Steven Universe

About

Steven Universe is an American animated children’s show broadcasted on Cartoon Network. It was created by Rebecca Sugar, Cartoon Network’s first female director.

Premise

The story centers around the Crystal Gems and their various adventures, while Steven gradually learns how to use his gem power so he can play his part in protecting the world alongside his friends properly^[8].

History

Before Rebecca Sugar became the director of Steven Universe, she was a storyboard artist of the popular animated TV show Adventure Time. The show is produced by Cartoon Network Studios and premiered in North America on November 4, 2013^[9]. The show is currently airing its 2nd season as of May, 2015.

Reception

Steven Universe gets an average score of 7.8 out of 10 from 2,016 users at IMDB^[6], a solid 8.0 from TV.com^[7], and a 4 out of 5 stars from Common Sense Media^[5]. The show is heavily praised for its charming art style, memorable soundtrack, and well-written plot and characters. The show is also remarked for bearing characteristics that are pro-social justice such as having the majority of its cast as female characters of varying personalities and body types.

Online Relevance

The show and its developers are well known for having close connections with its fans’ online community. Keep Beach City Weird is a tumblr blog run by the staff of the show that is meant to be owned by Ronaldo, one of the minor characters in the show, and thus is a roleplay blog.^[18] Various internet memes and subcultures have been referenced in Keep Beach City Weird such as otakus and furries. Steven Crewniverse is another tumblr blog run by the staff, but yields behind-the-scenes content such as storyboard images and soundtrack.^[19]

The rising popularity of the show caught the attention of the creators of Equestria Daily, a famous fan-news site for the animated TV show My Little Pony Friendship is Magic. They have announced on March 13, 2015 that a fan-news site for Steven Universe made by them will be launching soon^[10]. The news have brought about mixed reactions -- mostly negative -- from the different fandoms involved, thus prompting Equestria Daily writer Calpain to tweet about cancelling the Steven Universe fan-site.

However, on June 12, 2015, Calpain has announced that Beach City Bugle, the newly given title of the Steven Universe fan-site, has been launched, regardless of what he or those that oppose the fansite said in the past.^[16]

Fandom

Steven Universe has a considerably large online following. As mentioned above, Beach City Bugle is a new and upcoming Steven Universe fan-site that showcases submitted fan-art and news regarding all things Steven Universe.^[17] The official facebook page currently has roughly 1.1 million likes.^[13] Deviant Art now has over 20,867 results tagged with the show’s title^[1]. Fanfiction.net has over 581 works for Steven Universe^[2]. The Steven Universe Reddit has over 1800 readers^[3]. Steven Universe has a very active tag on Tumblr^[4], sporting multiple blogs that have dedicated themselves to deviations of the show such as gifs and fan art. A Steven Universe Wiki exists and it currently has 675 pages in it^[11]. The wiki is under heavy development and currently has a built-in timer that countdowns until the next episode airs.

Fan-Art

Related Mems

Homeworld Gems

Homeworld Gems is a collective name for the major antagonist in Steven Universe, namely: Lapis Lazuli, Peridot, and Jasper. Albeit making appearances in the show at most only four episodes, the characters received positive feedback from the fans and has inspired multiple fan-art.

Gemsonas

Gemsonas is a term used to refer to the OCs (Original Characters) of the Steven Universe Fandom, although the term Gemsona has become popular in the fandom and has thus given Steven Universe OCs more depth and exclusivity. Gemsonas, much like the Gems in the show, are non-binary (neither male nor female, regardless of how much they appear to be one gender or the other,) represents a certain mineral, and carries their own unique weapon.

A blog dedicated to receiving and showcasing Gemsona fan-art exists and is currently active^[12]. The blog Keep Beach City Weird, a tumblr blog run by the creators of Steven Universe, made another reference to Gemsonas in one of their posts. In this case, the ‘Hobosona’ is an original character for the in-universe fictional book, The No Home Boys.^[15]

The term was used by the show itself in the episode Say Uncle, the fourth episode of the second season and the crossover episode where Steven Universe meets Uncle Grandpa, another upcoming show from Cartoon Network Studios.^[14]

Sneople

Sneople, a portmanteau of the words “snake” and “people”, refers to a race of reptilian humanoids mentioned in an episode of the animated television series. In April 2015, the term was popularized on Tumblr along with other portmanteaus, including “snurch” (snake + church), sneeple (snail + people) and sneme (snail + meme).

Stronger Than You

Stronger Than You is a song written by Rebecca Sugar and sung by Garnet (Estelle). As the climax of the season finale, the song has inspired fans to create remixes, instrumentals, covers, and fan art based on it.

Uncomfortable Steven Face

Uncomfortable Steven Face is a reaction face featuring a still image of the protagonist Steven wearing an awkward, confused facial expression in an episode of the animated television series. As it is used in the show as a reaction after a bad pun, likewise is its usage online.