comes out November 18, 2024! You can get signed prints at Streamily!

Steven Universe Podcast: Fan Celebration

This is an outline of the Steven Universe Podcast regarding “Fan Celebration”: an issue of the podcast in which voice actors and storyboarders answer fan questions. No volume number or episode number was given for this one. The official description:

This is a long podcast with a long summary, so as usual I will give you a bulleted list of highlights, followed by a detailed summary.

Highlights:

The detailed summary is below!

[Archive of Steven Universe Podcast Summaries]

Steven Universe Podcast: Diamond Days

Quite late again blogging this one because I was out of town for my birthday and dealing with weirdness surrounding another death in my social circle so fun times

This is an outline of the Steven Universe Podcast regarding the "Diamond Days" arc: discussing the episodes "Legs From Here to Homeworld," "Familiar," "Together Alone," and "Escapism." No volume number or episode number was given for this one. The official description:

This is a bit long, as always so I’ll do my bullet points of interest, with longer descriptions after the jump.

Highlights:

The detailed summary is below!

[Archive of Steven Universe Podcast Summaries]

Steven Universe Podcast Volume 3: Episode 3: Jasper and Amethyst

This is Volume 3, Episode 3 of the official Steven Universe podcast, looking at Jasper in macro and micro--including Kimberly Brooks's experiences voicing her and some of the relationships she has with the other characters.

The official description:

This, as usual, is bit long so I’ll do my bullet points of interest, with longer descriptions after the jump.

Highlights:

The detailed summary is below!

[Archive of Steven Universe Podcast Summaries]

Steven Universe Podcast MiniRecaps: Made of Honor & Reunited (Volume 3, Episode 2)

This is the second episode of the official Steven Universe podcast Volume 3, approaching new episodes with behind-the-scenes peeks into the show. This episode covers “Made of Honor“ and “Reunited” together, and includes three Crewniverse members (one board artist, one board supervisor, and one voice actor). The official description:

McKenzie opens with an introduction; Lamar, Hilary, and Michaela say hi, and they jump right into “Made of Honor.”

The group immediately gets excited over Bismuth's return and Lamar makes the "back in Bismuth" joke. McKenzie throws out a compliment for the next-level puns in these recent episodes. Lamar floats the idea that maybe they pull the "back in Bismuth" joke too much with her, but everyone else is like "no!" Hilary says "I want to cringe ALL THE TIME. I really like puns. And the worse they are, the better they are." Michaela really appreciated the new one about "Did you Bis-muth me?" Lamar likes when they're all coming up with puns and someone comes up with one that really works.

McKenzie points out how much Steven's conversation with Bismuth reveals about both of them, and wants to know if Lamar boarded that scene since he was one of the boarders on the episode. He says he did the scene in the bubble room when Bismuth is first released, and how there was a LOT of discussion of how their conversation should go because it was so important for people to know Steven felt he was sorry and had been wrong. The later discussion of Steven being a leader figure and Bismuth's place on the team was important to get right too. If we're sorry, what are we sorry for? HOW do we apologize? Lots of back and forth went into making sure Bismuth and Steven's relationship was okay and their friends would accept the new status quo. Hilary points out that they also had to figure out how much recap was necessary in a scene like that, and maybe some viewers might not know who Bismuth is since she was only really focused on in one episode. (This led to an excuse to say "None of your Bismuth!" which cracked everyone up.)

McKenzie loved the bit when Bismuth stuck her head under the lava to scream as a reaction to the Pink Diamond reveal, and she felt she had a similar reaction herself (minus the lava). Lamar said he really wanted her reaction to be big and was glad the lava was there to do that with. Lamar says since she took a lava shower in her debut episode, it's clear she loves lava and finds it relaxing. He clarifies that she may be "chill and down to earth" but she's also a very emotional character, and her anger is justified. Even if she's fired up about something, you can still find a way to talk to her. McKenzie thinks it made a lot of sense that she had such a reaction to Rose being Pink Diamond because that also explained her reaction to the Breaking Point. McKenzie then asks them to talk about how Bismuth viewed Steven as a leader. Michaela wonders aloud if Steven accepts that, and Lamar says no, it's really only in the back of his mind--it's not something he's grabbed onto consciously as if he's now seeing himself as the leader. Hilary jokes about how maybe Steven would accept it if he knew his name is the show's name.

Lamar says regardless of how Steven feels about it himself, he at least knows that's how BISMUTH feels, because everything about Bismuth is honest and there's never any guessing with her. Bismuth asking why the Crystal Gems are still together finally gives a voice to the question of what their mission is and how Steven is so instrumental in giving them a purpose and a direction. Hilary speaks up to say now we're seeing different sides of Garnet acting as the default leader working alongside Steven who has really stepped up. Hilary expresses that it's not that Garnet is NOT the leader--she is--but Steven is taking on new leadership qualities as he develops the maturity to handle them. Lamar agrees with the idea that "Steven is the glue," but expresses that Garnet being the default leader is just obvious because of who she is, while Steven's personality doesn't really match well with a leader's need to be forceful and commanding and giving orders. He also specifies that the dynamic where you hate your boss for giving you orders does not exist in the Crystal Gems. Garnet takes charge, but Steven binds them.

Michaela had a thought occur to her about why Pearl didn't step up in a leadership position once Rose was gone, and the others agree that they're sure she was a complete mess. Lamar points out that Pearl may have been in denial about Rose's permanent departure since she still believed Rose was trapped in a baby. Garnet, in contrast, mostly accepted that this was the new reality and the rest of the team needed her firm reminders and gentle comfort. McKenzie asks how Bismuth's inclusion will affect the team dynamic and Lamar immediately says, "It'll be fine!" The group welcomed her so warmly, and Lamar thinks it's like when you don't see someone for a while and then just pick up where you left off.

Hilary describes wanting Bismuth as a friend--so they could get into "just the right amount of trouble together." They joke about metalworking together with her. After some more laughing about sports, they decide to move forward into "Reunited."

McKenzie wants to jump right into talking about the wedding outfits. Besides the obvious adorableness of Ruby's dress and Sapphire's tux, Michaela says Peridot's dress was so cute and unexpected. Also discussed are Pearl's outfit left over from their Empire City trip, Bismuth's armor, and the humans' reaction to someone in armor at a wedding. "Looking sharp!" (Hilary claims ownership of that pun.)

McKenzie brings up how wonderful it is that Ruby and Sapphire get a chance to DECIDE so specifically to be together. Lamar then brought up that it was difficult to get this episode made. Hilary says part of that is the fact that it was a two-parter. And Lamar says that since it was a wedding involving Ruby and Sapphire, it "took some work" to do this--not because of any problems with the Crew, but there were some speed bumps getting approved to show what they wanted to show and they were thrilled to be able to do it WITHOUT EDITS. Lamar felt a lot of the show built up to this moment. McKenzie was so blown away by the beauty of the wedding kiss.

McKenzie also says she didn't realize how much she'd been missing Garnet, and when Ruby and Sapphire finally fused and Garnet returned, she felt "everything was right with the world." Even if you love Ruby and Sapphire, Garnet leaves such a void when she's not there.

Hilary asks if Garnet is McKenzie's favorite couple, and she says they're basically the default "everyone's" favorite couple. Michaela loves the callback of Bismuth whining that Ruby and Sapphire are her favorite couple in "Made of Honor" after Steven said the same thing in "The Question." Bismuth crying when it's time to bring out the rings was another favorite moment.

And then . . . the action! McKenzie runs down the list of things that showed up in the second half of the episode--Blue and Yellow Diamond, the Cluster, the arm wrestling. . . .  Lamar wasn't sure if the arm wrestling was Jeff or Miki who boarded it, but it was Rebecca's idea that they were supposed to fight somehow. McKenzie says she loved seeing Garnet stand up to the Diamonds, after that encounter so many years ago when Blue Diamond threatened shattering as punishment for fusion. And it was still really meaningful even though it was also a ruse for her to hold Blue Diamond still so she could get a barn dropped on her head. So satisfying.

McKenzie really enjoyed Lapis's return as well. She wondered if Lapis slamming the barn into the beach was a callback at all to Steven's suggestion that she could bring the barn to the beach and be neighbors with him. McKenzie's sad that the barn is wrecked. Lamar also thought it was "amazing" that Lapis could resist Blue's sadness wave because she's felt worse. Michaela thinks Blue's sadness was easy to overcome because she's been so low for so long. McKenzie was impressed that Lapis had such strength because that wave totally incapacitated all the other Gems.

McKenzie brings up how great Connie was too, since she was unaffected by the sadness wave and could attack with Lion. Hilary and Lamar confirm that it only affects Gems (and half-Gems). Michaela brings up the weird noise the Cluster makes and how it's really spooky. Lamar refers to them as "spirits" and "souls," and that you SHOULD be scared. McKenzie loved the thumbs up from the Cluster. She also loved when Steven goes into his psychic state, and asked the guests to talk about deciding to do that. Hilary quotes the "classic psychic ghost situation" and Michaela makes a reference to the pottery wheel from the movie Ghost. Lamar said it was a challenge to show the internal mental battle while still showing the audience that a fight was in progress.

Michaela asks what inspired that weird head space and mentioned how struck by it she was. Hilary said it just needed to be clear it was an internal space, and she thinks Jeff boarded it, while she was just getting started as a storyboard supervisor on that episode. Michaela thought it was reminiscent of a video game. It had a void behind it and was similar to the psychic space they used when depicting the Cluster. McKenzie thought the depiction of Lapis getting poofed in that space so we'd understand what happened was really interesting. She felt bad for Peridot and Lapis getting taken out of that fight, but everyone agrees it's just part of being a Crystal Gem. And by this point the show has desensitized us a little to Gems getting poofed. We know they're all right.

McKenzie really liked seeing the Gems' internal thoughts when Steven was experiencing them in that space, and how he encouraged each Crystal Gem on his way to confront the Diamonds. Hilary points out that even though they've learned a lesson through the act of dealing with the fallout from the truth about Rose, they are still processing--they are still learning to deal with it. Steven having to remind them and ground them is not surprising.

The group has some further discussion about how facing an issue doesn't mean you've just solved it because you addressed it once. Michaela loves that the characters are so multidimensional because giving voice to a character becomes easier when they're "accessible." Hilary elaborates on how it mirrors real life--it's not like in real life you face an issue with your mom and then "it's solved now." It's probably going to be ongoing, as well the residual feelings from when it was unsolved even if the issue itself is improving.

The final words of the podcast have McKenzie describing the premiere of the podcast's volume 3 and saying "see you guys next Thursday," but I'm not sure what this refers to since Volume 3 premiered the previous week and the episodes don't seem to be getting released on Thursdays. *shrug*

[Archive of Steven Universe Podcast Summaries]

Steven Universe Podcast MiniRecaps: Now We're Only Falling Apart, What's Your Problem, & The Question (Volume 3, Episode 1)

This is the first episode of the official Steven Universe podcast Volume 3, approaching new episodes with behind-the-scenes peeks into the show. This episode covers “Now We're Only Falling Apart," "What's Your Problem,” and “The Question” together, and includes three Crewniverse members (one board artist, one board supervisor, and one voice actor). The official description:

McKenzie opens with an introduction; Lamar, Hilary, and Michaela say hi, and they jump right into "Now We're Only Falling Apart."

McKenzie's first question for the board team is about Sapphire: she can see the future, so how exactly do they approach writing for her?

Lamar jumps in to say they're used to it at this point--she can't see so clearly that there's no story to write and no way to surprise her; she still has the capacity to interact with others and have emotions despite that she can see things coming or be aware of stuff out of sight. Hilary points out that Sapphire sees possibilities and avenues, considering she knows the future can be changed. McKenzie brings up the fact that Sapphire used to see the future as one inevitable eventuality, but Ruby has brought chaos into the picture since she's "zany." Before Sapphire met Ruby, everyone fell into their role, and it was much more predictable, but now everyone breaks rules. Lamar thinks Sapphire's really interesting because she can still be surprised and it manifests in ways the others can't experience.

Michaela thought it was super cool to watch Sapphire using ice to separate herself from others, until after she's spent the whole episode mostly listening, and then the ice and snow softens and melts.

McKenzie points out that it's easy to sympathize with both Gems in this episode, but that Sapphire is so hard to surprise and reacts more extremely to it when it happens to her, leading her to blame herself. Hilary says the other characters were used to putting their choices on Rose, but once they had to accept responsibility for their own futures, their roles in their own lives became more active. (The guests jokingly whisper some life lessons and goof around a little about hidden messages in the show.) McKenzie then asks the guests to discuss how the episode was really mostly focused on the backstory for Pink Diamond and Pearl, and asks for details on approaching that.

Lamar loved "humanizing" Pink Diamond in his boards, making her goofy, and loving to say "welcome to Earth!" He liked showing that she didn't like everyone saluting her and flipping out over her presence, and he thinks that made her more likable. He also liked their tour of Earth and all their discoveries of nature and humans. Michaela jokes that maybe she saw the baby in that family and wanted one.

Michaela thought this is really the first time you see how much like Steven Pink Diamond is. She loved the "Zach-influenced laugh." McKenzie points out that she's got a duality, that she has two sides of her personality. She loved seeing Pink and Pearl being nerds. Hilary points out that they don't have responsibilities really, so they had time to just goof around, and Michaela understands how living the life Pink led would lead her to want to treasure her time on Earth. McKenzie was amazed that Garnet influenced the fate of the Earth. If not for Garnet, Rose would have scared all the Gems away instead of fighting for Gems too. Hilary says it's a bit circular. Pink and Pearl had fun on Earth exploring their agency, while Garnet's components had also exercised agency in wanting to be who they are. Michaela brings up the way Garnet was so unsure and didn't even want to admit that her fusion was intentional at first. Hilary says of course cross-Gem fusion is "bad," but McKenzie brings up how Rose said it was okay, making it harder to look back on that as positive.

Next episode up for discussion is "What's Your Problem."

McKenzie prompts Michaela to discuss Amethyst's newfound maturity in the episode. She identifies with bottling things up, pretending things are okay, deflecting, and wanting to take care of another person so you don't have to deal with your own feelings, so she related very easily to what Amethyst went through. McKenzie says she relates too: she doesn't want to confront everything, so why not focus on someone else's problems? Michaela loved seeing Amethyst's relationship with Steven, and she thinks everyone needs a person like Steven in their lives who can handle the hard conversations honestly, freely. McKenzie jokes that we all need that person who'll wrangle our fleeing helicopter form to force discussion about our feelings.

The group then discusses how Amethyst was REALLY trying to get Steven off her during that scene, and Hilary says she wasn't worried because he could float and land safely. Hilary loves the idea that you can both support your buddy and also express your own feelings. Amethyst is trying to be there for Steven legitimately; she's not doing it just so he'll pay attention to HER. Michaela asks the boarder folks how they decide what Amethyst will shapeshift into in any given scene, and Lamar says it's ALWAYS a helicopter as a first choice. Hilary thinks nothing will ever outdo that carseat shapeshift. Michaela remembers from recording that the underwater scene required her to gargle to make the underwater bubble noise.

McKenzie brings up how Amethyst didn't want to dump more old issues on Steven and wanted to shield him a little, and she asks whether that was really a good move. Shielding him from his mother's legacy won’t necessarily help because it'll catch up to him, but dumping it on him at once is cruel. Hilary points out that he knows the backstory; it's the emotional fallout that she doesn't want to force him to carry. Michaela says it's not really good or bad. She did it out of love. Hilary thinks it's unhealthy to bottle up your feelings for someone else's sake; she's still a strong person even if she admits that the situation is really bothering her. McKenzie also says they don't have to deal with it immediately. Steven fixated on the finding Ruby task, and Amethyst just wanted to cheer Steven up. The pizza scene comes up and they discuss what the heck is on the pizza. Michaela says she now wants to eat pizza with a spoon someday. (They goof around about having a fish stuffed with pizza.)

McKenzie brings up another scene she loved: Pearl descending into tears with Sapphire toward the beginning. She thought it was so funny. Michaela loved Deedee's "ugly cry," while for McKenzie it's more about the face Pearl makes. Lamar says during pitching if the discussion leads to "and then they cry," everyone just laughs. It's not FUNNY that someone's sad, he clarifies, but when they get to decide whether it will happen and control the action, crying is funny. Michaela also loved that Pearl was trying to comfort Sapphire but kept saying the totally wrong things.

And then they lead into discussing Amethyst's maturity and how she had a little temper tantrum about whether she was mature. She asks for the group's thoughts on that, and Michaela's very interested in the boarders' thoughts because she wants to know if they foresaw where Amethyst's emotional arc would go. Lamar thinks it fell into place easily with Rebecca's ideas because Amethyst, as the "baby," has the most room for growth and the good examples of the other Gems to bring herself up to. Hilary adds that Amethyst feels more like a sibling with Steven than Pearl and Garnet are, and has a lot of parallels with him. Michaela loves their friendship and thinks Smoky Quartz is "hashtag best Fusion."

Next, they go into "The Question."

McKenzie wants to start off discussing coping styles, contrasting everyone else's with Ruby's as shown in this episode. Hilary relates to burying your feelings by reading comics. Ruby's reaction is kind of a "fun" version of soul-searching, and Lamar was glad Ruby got time to herself. Michaela liked that Greg and Steven supported her (even though Garnet is Steven's favorite couple). McKenzie just LOVES Greg and how amazing he was at being there for Ruby. Michaela loves also that he doesn't take himself too seriously but does understand the weight of things properly. They also really enjoyed how he related Rose being Pink Diamond to himself being Gregory DeMayo.

Discussing the really great visuals on this episode, they give the credit to Miki Brewster and Jeff Liu (and this is one of Miki's early episodes). Lamar thinks it was a perfect episode for them. Michaela admits to laughing, crying, and learning a lot. Hilary brings up the comic book art in the episode (drawn by Angie Wang), which used a dry brush. Rebecca had a specific comic they referenced, and Angie replicated it so well. Angie generally does props and effects on the show. Hilary thinks drawings inside a drawing are so interesting. Lamar remembers Muppet Babies mixing styles like that. You have to do a different style on fictional comics and cartoons to make them look different from the style of the cartoon itself, or you won't be able to tell if it's supposed to be live action.

Then McKenzie prompts them to discuss the song, and Michaela goes first, saying she received the demo with just Jeff singing on it. He writes everything with a bit of a twang, so for this he just turned it up. They also all loved Charlyne Yi's performance. McKenzie thinks the song is a little reminiscent of "On the Run," and Michaela points out that every song she's sung as Amethyst has been by Jeff Liu.  

McKenzie loves that Ruby ran right to being a cowboy to explore her individuality. Hilary's a little sad she didn't pick the dolphin comic. They joke about how that would've been done in a “wet brush." Michaela wants to talk about the Amethyst horse! They loved the transformation and discussed whether there was an overlay on the horse sounds she recorded. Michaela thinks there's a little bit of her voice and mostly real horse in there. They joke about the voice actor for the horse being Mr. Ed's apprentice, "Li'l Ed."

One thing that Michaela loved about this Ruby episode is that you can't know what's going on with someone from the outside. You can't assume they're perfectly content even if they seemed like it. Communication is important. And they all loved the resolution--especially the proposal. Hilary says she likes the acknowledgment that Ruby doesn't HAVE to be with someone; she WANTS to be with someone. Miki did the boarding for the proposal scene and she was clearly super into it.

[Archive of Steven Universe Podcast Summaries]

Steven Universe Podcast MiniRecaps: Can't Go Back / A Single Pale Rose (Episode 5)

This is the fifth episode of the return to MiniRecaps, short behind-the-scenes peeks into episodes of the show. This episode covers “Can't Go Back” and "A Single Pale Rose" together, and includes several voice actors. The official description:

McKenzie opens the podcast with an introduction of Shelby, Michaela, and Deedee. They share some improvised jokes and jump into "Can't Go Back." McKenzie mentions Lapis's return and her first song. Deedee and McKenzie said many fans had been waiting for such a thing and that it came out wonderfully. Deedee got excited as soon as she heard Jen Paz humming. Deedee and Jen actually both played the same part in Miss Saigon (Kim), but Deedee says she's been a fan for such a long time due to crossing paths in that show (and Jen is in Mama Bares with her). They all LOVE the song.

McKenzie thought it was sad that Lapis was using the orb to look at the people she missed, like FaceTime with no interaction. Shelby points out that she isolated herself, but it was her choice at least. McKenzie thinks it's tragic because people like Lapis isolate themselves so they won't get hurt, and how you think Lapis is going to return but she doesn't. Michaela thinks the way light is used to show the walls kind of indicates an emotional wall for Lapis.

McKenzie also thinks she might feel safer observing than interacting. Deedee says her isolation doesn't make her feel better, either. Michaela thinks the differences in people's coping strategies is very interesting--how some will reach out to others when they're sad, but some like Lapis will just withdraw. Deedee points out that Lapis was still happy to see Steven, and Michaela observes that Lapis probably thinks her leaving was better for everyone else anyway. Deedee says Lapis might think she's being selfless by taking herself away, but it's actually selfish, because people do miss her. Steven said he was happy to see her and she said "Really?"

They discuss how Peridot really misses Lapis, how she's sleeping in the tub, but at least she has Pumpkin and is engaging with the other Gems. And then . . . the episode takes a dark turn into Steven's Diamond dream and it scares Lapis. Everyone agrees that Pearl's silhouette in the dream was super spooky.

McKenzie thinks it's amazing that just an episode before you see Pearl being a mom at the improv show and now this is an incredibly serious, scary other side of her. Michaela says that's who she is, Pearl's great at compartmentalizing. Shelby thinks the light effects and backgrounds in that episode were incredible, and McKenzie loved the colors.

They bounce off this into discussing "A Single Pale Rose." They agree that this episode was A LOT. Deedee says they recorded that episode quite a while ago and she was shocked by rewatching it because she'd forgotten about all those Pearl "tunnels." Deedee "relived" the whole thing with those transitions.

Everyone agrees that Deedee was amazing in the episode. Deedee says she loves working with these directors and creators because they give her so much detail to work with and make her job easy. This applies to every aspect of the show. Michaela feels really lucky to be part of Rebecca's vision and the overall collaboration. McKenzie thinks the voice actors are downplaying what a big part of this they are--that the voices are key. Shelby loves being around the other voice actors and supporting each other, encouraging each other to do their best work. They "work their butts off" because of how much work the artists have put into their work. They sometimes personally request retakes because they think they can do better, and the show deserves their best. They love being part of such a groundbreaking show. Even the podcast is a really cool place to be able to reflect on the show.

Deedee loves when she can record with others and share their energy, and she mentions how the group reactions are great to do together so everyone can have the same kind of reaction. She also adores being able to talk to the fans about how the show has affected them in a positive way.

McKenzie points out that this episode was such a long time coming, and it's a culmination of all this work. Deedee mentions getting the coaching from Kent and Rebecca on how to deliver the lines emotionally, and when everything comes together it's fantastic. A lot of times actors who were not in the booth together have their lines recorded at another time and the actors finally see it all put together only in the final product! Deedee thinks she was in the booth with Zach or solo for this. Shelby thinks they're in the same boat as the audience sometimes when it comes to seeing the final product. Sometimes fans ask what they think is going to happen and they have to say they don't know until they see how it's all put together.

(There was no other discussion of the episode after this--it was mostly a discussion of process. There was no indication of when future podcast episodes will be available; McKenzie just says "thank you for listening.")

[Archive of Steven Universe Podcast Summaries]

Steven Universe Podcast MiniRecaps: Letters to Lars (Episode 4)

This is the fourth episode of the return to MiniRecaps, short behind-the-scenes peeks into episodes of the show. This episode covers “Letters to Lars” and includes several voice actors. The official description:

McKenzie introduces Shelby, Michaela, and Deedee, and they talk about how the format of this episode was super fun. Michaela wants to get letters through her hair too. They thought Steven's narration was "adorbable."

McKenzie also thinks the introduction of Pearl's phone was hilarious. What does she do with it? Even though Pearl doesn't use the phone well, Deedee thinks Pearl probably knows how to use it better than she does. Deedee thinks Pearl's first action with a phone would be to sync her calendar with everyone else's to make sure they're all on the same page. Shelby wonders if she'd send selfies to people but Deedee doesn't think so. But they agree she'd love taking photos of Steven and others. McKenzie does think she would take accidental selfies, and need Steven to help clear them out.

McKenzie brings up the improv show and asks them to discuss recording that. Shelby says it was a full booth and it's so rare for her. She loves to watch the other VAs' process, especially Eugene Cordero (who plays Jamie, whom they call "the hot mailman"). He actually did a lot of those motions that Jamie does, and they talk about loving Kate Flannery (she plays Barb). They have to be careful about not laughing during a take. They agree Peridot would like Carrot Top because they both are into props. Then McKenzie talks about the noises Jamie makes while moving the plunger around and how surreal it is.

Deedee is afraid of improv, and she was wondering if Jamie's motions meant he was supposed to be creating the plunger, but Michaela says in space work you just act as if items that aren't there are there. They all love the idea that Pearl always wants the improv group to do a scene about Steven. Shelby loves to be encouraging at improv even if the skits are just not working very well. Shelby also loves magic shows and pretends to be amazed even if she knows how the trick is done.

This episode is mostly just them joking around and sharing anecdotes, so not much was shared about the rest of the episode--nothing about Dewey repeatedly trying to find a place to fit, Greg playing tennis, or Lars's appreciation of news about Sadie and wrestling. Oh well!

[Archive of Steven Universe Podcast Summaries]

Steven Universe Podcast MiniRecaps: Pool Hopping (Episode 3)

This is the third episode of the return to MiniRecaps, short behind-the-scenes peeks into episodes of the show. This episode covers “Pool Hopping” and includes several voice actors. The official description:

McKenzie Atwood gets right into it introducing Shelby, Michaela, and Deedee, and asks them to give a quick summation of what they thought of the episode. Deedee didn't know what "pool hopping" refers to, and Michaela explains that it's about jumping from pool to pool (figuratively). Deedee had been wondering if it would be about the billiards game! Michaela LOVES the episode and she really enjoyed seeing Garnet in the Big Donut work outfit. Shelby thinks she looks really sweet and comments that seeing her wear something different for once is cool, but in talking about this she at first refers to Garnet as "Estelle" and they have to specify that yes, ESTELLE certainly wears different clothes. (Michaela teases Shelby that maybe she's trying to start a rumor.)

They discuss other outfits Garnet might have worn besides her typical one, bringing up the beach outfit (from "Beach Party") and discussing the baseball episode but acknowledging that Garnet didn't participate in that in her fused state so it was Ruby and Sapphire in baseball clothes. They bring up how Garnet has the line "Go weirder!" and how it reminds them of doing their voice-over recordings when they're asked to go weirder during their "weird takes."

McKenzie also brings up how Garnet's Future Vision is represented by water very often. The VAs remembered the coffee, but seemed intrigued to be reminded of the "time is like a river" image that McKenzie references (which is from "Future Vision" back in Season 1).

McKenzie prompts them to discuss the aspect of the episode where Garnet is excited and animated. Deedee loves having the chance to finally see Garnet emotional. She says they do sometimes get to record with Estelle but it's very unusual because she's so busy. And during those records, often it's just a few lines for Estelle to record, while in this one there were straight-up MONOLOGUES. Michaela thinks maybe that's just what Garnet feels her role is in the Crystal Gems' dynamic--in the group, she's got to be concise and firm, but when she's away from the group, she can open up. Shelby says she's only recorded with Estelle once and it was for a Make-A-Wish event. Shelby admits to being a bit star-struck by Estelle because she's a huge fan of her music, and she loves hearing her work. Michaela adds that Estelle's range in this episode was pretty great--Garnet has a rare opportunity to explore emotions she almost never presents, and Estelle gives voice to them so well.

McKenzie points out that this is the most in-depth talk Garnet has had with Steven about the way her Future Vision affects her, and how cool that is that she's willing to share that part of her life with Steven. McKenzie elaborates, suggesting that anyone who could actually see the future would feel burdened by the responsibility to protect others since it's something they alone can do. Michaela reminds everyone that even Future Vision doesn't allow one to always know what's coming. The episode shows us that living in the moment is healthier instead of always preparing for what COULD happen when it's not a sure thing. McKenzie found the image of Garnet in the rain covered by cats having a breakdown to be very relatable. (Michaela asks if that happens to McKenzie a lot and she agrees that it does, but she's kidding, and just wants to be covered in kittens.) She loved that Steven could bring that practical advice to Garnet: just do what you WANT To happen. Deedee thinks he's very wise.

Shelby points out that she loves the one-eyed cat! Michaela asks if it's a coincidence, but they all agree it's got to be an intentional choice--hey, in an episode about Future Vision, having a cat with one blue eye (like Sapphire) is a pretty specific image. They love the decision to call her "Cat Steven." As much as they would love to hold that many kittens, unfortunately, Deedee is highly allergic to cats.

Shelby enjoys the image of rain in this show--how it represents a page being turned, a new perspective. She compares it to when Peridot feels rain for the first time, and how the Crew tends to use water to bring these moments home. (Does this extend to the musical Cats? Well, maybe, says Deedee. Kidding.) McKenzie decides to throw out some random love for Vidalia also, with Deedee chiming in to say that Jackie (Buscarino) does a fantastic voice for the character. Apparently Jackie does not consider her voice acting any big deal, but the others agree she's really so talented. "Paint me like one of your Amethysts" was a highlight for McKenzie in this episode.

Michaela feels there's one more "teaching moment," which is . . . people grow up. Garnet probably has a hard time with the concept, Michaela thinks--the idea that Steven could stop being a child at some point. Deedee and McKenzie aren't ready for that, and Deedee finds it a little sad. But growing up is inevitable. Unless you're Benjamin Button.

Next Tuesday is another episode!

[Archive of Steven Universe Podcast Summaries]

Steven Universe Podcast MiniRecaps: The Big Show (Episode 2)

This is the second episode of the return to MiniRecaps, short behind-the-scenes peeks into episodes of the show. This episode covers “The Big Show” and includes several voice actors. The official description:

McKenzie introduces Deedee, Michaela, and Shelby, and they immediately begin to discuss the episode "The Big Show." Michaela says she likes the camcorder style and Deedee says her husband thought the episode wasn't mixed yet when he saw it. McKenzie really likes that they use the same camcorder Greg and Rose used to make that video for Steven. Shelby reminds the young viewers out there that camcorders actually looked like this and produced this kind of quality back then. Steven totally wanted the footage to look old.

McKenzie loves seeing Sadie and her band, Sadie Killer and the Suspects, and the four participants make a pact to go to a show and see the band together someday. McKenzie thinks the effects in the show were actually pretty awesome. Deedee wonders how Sadie got clicked into that harness because she didn't see anyone hooking her up, but they're sure it's safe. And of course McKenzie loves when Sadie turns the mic off while pretending to be limp and ghostlike.

Shelby goes on to discuss how that little mic switch detail is an example of how the Crewniverse thinks of everything--so many small details that they work into their characters' actions. Very specific choices about what they would wear and do are thought through and executed tightly, and Shelby feels like they really are the ones responsible for making the magic happen while she just lends her voice to it. They think it would've been funny if Sadie rehearsed turning the mic off after dropping it in rehearsal and making a big thud. Hilary and Amber's sense of humor comes through on this, Michaela thinks.

And on the subject of boarders, Lamar Abrams as Buck Dewey is hilarious according to Michaela. "I love enthusiasm!" Michaela thinks it's neat when characters who never really interact get to bond, like Sadie and Greg did during this episode. McKenzie loved Greg's "parental advice" when Sadie was struggling with her feelings about her mom's involvement in her musical career. He's such a good dad. They love that Greg is a good parent and good friend without talking down to even very young people.

Deedee elaborates from a parental perspective on how sometimes kids don't even hear what their parents tell them until someone else says the same thing. Greg explains to Sadie how his parents weren't supportive and he thinks it's sweet that Sadie's mom is in her corner, even if it "drives her nuts." And we see Sadie develop a desire for her mom to see her progress after hearing that perspective. Deedee wonders if she can emulate being friends with her own kids and Michaela thinks she does. Deedee thinks they just think she's weird and Michaela points out that Deedee does wear a unicorn onesie.

Back to the episode, McKenzie points out that it was kinda sad when Sadie thought Sunshine Justice was her mom and was all jazzed to greet her but it wasn't even her. 

Michaela thinks Sadie is kind of at that point where young adults think they're independent but still want their parents' attention without really knowing it. Deedee says her mom used to tell her she couldn't wait until she had her own kids, and now she "gets it." You live and learn. Shelby thinks the episode encourages people to think about their own perspectives on parent/child relationships, and she loves that the show brings these specific feelings in and makes space for people to process them. Even though she voices one of the characters, she's taken out of her own involvement with it when she watches it, owing to how invested she is. Deedee thinks her son was nicer after watching the episode, and Michaela feels lucky for having parents who support her. Love to parents!

[Archive of Steven Universe Podcast Summaries]

Steven Universe Podcast MiniRecaps: Your Mother and Mine (Episode 1)

This is the first episode of the return to MiniRecaps, short behind-the-scenes peeks into episodes of the show. This episode covers “Your Mother and Mine” and includes several voice actors. The official description:

McKenzie introduces Michaela, Deedee, and Shelby, and they all say hello together, and she prompts them to discuss their reactions to the episode--specifically, to watching Garnet interact with the Off Colors. Deedee loved the hugs, while Shelby thought Garnet was being charismatic and happy. Michaela speculates that maybe she sort of felt like she was among her own. McKenzie agrees, especially in Rhodonite specifically. Relating to others makes you feel more at ease.

McKenzie points out how the Off Colors themselves were nervous and didn't even know how to take a compliment, with Deedee saying they didn't even know what that WAS. They discuss what kind of life the Off Colors must have had up to that point, and agree maybe they didn't even know how bad they had it, but Deedee assures us all that it will be different going forward because of the positive attitude change they've made in this episode.

McKenzie brings up Peridot being similar when she first got to Earth, how it didn't even compute to her that Pearls could do the things Pearl was doing, and she was very set in her ways as to what was normal and possible. McKenzie also likes the style the Crew used to portray Garnet's fairy tale about the war, and Deedee immediately says she loves the different voices Estelle used to narrate about the other characters. Michaela thinks the style was like "a puppet show and cave drawings had a baby."

McKenzie says she heard that style was supposed to be a very specific anime reference [chronicler’s note: I thought Revolutionary Girl Utena immediately, as I was a fan of that in the 1990s, but if there’s another McKenzie was referring to, I’m not sure what it is]. She jokes that she's "in that phase" of watching a lot of anime, which you're supposed to grow out of in middle school. She's assured by the others that she doesn't have to "grow out of it." Live your truth! McKenzie goes back to the point about different voices and says she thinks it's really interesting that if Steven doesn't know what a character looks or sounds like, someone else does the voice (like Estelle did for Pink Diamond in this episode, or when she did Blue Diamond in "The Answer").

Michaela thinks the crafty way the Crew includes important messages is excellent because they're subtle about their lessons instead of shoving them down people's throats. McKenzie agrees it's not preachy, and Shelby thinks there's tons of mystical storytelling and stunning visuals tied up in a wonderful package--she thinks it's special and unusual. Deedee loves that it can be funny and silly and then spin on a dime to get deep. She learned the phrase "the feels" because of this show. Michaela loves how Aivi and Surasshu's music enhances that. McKenzie has seen a lot of the episodes before the music is in, and even though the story's complete at that point, the music can help give the audience cues on how they're spinning the scene emotionally.

Final thoughts from Michaela: She loves that Lars is so confident in the episode and playing well with others. Shelby thinks his cape and earrings are awesome.

Next episode is next Tuesday!

[Archive of Steven Universe Podcast Summaries]

Steven Universe Podcast: Volume 2, Episode 4: Pearl

In the second season of the Steven Universe Podcast, episode 4, released February 15, 2018, is about Pearl! The official description:

This is very long because the podcasts are getting long (this one was almost an hour!), and I don’t want to skimp on the detail but I also don’t want to overwhelm anyone with too much text. Therefore, I will open with bulleted highlights and include a more detailed narrative under the read-more.

Highlights:

The detailed summary, including Deedee and Michaela discussing Pearl’s personality and relationships; Jeff and Joe discussing "Mr. Greg" and other Pearl elements; Rebecca and Ian discussing Pearl’s origin, characteristics, and character design; and fan questions answered in character . . .

Read it all below!

Steven Universe Podcast: Volume 2, Episode 2: Amethyst

A new season of the Steven Universe Podcast launched January 25, 2018, and here is a recap of episode 2, released February 1, 2018! The official description:

This is very long because the podcasts are getting long, and I don't want to skimp on the detail because it's all very interesting to this wonderful group of nerds who like to read these, but I also don't want to overwhelm anyone with all the text, so I'll give you the bulleted highlights first and a more detailed narrative under the read-more.

Highlights:

The detailed summary, including Rebecca and Ian discussing Amethyst’s origin, Deedee and Amethyst discussing voicing the characters, and fan questions answered in character . . .

Read it all below!

Sorta-Transcript from online fan Q&A with Shelby Rabara, Deedee Magno Hall, and Michaela Dietz

Anyone can watch this online Q&A with the above voice actors, but if you don’t want to watch/can’t listen to audio, I made this sorta-transcript. Meaning I did not transcribe the exact words in most cases, but I wrote down the questions and the basic idea of how they answered. Enjoy! 

Shelby Rabara (voice of Peridot) was the Livestream host for fan questions! Deedee Magno Hall (Pearl) and Michaela Dietz (Amethyst) were giving answers, but usually Shelby gave her answer too.

Shelby read fan questions.

1. Favorite episode and why?

Deedee: “Steven and the Stevens”: she likes the song, because it reminds her of the movie That Thing You Do.

Michaela: Is it a cop-out to say all of them? Ha. “Tiger Millionaire” is great because Zach's performance is great and wrestling's cool.

Shelby: “Lion 3: Straight to Video.” Because it's emotional.

2. What character that you don't voice do you relate to most?

Deedee: Amethyst.

Michaela: Really??

Deedee: Because I like to eat. I like to eat FOOD.

Michaela: You don't like to eat stacks of garbage and moldy burritos?

Michaela: Steven. He has a good head on his shoulders.

Deedee: And you also have a very good heart like him!

Shelby: I relate to Connie. She is level-headed and uses logic and makes the correct choice.

Michaela: She's bright and assertive and so are you.

Shelby: Are you having fun here?

Michaela and Deedee: YES! We just had a great panel and cosplay!

3. If your characters were human, what jobs would they have?

Deedee: Pearl would work in a Laundromat because she's really good at folding clothes and I think either that or maybe she might be in the cleaning business because she likes to organize. She's tidy.

Michaela: I need the Pearl method in my home. Amethyst would be a camp counselor. She would be the wacky counselor who's getting too into the games.

Shelby: I'd want Amethyst as a counselor.

4. If you were a Gem, what would your gem weapon be and why?

Deedee: Because I'm a mom, I would want to have a healing blanket to heal them.

Michaela: The power of a bad joke. "Orange ya glad I didn't say banana?" So powerful.

Shelby: I would wanna read people's minds. Can I use that? Is that like Garnet's third eye?

Deedee: Similar but not.

5. How do you get into character when you perform voice-overs?

Michaela: I have an evolved routine. I wake up. And that's what I do. I'm so close to Amethyst! I wake up, I talk, it's acting.

Deedee: That comes so easy to you! I have to wake up early, and warm up, especially if it's a singing episode. No coffee with cream. I have to drink water to avoid sticky saliva. Green apples!

Shelby: I noticed that you ate green apples!

Deedee: I wish I didn't have to do that! But green apples help lubricate and get rid of mucus.

Michaela: Or a potato chip. Not a weird flavor.

Shelby: I'm gonna try those things next time I'm in the booth with you guys.

6. What's your favorite Fusion?

Michaela and Deedee: [Start singing "Giant Woman"]

Deedee: Though I do like Sardonyx.

Michaela: Every time a new Fusion appears I like that one. I'm crushing on Smoky Quartz.

Shelby: I like Stevonnie. That's an aesthetic I haven't seen in cartoons. It's Steven and Connie mashed together!

Michaela: Says young cosplayers remind her of Stevonnie with the maturity they exude. Stumbles over calling Stevonnie a "young woman" and then acknowledges they're a nonbinary Fusion. Says that easy confidence is so attractive.

Deedee: AJ is a perfect voice for Stevonnie. She killed it at the panel, and the singing with Estelle with Rebecca playing was amazing. What a great Fusion they are.

7. Give your best impression of another character.

Michaela: muhmuhmuh! [Onion voice]

Deedee: I'm nervous doing this in front of you. "YOU CLODS!" [Peridot voice]

Shelby: YOU'RE GONNA TAKE MY JOB AWAY!

Deedee and Michaela: NO YOU'RE THE BEST!

Shelby: Let's just fawn over each other.

8. How long does it take to record an episode?

Michaela: Depends on how many lines we have. Could be an hour, could be four hours.

Deedee: We get in at 9, could be wrapped up by 1.

Michaela: An episode takes ten months from the idea to on the TV.

Deedee: Like a baby. It IS a baby.

9. What celebrity would you like to see appear on the show?

Michaela: Rebecca Sugar. And T-Pain. He's a big Steven Universe fan.

Deedee: I just want to meet him and sing with him: Bruno Mars.

Shelby: I would wanna see Adele. Adele should voice a character. And she's funny. And she loves herself.

Michaela: Loving who you are is so on-brand!

10. Who's the best Steven Universe villain?

Deedee: Can I say Peridot? She started out as a villain and then changed for good. [Michaela helped express this and they say they Giant Womaned that.]

11. What would your fusion dance be?

Deedee and Michaela do a fusion dance with Shelby providing beatboxing.

Michaela: Actually that's how we greet each other on the street.

Deedee: I was nervous. Dancing in front of you makes me nervous because you're a pro dancer.

Shelby: Imagine us in a booth together! Our work isn't even work.

Michaela: People probably see us and ask if we had too much ginger ale. Too many vegetables.

Deedee: YOU CAN NEVER HAVE TOO MANY VEGETABLES. Fruits and vegetables. Also, hydrate. Drink lots of water.

12. What are your favorite memories from recording?

Deedee: We're still making more memories! The efforts! When we crack up over making effort noises.

Michaela: Do you hear that? It's an earthquake!

[All three make noises like they're losing their balance.]

Michaela: When we get together it's always a great time, like a mini family reunion. Recently AJ was there, Estelle was there, you [Deedee] were there, Paz was there . . . I think Zach wasn't there? Toks was there! [Nanefua's voice actor.] We had a reunion. We're so close!

13. What has been the most difficult scene to record?

Deedee: There are many re-dos. For me, the really wordy Pearl lines, 'cause I don't speak like that normally. The intricate dialogue that Pearl says is tough for me.

Michaela: You execute them flawlessly.

Deedee: Take after take after take.

Michaela: During Amethyst's angrier self-expression phases, it was hard to scream a lot and vary it so it didn't all sound the same. Very challenging.

Shelby: We're our own biggest critic. When we have long runs, we have to think so quickly. Finding the levels is important, trying to hit them emotionally.

Deedee: It's so helpful to have Rebecca, Kent, Matt, and Ben in the booth giving specifics to us on how to execute our lines.

Michaela: You both are so good at taking the text and making it feel like your own. I learn the most from watching other actors.

Deedee: We go to school every sesh!

14. Tell the fans what your favorite line is.

Deedee: OH MY GOODNESS.

Michaela: CHAIRS!

Deedee: I like saying everybody's names. "STEVEN!" "AMETHYST!" "~GARNET!" [The “Steven” read sounds fearful, the “Amethyst” read sounds angry, and the “Garnet” read sounds almost pleading.]

Shelby: Mine's definitely "Clod."

Shelby: On Sunday, Cartoon Network they're filming a music video for "Stronger Than You" with Estelle!

[The VAs sing a line from "Stronger Than You."]

Michaela: But we're not really stronger than YOU because you guys are really strong.

Deedee: Really strong. Stay strong! In the real way.

Shelby: YES.