How would you guys rewrite Steven universe and other tumblr shows
I'm really late on this but just deliver.
Like TOH, it was pure wasted potential. The show’s first season
was very atmospheric had vibes. From Lapis, to Jasper and Peridot coming in, there was always this promise of something bigger on the horizon. Except, up to, and past, the Diamonds, the whole thing was a big letdown; even things that were delivered ended up getting barned or made into parodies of their former selves. In the end, White Diamond got upset because Steven was hella sassy, and that proves she does have emotions after all. When Steven’s hella trauma caught up to him and he turned into Barneyzilla, all everyone had to do was give him a big hug and everything was okay
. Not to mention what everyone else said, that Beach City got too much attention for how much impact it actually had. “What matters is the journey, the friends we made along the way” don’t mean anything when the journey is ass, the friends are boring and go nowhere, and there are no real consequences for anything these characters do. Like fucking move, shit or get off the pot.
The first season was great because it paced itself and focused on what mattered. We don’t need to know why there’s a big crater in Russia, or even how the gems came about, but ultimately I think Steven Universe couldn’t answer the questions it posed. It was storyboarder-based, and obviously these storyboarders did whatever. (Edit: Intent does not matter when you put in "emotion" after setting up important, world-ending stakes, and ignore these stakes while telling people not to care about them. Slice-of-life matters work in purely slice-of-life contexts, which Steven didn't have. It wanted sci-fi weight lifting slice-of-life cookies. No dice.) They basically hand waved everything away, and they (mostly Sugar?) tried to tell the audience (through Peridot) not to take it seriously. So which is it? Do we take your characters seriously because of their trauma/emotions, should we care about their lives and the world they live in? Or are we supposed to ignore everything going on because the narrative would rather jangle keys in our faces than actually go into it? Either we should or we shouldn’t. You can’t have both, you can’t pick and choose, that’s how you ended up a laughingstock with your audience crying “What if Hitler said he was sorry?”
Basically, to actually answer your question: tighten focus, deliver on promises, and keep them. Steven being pseudo-homeschooled would be okay-ish given his circumstances, but the narrative made it clear he never had to do much until he discovered his shield, and even after that. Things fell on Steven's lap, and that's not fun to watch, whatever you are. Have Steven actually learn from both Gems and townies (even people beyond Not-Delaware,
perhaps?
Maybe?
Since these things affect the entire planet?), have him live in the real world and act on what he’s learned. Don’t have the Gems cycle in these trashy lesbian dramalationships, actually include Lapis, Peridot or even Jasper so the Crystals are more well-rounded. Have Greg actually be a dad; you don’t have to completely change his character, but clearly his relationship with Rose would give him some perspective on the kind of person she was.
Steven's premise needed focus to live up to its full potential, something a storyboarder-based production would never allow. Get together, figure the basic shit out (like how does Earth actually see these Crystal Gems?) and set course from there. The balance between emotional parts and action was good in mostly 1-2. Keep it. Just focus more on the alien civilization than the blob people no one cares about. Be methodical with progression, none of this jackrabbit Steven bomb shit. You even have a good endpoint with the Diamonds, and good minibosses through Peridot and Jasper, so even if you don't want to Vegeta them, resolve them quickly. Don't let Jasper stomp around in the background making the four/five of your main characters look like chumps.
Shit or get off the pot.
Just shit or get off the pot.
