Steven Universe (Fandom)

Steven Universe is an American animated television series created by Rebecca Sugar for Cartoon Network.

Plot
Steven Universe is the story of a young boy named Steven who is the only known half-gem half-human. He inherited his gem from his mother, a Crystal Gem named Rose Quartz. As Steven discovers the secrets of his gem and its powers, he spends his days in Beach City having fun and helping the Crystal Gems.

The Crystal Gems are a rebellion group of gems that have sworn to protect Earth from evil threats by its colonizers, the Homeworld Gems. Their powers flow from their gems, magical gemstones embedded somewhere on the host's body. At the start of the series, the four Crystal Gems are Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl and Steven.

Gems, including Steven, have the ability to fuse with each other, meaning they merge into one person with combined powers and physical attributes. According to the show's creator, Rebecca Sugar, this is a metaphor for relationships.

Characters

 * Steven Universe
 * Garnet
 * Pearl
 * Amethyst
 * Greg Universe
 * Connie Maheswaran
 * Peridot
 * Lapis Lazuli

Het

 * Connieven - the ship between Steven Universe and Connie Maheswaran
 * Larsadie - the ship between Lars Barriga and Sadie Miller

Slash

 * Kevamie - the ship between Kevin and Jamie

Non-binary
(NOTE: Gems do not have genders, although they go by she/her pronouns)
 * Amedot – the ship between Amethyst and Peridot
 * Bellow Diamond - the ship between Yellow Diamond and Blue Diamond
 * Bisdot - the ship between Bismuth and Peridot
 * Bispearl - the ship between Bismuth and Pearl
 * Garnethyst - the ship between Garnet and Amethyst
 * Grearl - the ship between Greg Universe and Pearl
 * Gregrose - the ship between Greg Universe and Rose Quartz
 * Jaspidot - the ship between Jasper and Peridot
 * Jaspis – the ship between Lapis Lazuli and Jasper
 * Lapidot – the ship between Lapis Lazuli and Peridot
 * Lapithyst - the ship between Amethyst and Lapis Lazuli
 * MysteryPearl - the ship between Mystery Girl and Pearl
 * Pearlapis – the ship between Pearl and Lapis Lazuli
 * Pearlmethyst – the ship between Amethyst and Pearl
 * Pearlnet – the ship between Garnet and Pearl
 * Pearlrose - the ship between Pearl and Rose Quartz
 * Rupphire - the ship between Ruby and Sapphire
 * Stevidot - the ship between Steven and Peridot

Polyships

 * Polygems - the ship between Pearl, Garnet and Amethyst
 * Amelapidot - the ship between Amethyst, Lapis Lazuli, and Peridot

Fanon
Steven Universe's fandom started to form after the first pilot aired in 2013. There was interest in the series as it's creator, Rebecca Sugar, had worked as a storyboard artist and writer on Adventure Time, and additionally had become the first woman to be a creative lead on a cartoon at Cartoon Network. Actually Steven Universe has a broad and active fandom, including on Tumblr.

Controversies
In 2015, a young fan artist known as Zamii made a suicide attempt, some time after having been extensively harassed on Tumblr over altering the appearance of characters in ways that were deemed objectionable (for instance, her drawing of the voluptuous Rose as considerably thinner than her canon appearance was criticized as fat-phobic by other fans). There was no definitive conclusion to the event; however it was reported on by several news outlets and remains a polarizing moment within the fandom.

In 2016, storyboard artist and writer Lauren Zuke deleted her Twitter account following harassment by fans because of her perceived support for Lapidot over other ships such as Amedot. The entire kerfuffle was based on subjective fan interpretation of some leaked art and had more to do with fans' headcanon than the artists' intentions.

Shipping
Many of the pairings in this fandom are referred to in portmanteau format. This is only made somewhat confusing by the fact that two or more gems can also fuse together and become a whole new gem with a new name. The current ships confirmed to be canon are Connieven, Larsadie, Gregrose and Rupphire.

Fandom
AO3