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:

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The Steven Universe Podcast is celebrating Amethyst… with creator Rebecca Sugar, former Executive Producer Ian Jones-Quartey, Michaela Dietz (who voices Amethyst), and Deedee Magno Hall (who voices Pearl). Discover what inspired Amethyst’s weapon and shapeshifting abilities, some of the original design ideas for her character, why she’s the one who’s changed the most over the course of the series, and what Amethyst represents about Rebecca Sugar’s real-life relationship with her brother, Steven. Plus, Amethyst and Pearl both the pod to talk favorite shapeshifts, snacks, and the benefit of a good remote control!

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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 below that.

Highlights:

● Amethyst’s earliest character designs, before she was “Amethyst,” were in Rebecca’s Lars/Sadie comics from college.

● Amethyst is based physically on Rebecca’s college friend Valerie.

● Amethyst represents the present.

● The “we kept Amethyst” joke was written BEFORE the writers themselves knew Amethyst’s real origin.

● Amethyst’s whip is meant to be Dionysian: fluid and flexible.

● Amethyst’s tendency to shapeshift reflects both freedom to be whoever she wants and feeling lost and confused about who she is.

● Amethyst has changed the most since the beginning of the series.

● Meeting other Quartzes has allowed Amethyst to define herself with more clarity, leading her flexibility to become a choice rather than a reaction.

● Smoky Quartz’s yo-yo moves were real tricks derived from Rebecca’s observation of a real yo-yo master.

● Smoky represents a Fusion born out of two Gems at their lowest points, reminding viewers that sometimes you do need to ask for help.

● Michaela’s favorite Amethyst forms are the baby and Purple Puma.

● Deedee thinks Pearl would shapeshift into a graceful bird if she was interested in changing form.

● Zach Callison has a theory that Steven and Peridot’s Fusion would be smaller than either of them, and adding Amethyst would make a tiny Shorty Squad Fusion that’s also super loud.

● Michaela, performing as Amethyst in the fan Q&A, says she likes her eggs whole (including carton, plus motor oil), that she has indeed posed as someone’s cat for an extended period and has laid eggs as a chicken, does not like eating overcooked remote controls, and loves most of all to shapeshift into Pearl. WOMP WOMP.

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!

McKenzie opens by describing Amethyst’s physical appearance and weapon of choice, then introduces Rebecca and Ian to discuss her creation.

Ian and Rebecca talk origins:

First McKenzie prompts them to talk about Amethyst’s earliest concept. Ian says he re her as a character in the Lars/Sadie comics from Rebecca’s college years. Rebecca adds that she was based on drawings she did of her friend Valerie–so she was in the comics, but she wasn’t “Amethyst” yet.

Rebecca had been planning to do Lars/Sadie comic strips and never actually drew a strip but she had doodles. Rebecca drew and painted her friend Valerie all the time–getting any Vidalia/Amethyst vibes here? Though Amethyst, personality-wise, is different, there’s a visual resemblance.

Early Amethyst concepts included a plant concept that went away (would have involved flowers in her hair and whatnot), but one aspect that remained was that Amethyst would be the short one. (Her shortness being an aspect of being defective was not initially planned; it was developed later along with the Kindergarten concepts by other Crewniverse .)

Amethyst represents the present (an idea Angie had of past, present, and future for the Gems), and was supposed to be the one Gem who was most comfortable being an Earthling, interacting with humans, being like them, hanging out with boardies and having relationships with them that we’ve never seen onscreen. Pearl and Garnet purposely avoid humans, but Amethyst has that connection to humans because of her origin. Ian points out the “we kept Amethyst” joke in “Steven’s Lion” was written before they even knew she was from Kindergarten; it unintentionally made sense retroactively.

They did have plans for how Garnet and Pearl fit into Rose’s forces, but felt that Amethyst was added later as a wayward Gem brought into the fold. They already knew the characters’ ages but later had to work out how Amethyst was included.

Amethyst represents the “irresponsible, not a great role model” part of Rebecca with regard to how she acts when she’s in a comfortable mode around someone (specifically, Steven) and doesn’t have to care what anyone thinks. She represents just being a kid, being immature, relaxing. (Pearl tries to act older and responsible, while Garnet is “aspirational,” but Amethyst is the older sister that has permission to be childish while leveling with a younger sibling.)

Ian reflects on early Amethyst concepts, how Amethyst caused the conflict in the pilot episode by giving Steven the Time Thing, and how she chased him around in “Together Breakfast,” establishing that she was the one who would “mess with him.” Rebecca clarifies that it’s good-natured ribbing. Ian points out that OK KO has characters based on the “dumb police” drawing.

Regarding Amethyst’s weapon, McKenzie asks what made them decide on a whip. Rebecca and Ian agree that the weapons were super early decisions. Initially there were influences for Pearl and Amethyst from Apollo and Dionysis (Apollonian and Dionysian elements are used frequently in literature to set up a dichotomy). The spear is Apollonian (rigid, inflexible) and the whip is Dionysian (fluid, flexible).

Rebecca also mentions that Paul Villeco brought in ideas of the characters being a knight, a cowboy, and a boxer. And unlike fists or a spear, whips have multiple uses, which is flexible like Amethyst herself.

McKenzie relates this choice about her weapon to Amethyst’s shapeshifting tendencies, and Ian and Rebecca agree with that too. Ian says they figured she would use shapeshifting to mess with people, do useful things, do UN-useful things, sometimes changing into things just to make jokes … it’s all about fluidity.

Rebecca says the constant flux in Amethyst’s physical form felt right from the beginning, but made even more sense as they discovered she was searching for herself. To some extent it’s freeing to be able to be anything, but it also could indicate how lost she feels.

McKenzie asks them to discuss the decision to have Amethyst as the first Gem to fuse with Steven. Rebecca compares Steven and Amethyst’s relationship to her own relationship with her brother, saying it’s really the closest to their real sibling relationship (especially throughout that arc). Rebecca says it just made sense to her, and Ian points out that Amethyst and Steven have a similarity in that they’re both a weird kind of Gem who’s only known Earth.

Rebecca says at this point Steven really knows everything there is to know about Amethyst, almost, while Garnet and Pearl are more guarded about the vast amount of their history he does not know. She opened up to him as early as “Tiger Millionaire,” and she’s changed the most from the beginning of the show.

Amethyst representing the present, changing right along with Steven, makes sense, when balanced against Pearl with so much of the past she can’t reveal and Garnet being ahead of everything, focused on what’s going on in her own mind (which makes it hard to even talk to her).

Next, McKenzie asks them to speak to Amethyst’s relationship with Rose. Ian suggests she was kind of “the Steven of the group,” as we see in flashbacks–her getting them in trouble. Rebecca thinks Amethyst’s fluidity was encouraged by Rose, and that she protected her from having to know troubling truths.

Amethyst is basically a kid who was raised by hippies. She was sheltered from knowing the full truth of her origin and therefore she was not free to build on that aspect of her identity. Both the advantages of freedom and the disadvantages of lack of structure manifested in her.

Rose didn’t want Amethyst to have restrictions of the Gem society they rejected, but that meant she didn’t get a chance to rebel against or choose to follow anything associated with them. Especially with regard to her relationship with the Kindergarten, they compare Amethyst to being raised with a liberal upbringing–everything is fine now, even though it’s apparent that NONE of this is actually fine in the larger context.

Meeting other Amethysts inspired a growth for Amethyst where she can understand where she’s from and can CHOOSE the flexibility she embodies, rather than having that be a symptom of floundering. Now she’s developed the freedom to define herself as the kind of Quartz she wants to be, having seen the options and what her society of origin would have wanted her to be.

Deedee and Michaela talk bringing characters to life:

McKenzie introduces Deedee Magno Hall (Pearl) and Michaela Dietz (Amethyst), and begins the discussion by bringing up Amethyst’s first full-scale arc in Season 3. She asks Michaela whether it was taxing to play a character who’s really hit rock bottom, and Michaela instead says she could relate to how focused Amethyst was during that time.

Because Amethyst was comparing herself to Jasper and feeling inferior as she scrambled for identity, Michaela relates to that through her experience being adopted. It was a little challenging tapping into that emotion to bring that performance out, though. McKenzie relates to the whole comparing-yourself-to-others thing, and Deedee and Michaela assure her that she’s doing many cool things herself.

Deedee adds that she compares herself to others sometimes too, but in her business, there’s lots of competition and you just have to be okay with knowing that sometimes you’ll be right for the part and sometimes you won’t; just do your best. Michaela recommends trying to “break the box” instead of trying to fit in it when it comes to auditioning for roles–define yourself by what makes you stand out. Amethyst does that in the show as well.

McKenzie leads into discussing Steven’s role in inspiring Amethyst to find power in her difference, and they talk about their reactions to Smoky Quartz. Michaela says her reaction was a lot like Amethyst’s reaction when Garnet asks her to form Sugilite; she had no idea that was coming when she got the script.

Discussing Smoky’s design and weapon, Michaela brings up that Rebecca told her about consulting with a top yo-yo performer as research for Smoky, so the moves are real. (They don’t say so in the podcast, but this was Tom Black.)

Deedee mentions having dabbled in learning yo-yo tricks and knows from experience that a yo-yo will hurt if it hits you. They return to discussing the lessons Amethyst’s arc brings to viewers, and conclude that shining as an individual is one of the central messages of the show. Deedee thinks many young people are embracing individuality.

However, Michaela wants to point out that Smoky Quartz’s first appearance was born out of a low point for Steven and Amethyst. They bonded over both not being good enough–being the worst. So Smoky represented them reaching for each other’s help, and being willing to do that when you need to.

McKenzie brings up the fact that Amethyst shapeshifts a lot, indicating a fluid personality, but also that she has been the only Gem to fuse with all the current Crystal Gems, which Pearl and Garnet have NOT done as such. (This isn’t mentioned in the podcast, but apparently McKenzie is not including Peridot here.)

McKenzie asks what the voice actors think about how self-image plays into shapeshifting, considering Pearl never does it and Amethyst does it all the time. Deedee suggests Pearl keeps such things in her back pocket unless it’s really needed. Michaela agrees that Pearl doesn’t compromise on who she is while Amethyst is malleable.

McKenzie asks for Michaela’s favorite of Amethyst’s shapeshifts, and she says the little baby form was fun, and then adds on that Purple Puma is another favorite. Michaela asks her co-star what Pearl would shapeshift into if she did such things. Deedee said she’d have to think about it, and they decide maybe Pearl would like being a bird. Maybe a ladybird, a dove, or a swan. McKenzie thinks maybe a flamingo.

Next, they jump into discussing Amethyst’s character in the context of some of the more recent episodes, specifically “Back to the Kindergarten” where Amethyst pulls Peridot out of her funk by taking her to the Kindergarten and starting a garden there. Michaela first has to give props to Shelby Rabara’s voice acting for Peridot in those episodes, and reflects that she’s heard some of those same moans in real life from her.

Anyway, Michaela thinks that episode shows a ton of character growth for Amethyst; in the past she wouldn’t have had the emotional resources to help someone who’s suffering, especially when connecting it to a place she has such a complicated relationship with, but after meeting the Amethysts from there and learning she’s allowed to be proud of where she came from, she’s found enough strength to know how to help ground others.

She even kept her cool mostly when Peridot lashed out, which is a reaction she wouldn’t have been capable of in the past. McKenzie contrasts this with “On the Run,” and Michaela says even though the Kindergarten was a source of tension between Amethyst and Pearl, it also represents where they bonded and got a new start, and Deedee suggests maybe that’s part of the reason Amethyst brought Peridot there.

McKenzie’s last question for them is about Fusions: wouldn’t they love to see a shorty squad Fusion of all three? And of course they would. But then Michaela says Zach has a theory that a Peridot/Steven Fusion would just be even smaller, and adding Amethyst in would shrink the Fusion even further but make them LOUDER. Yes, they agree, the world needs this. (McKenzie thinks being small would help them infiltrate places.)

Amethyst and Pearl answer questions:

McKenzie: What’s your favorite thing to shapeshift into?

Amethyst: My favorite thing to shapeshift into is probably … Pearl. WOMP WOMP.

Pearl: AMETHYST. Really.

Amethyst: Heh heh.

McKenzie: Never fails. Never gets old.

McKenzie: How did meeting the other Amethysts change your outlook and your idea of yourself?

Amethyst: Oh man! I mean, meeting the other Amethysts was amazing. And it changed my sense of self in that now I have other people who look like myself! It’s crazy! And I have like, the Famethyst, and they’re so funny. They’re, like, pranksters just like me who like to mess with Steven. It’s great.

Pearl: It’s nice to have friends.

McKenzie: Have you ever posed as somebody’s cat? I’m thinking, like, long-term, like sneaking into their house for like a week or something?

Amethyst: Yeah! Did you say for a week? ‘Cause I did it for two weeks.

McKenzie: Did they find out?

Amethyst: Um, yeah. So, it’s like, my neighbor, Eleanor–oh wait. Sorry. I was just thinking about [dissolves into laughter]

Pearl: I hope you didn’t get in trouble with the authorities.

Amethyst: You should talk, Pearl.

Pearl: I know a little something about that.

Amethyst: Okay, so for two weeks I snuck into this lady’s house and I was like pretending to be one of her eighteen cats and I just, like, barked at her, and that kinda gave me up a little 'cause I barked at her. 'Cause cats don’t bark.

McKenzie: Lesson learned.

Amethyst: Note taken.

McKenzie: Have you ever tried shapeshifting into a chicken and then laying an egg? Is that, like, physically possible?

Amethyst: Uh, yep. It’s been done. I’ve done it and it was EGGcellent.

McKenzie: That would be a good source of financial income.

Amethyst: It was really speSHELL. I CRACK myself up.

Pearl: Always with the jokes.

Amethyst: Oh so many YOLKS!

Pearl: Oh! That’s a good one actually.

McKenzie: How do you like your eggs? Country-scrambled, over easy, or the shells, carton, and everything on top?

Amethyst: How do I like my eggs? Whole. There’s nothing worse than just, like, half of an egg. That’s weird. Also, what’s country-scrambled? Is there like dandelions in it?

McKenzie: Probably.

Amethyst: Or like, a map, and there’s just like, Australia, like, cut up, and like put in your egg. I don’t really get this question.

McKenzie: It’s where you fry them on the hood of a tractor. It gives it a special flavor.

Amethyst: Ohhh, is that what it is?

Pearl: Really??

Amethyst: Man, humans are so fascinating. I guess, who am I kidding, I just like the shells, carton, everything on top. Preferably dipped in some motor oil.

McKenzie: The whole package.

Amethyst: So maybe that’s kinda country!

McKenzie: Is there any food you DON’T like?

Amethyst: I cannot stand overcooked remote controls.

McKenzie: No?

Amethyst: Disgusting.

McKenzie: What’s the ideal cook time?

Amethyst: For like, the perfect remote control, I would say, you know, one and a half minutes on 350 max.

McKenzie: Right. For the golden brown.

Amethyst: Yes, yes, yes.

McKenzie: I understand. I agree. There’s not enough people in this world who appreciate a tasty remote control.

Amethyst: Yeah. It’s true. Best food ever. My favorite.

Pearl: [sigh] If we have to purchase another remote control, Amethyst, it’s coming out of your allowance.

Amethyst: Oh wow, I get allowance now? Boy, thanks, bird mom.

[Laughter]

(There was no news of the topic for the next week’s, but it turned out to be about Peridot.)