#crewniverse zine 3

[love-takes-work]

I finally collected every Steven Universe comic book, including variant covers!

It was like a five-year quest but I finally found the last comic cover I was missing. Now I have all of them.

For the first time I can post a complete comic collection! Here it is!!!

Original Comic Series (2014 – 2015)

Issue #1 has ten covers (if you include the blank one). All the rest, 2 through 8, have three variant covers. Not pictured are also three “get-a-sketch” blank covers I have.

Steven Universe and the Crystal Gems (2016)

Issue #1 has nine covers. Issues 2 through 4 have five covers each.

Steven Universe Comic Series (2017 – 2020)

This series had 36 issues. Here are the first ten, with Issue #1 having six covers; #2, #3, and #4 having three covers; #5 having four covers; #6  & #7 having three covers, #8 having four covers; and #9 and #10 having two covers. 

For #11 – #20, each comic had two covers.

For #21 – 30, #21 – #24 had two covers each; #25 had four covers; #26 – #28 had three covers; and #29 and #30 had two covers.

And for #31 – #36, each comic had two covers.

Harmony Comic Series (2018)

For the five-issue Harmony series, Issue #1 had five covers, and the others #2 – #5 had two each.

Standalone Comics

The Greg Universe Special #1 (2015) had two covers. The 2016 Special (”Big Donut Special”) had three covers. And Fusion Frenzy (2019) had four covers.

Zines and unofficial SU comics:

I have all three of the covers from the Zuke/Tang zine and several of Grace Kraft’s lovely creations. 

Related Material:

Some Free Comic Book Day items with Steven Universe in them and an Adventure Time comic book with a Steven Universe excerpt in it.

The original Pug Davis by Rebecca Sugar; the more recently released colorized Pug Davis; and the Frontier zine with Rebecca Sugar’s work.

Some magazine and newspaper articles featuring SU.

Graphic Novels and Trade Collections

I do also have the deceptively named All-In-One book and all of the Trade Paper collections and Original Graphic Novels.

I keep the individual issues in a labeled long box.

I do not own any of the other Crewniverse zines as of this posting, so on the off chance that anyone is selling them, I would be interested. If anyone has questions or comments about the comics let me know. :)

#steven universe #steven universe comics #su comics #steven universe merch #su merch #myblog

[as-warm-as-choco]

Steven “Crewniverse Zine” #3 for SDCC 2017 ! (Part 2)

by Rebecca Sugar, Ian-Jones Quartey, Adam Muto, Madeline Queripel, Christy Cohen, Ben Levin, Emily Walus, Joe Johnston, Hilary Florido, Mary Nash, Kat Morris & Aleth Romanillos, Matt Burnett ! (Greg painting Rose’s nails, Nefeli! ^_^)

#steven universe #steven crewniverse #yellow diamond #peridot #crewniverse zine 3 #lapis lazuli #crystal gems #stevonnie #connie maheswaran #rose quartz #greg universe

[iisjah]

A Glimpse of Home

Home, it shines so brightly! Jasper from Steven Universe, my poor Cheety puff didn't get much attention from the Crewniverse lately, but I still love her so <3 She's standing on some jasper of course :D My part of the Tiger Bomb Jasper zine that is kinda dead I think? (because I've drew this over half a year ago, and we didn't have any updates for  month now dang!) So I'm posting it for you guys! :D

#steven universe #jasper #jasper steven universe #jasper zine #su #my art #art #digital art #Digital Illustration #the whole situation reallt irked me #but at least I have a kickass Jasper art on my wall because of it x3

[squirrilous]

#Steven universe #steven crewniverse #sdcc2017 #official su zine #I'm here... #hahahahaha #I love ste-bombie

[roquereptil]

check list for the shit su critics will say about room for ruby!!!

1.WHERE IS JASPER????!!!

2.this episode sucks because [insert small color/design detail/preference]

3.lauren zuke sucks and we are glad she is gone!!!!!111

4.lapis lazuli once again  mistreats a TOTALLY INNOCENT CHARACTER!!!!

5. MISS-CHARACTERIZATION OF NAVY/PERIDOT!!!! SO OUT OF CHARACTER

6.HOW DARE THE CREWNIVERSE MAKE MY BELOVED (insert name here) DO SOMETHING SO OUT OF CHARACTER.

7. they made the characters act in ways they dont so lapis/pearl could be developed in the way they wanted!!!!

8.’protect navy at all cost’ squad

9.navy zine!!! pre order for 25$$$$ (dont hear a peep about it for 6 months)

#steven universe #lapis lazuli #room for ruby #peridot #critical of su critical #honestly #dont care no more!!! #hate most of u #love SU

[love-takes-work]

Looking for rare SU merch - list April 2023

Hi! Steven Universe merchandise collector nerd here. I figured I’d post my latest updated wish list again and see if anyone who’s still hanging around here knows where I can get anything I’m still looking for or happens to have some and would be willing to make a deal with me. :)

Fleece Blankets: 

Looking for these CN blankets:

Two-sided Pearl fleece

Two-sided Steven fleece

Single-sided Pink Diamond/Rose/Steven fleece

Two-sided Garnet We Look Awesome fleece

Two-sided Sadie/Lars/Steven fleece

Watches:

A Cookie Cat digital watch.

CN Hotel merch:

Some of the merchandise sold in the CN Hotel gift shop is exclusive to the shop. (Most of it isn’t and I have it.) I live nowhere near Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Things I can’t get elsewhere:

All the travel cups with lids/straws

CYM outfit Gems on a shopping bag

Amethyst, Pearl, and Garnet star shirts

4 Diamonds shirt

Coffee cup of Gems in CYM outfits

Coffee cup of Diamonds

Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl, Steven baseball caps

Smaller items with the “Cartoon Network Hotel” logo on their packaging that I can’t tell if they’re magnets or stickers or something else

Zines:

Crewniverse Zine 1

Crewniverse Zine 2

Crewniverse Zine 3

SU Eatin’ Zine

Initial SU Zine

Wallets:

I think they make a bunch of wallets I never managed to find. Here are some I’ve seen:

Black and White Bifold Steven Wallet

Gauntlets and Garnet Bifold Wallet

Garnet Face Wallet

Amethyst Bifold Wallet

Ata-Boy Buttons:

A specific set of buttons is out there somewhere and only mass-merchandisers can get a case to sell. I have not found ANY retailers selling these and no distributor will sell me a box because I’m not a business. The ones that are Xed out here are the few I found being resold on eBay.

Promotional-Only Items:

These I have only seen sold from conventions or merchandising as promo items. They may not be available anymore.

Steven Universe mobile

Steven Universe the Movie Soundwave

Toy Fair Items:

As far as I know these were never actually made; these are prototypes from a toy fair. But maybe some prototypes are lying around?

Garnet Gauntlets

Giant Steven plush

Series 2 Clip-On Plushies (only Series 1 was made)

Rose, Peridot, and Lapis Mystery Mini Plushies

#steven universe #su merch #steven universe merchandise #steven universe toys #myblog

[as-warm-as-choco]

Steven “Crewniverse Zine” #3 for SDCC 2017 ! (Part 1)

Illustrations in order by:  Aleth Romanillos, Liz Artinian, Hilary Florido, Amber Cragg, Miki Brewster, Maya Petersen, Christine Liu, Joe Johnston, Steven Sugar, Jane Bak !!! 

PS: Here’s some photos from the First and Second Zine. I merely did some crappy edit from these photos. ALSO: Nefeli, Blue w/ Greg give me life :’) 

#steven universe #blue diamond #steven crewniverse #amethyst #pearl #peridot #smokey quartz #jasper #crewniverse zine 3 #ronaldo fryman #garnet

[love-takes-work]

My SU wish list

I’m basically the most ridiculous SU collector in existence but I do have a short wish list if anyone’s got these items and wants to help me by selling them to me or pointing me to where they are available.

#1: Greg Universe Special #1 comic book, variant cover by Fellipe Martins.

#2: Crewniverse Zines 1, 2, and 3.

#3: Eatin’ Zine and Initial SU Zine.

#4: Classic Fleece Blankets: Steven, Cookie Cat, Pearl

#5: Fleece Blankets: Garnet and Donut Kids with Missy Peña Art

#6: Stevonnie button (originally from Hot Topic)

#7: Pink Wallet (I own one of these but it’s gotten a little damaged)

#8: Vualá treat prizes--missing circled ones, Running Steven, Sitting Steven, Amethyst, Pearl, Lars, Bismuth, Shield, Shirt.

Send me a message if you have info or an offer. :)

#steven universe #steven universe merch #su merch #myblog

[love-takes-work]

A Universe of Steven - My personal Steven Universe merchandise collection! (September 2019)

Welcome back to the Steven Universe museum! Every September I put all my stuff in one room and take a photo. FAQ:

Is this all yours? Yes, all of this belongs to one person.

Do you keep it like that all the time? No, I gather it like this for a photo annually. It’s usually in various rooms of my house.

Where did you get ______? I prepared an illustrated list to give you that information, but Tumblr ate it every time I saved. Five hours later and after six attempts, I’m still no closer to being able to save my post. So message me if you want to know where to get something and you can’t find it online! I’ll just share the detailed pictures.

Is this EVERY SU item? No, not even close. I am not trying to have a “complete” collection since there are many items I just probably wouldn’t use, especially when it comes to apparel and backpacks.

Is this all official licensed merch? Yes. I do have a small collection of fan-made items which I discuss under the cut, but anything shown in this collection is official merch.

Aren’t there better things to spend your money on? Don’t you realize what poor financial decisions you’re making? I have zero debt and make more money than I need, and choose to spend it on supporting the show I love/buying things that make me happy. Some people buy boats or take vacations when they have a surplus. I do this. I know I’m fortunate and I don’t take it for granted. (I also use merch-buying sprees as a reminder to donate to my favorite charities which support LGBT issues, equality issues, civil rights, hunger relief, and animal rescue.) 

What else do you collect? Except for books and art supplies, this is it. 

What else are you looking for for your collection? A few variant comics (Rebecca Sugar’s variant of original comic 1,  George Caltsoudas’s cover of original comic 3, Helen Yoon’s covers of original comic 6 and 7,  Fellipe Martins’s cover of the Greg Universe special, and  Xiao Tong Kong’s cover of ongoing comic 28). Any Crewniverse zines outside the Zuke/Tang set from 2016. The Rose Quartz-inspired Hot Topic hair bow. Some of the autograph cards and pink foil cards from the trading card set. Any existing large-size Gem plushies besides the Giant Garnet I have. And a few blankets I don’t have. :)

Do you want more detailed images of all the stuff in this photo? It’s all under the cut so I don’t destroy your dashboard.

So first, all the items in the original post are licensed items, but I do have a small collection of fan-made items, as follows:

Garnet shoes bought from The Lonely Pirate. Cat Steven plushie commission made by Pink Pig Studios (pinkieplushiemaker on Tumblr). Mr. Queasy figure made by my friend. Garnet/Ruby/Sapphire art by Tyrine Carver--print bought by my friend for me at a convention. Steven Uke customized by me. Garnet Gauntlets made by my friend. Moon Goddess statue made by me. Floating Whale pencil case from Redbubble. Crystal Gems phone case from Case Logic. Garnet/Steven/Lion/Peridot enamel pins by Mondo Tees. Crystal Temps pins from the Mystery Shack. Garnet, Ruby, Sapphire, and Cotton Candy Garnet enamel pins by Chase of HamsterParade. Garnet flash drive made by Magic and Robots/Edith EM on Storenvy. Crystal Gems necklace by Miyuka of Shiny Things on Etsy. Sad Waffle ornament made by my friend. Peridot socks made by my friend. Peri and Pearl Points from the Mystery Shack. Steven and Peridot magnets made by my friend. Garnet, Sapphire, Steven, Amethyst, and Pearl resin Gems made by Chase of HamsterParade. Garnet fingerless gloves by OliveandBrook on Etsy. Crying Breakfast Friends stickers from Redbubble. Garnet athletic top by online store Crystal Clods. All fan-made shirts bought at Redbubble.

A better look at some of the other items in the photos:

#steven universe #steven universe merch #su merch #steven universe collection #long post #myblog

[love-takes-work]

Comic nerd with an update

If you don’t collect comics or don’t have advice, just look at the pretty pictures.

Here are some pictures of my comic collection! Which is almost complete except for a few variants I’m still missing!

So we have the original series . . . 

But guess what? I’m missing five variants from this. Help!

Look at me, pasting pictures into my collection like wishful thinking.

I am missing Original Comic Series #1 Rebecca Sugar (Gallery Nucleus) variant, #1 Amber Rogers (Baltimore Con) variant, #3 George Caltsoudas (incentive) variant, #6 Helen Yoon Amethyst variant, and #7 Helen Yoon Pearl/Opal variant. These are all super rare now so there’s probably no hope for me. :P

Next we have Steven Universe and the Crystal Gems:

 I’m not missing any. :3

Next we have Harmony:

Also not missing any. :3

Next, the expansive Ongoing Comic Series:

I’m not missing any except that I know Xiao Tong Kong has two con exclusive variants coming out for 27 and 28, so I’ll be looking for those. (I know 27 is Pearl Fusions so I’m assuming 28 is going to be badass Garnet Fusions! But I haven’t seen the picture anywhere yet!)

Now some special issues:

Welllll I happen to be missing one.

WHY CAN’T I FIND FELLIPE MARTINS’ VARIANT OF THE GREG UNIVERSE SPECIAL HUH? HUH?

And now, here are some sort of miscellaneous related materials:

This is really cool stuff to have. Entertainment Magazine did a piece with Rebecca Sugar and the Dove campaign. Frontier had a spot on her early art and some philosophy. The gem zines have hilarious, adorable one-shots in them. Grace Kraft’s tiny zine has a little spotlight for each of her contributions to the ongoing comic series. Pug Davis is Rebecca’s early indie comic work. The 2015 Boom zine has a SU excerpt. The 2012 Adventure Time book has a cameo of Steven comics before the show aired. But I’m afraid I’m very much lacking in the zine front. I don’t have any of the Crewniverse zines except those cool gem cover ones.

I’d LOVE to find any of the Crewniverse zines 1, 2, or 3, the Initial SU, the Eatin’ Zine, or that cute Everybody Loves Amethyst! And there might be some I forgot or didn’t know about. Wahhh.

These things basically never show up on eBay and aren’t floating around comic stores so I guess it’s unlikely I’ll ever collect some of these, but you can’t expect you’ll just find them if you don’t make your search known, so . . . here’s my documentation. :)

Also here are some cool pictures of the graphic novels and the trade paperback compilations!

Oh and I guess I can show you my books too.

Would love if you’d tell me should you run into any of my missing items in a comic store or something. :)

#steven universe #steven universe comics #comic collection #su comics #long post #myblog

[love-takes-work]

Steven Universe: Art and Origins (Outline & Review)

Steven Universe: Art and Origins is not just an art book--it's also a collection of early material, a reveal of many initial concepts, and an amazing experience to sort through. 

Finally getting around to importing my review to Tumblr. I wrote this on the release day.

In my review I'll give you a description of the structure and overview, while also collecting notable information for fans. Obviously just about everything is "notable" with a book of this magnitude, so this may get long, but I'll try to include anecdotes that have some unique insight or perspective on the main source material--with as little of "OMG this was the original idea for this!" as possible.

This is illustrated with some low-quality pictures of the book and it gets super long, so I have to cut. But please read. :)

The overview:

After a foreword from Rebecca Sugar and an introduction from Genndy Tartakovsky, we get:

Part 1: Origins. This contains some narratives about Rebecca Sugar's early life as an artist--inspiration, family, college projects--all illustrated, of course, with childhood photos and early art. Rebecca mentions having wanted to bury her femininity for a while, but coming back to draw female forms and include dancing after she learned to sort through her issues using art.

Her college education and connections with other artists are discussed--some in interview format, some in narrative--and there is some background regarding her time on Adventure Time. The story moves on to talking about developing the pilot and what went into her character and plot ideas. Character design is discussed in depth, with Rebecca giving initial sketches to a design team and developing the characters' initial pilot look. 

Some really slick promo art is shared--posters, sketches, great concepts that were designed to bring in new viewers and make them curious about the show. The pilot succeeded in getting the green light to develop it into a TV series.

Part 2 discusses the show's Green Light and Development. Rebecca and some of the other crew, in interview format, talk about getting the team together and allowing for both nailed-down character essentials and flexibility for the writers to explore and collaborate. Developing the setting was also a big part of the to-do list; coming up with Beach City itself, its businesses, its residents, and also the creatures the Gems would fight. 

Some cute stories are shared about the early Crewniverse hanging out at a cabin and talking about the show all the time, hashing it out. There are some great, loose character model sheets for early versions of Greg, Connie, Sadie and Lars, and the four main characters.

Part 3 is about Character Design. They discuss how the pilot got released and fans grew attached to what they initially looked like, only to be "outraged" by the changes, making tons of assumptions about who was controlling the process. 

Rebecca shares some thoughts on her development process and her philosophy on letting different artists draw the characters differently while gripping onto specifics she set. Main, palette, and distance models are discussed, with some technical details of what different artists do on the team and how they handle props or special poses. 

There are many sheets of how to draw the Gems on model (with pointers on what NOT to do), and then there are some Homeworld Gem ideas that didn't get used, and finally, some sketches and concept art for Lapis Lazuli, Peridot, Jasper, and Bismuth.

Part 4 is on Writing and Storyboarding. More Crewniverse interviews provide insight into the process, including how much is revised from the early days and how collaborative everything is. Some specific episodes, like "Ocean Gem," "Monster Buddies," and "Island Adventure" are put into perspective with how they were written by the group. 

There's heavy discussion of how the process works and why processes that work on other shows wouldn't work here, and what "rules" are firm and what's just a suggestion, and what's changed as the show's plot became more complex and important. Steven still having access to the "side" stories, the ones that involve Beach City humans and non-world-shaking stakes, is still very important to the story that the original Crew wants to tell. Cute images from the Crew's thumbnail storyboards, Gem designing, and technology designing workshops are shared too.

There's some good continued discussion of concepts in Part 4, especially about fusion and relationships and the larger message the show is sending. How do you tell a story and why? There are many answers to that, and sometimes it's about fun and sometimes it's about a message and sometimes it's about wanting to make an episode about something you've never seen a cartoon do before--something specific to you that other people can suddenly see represented. 

One of my favorite parts of it is when they discuss Steven discovering the Gems' weaknesses over time and having that NOT make him think less of them--more like he admires them for being strong enough to shoulder the burdens he didn't know they were carrying before. Storyboarder Lamar Abrams talks about the importance of growing up not just being about becoming bitter, and I really like that.

Part 5 is on Sound and Vision. There's some history of how they found the voice actors for the major roles, and some of the actors give perspectives on their relationship and experience on the show. 

Aivi and Surasshu, as the composers, discuss their process as well, with some anecdotes and discussions of why musical palettes work better for characters instead of assigning them themes. Places and objects have their own sounds too.

Part 6 covers Background Design and Painting. Steven Sugar takes the stage and explains general background thoughts as well as specifics for certain settings. His focus on detail is really fascinating to read about--it's really him who nails down the locations in Beach City and where an outlet is in a house on the wall. 

The directors and other Crewniverse folks discuss the use of color and background items in the show, and how they use it to create mood or feel changeable enough to be real.

Part 7 discusses Animation and Post, with a spotlight on the work they do in Korea at animation studios Sunmin and Rough Draft. The process is described--how and when the material is transformed from animatics to animated cartoons. 

Nick DeMayo discusses timing and adding the sound effects and whatnot. There's also some design instruction that's provided to the animators in Korea. 

Some special highlighted drawings and pieces, like the "C.L.O.D.S." zine or some keys for Ruby and Sapphire, are included. 

Even the bumpers and end tag animations are discussed here. And of course they had to mention a couple very special episodes, such as when Takafumi Hori from Studio Trigger came in to do "Mindful Education," or when they did the musical episode, "Mr. Greg."

And Part 8 is called "Onward." The intention of the section is unclear at first based on the title of the chapter, but you can quickly see they're discussing the forward-thinking message the show has--how its representation of its creators' experiences has also struck a chord with people who wanted and NEEDED its diversity. 

Zuke says a very wise thing when they state that they want the show to provide "insight . . . not a solution." That's one thing this show does well; it spotlights problems and situations and feelings, but only shows you how those things can be dealt with, not necessarily how they SHOULD, in all cases, be dealt with.

Representation matters, and seeing evidence that you are a part of this world when you're from a marginalized or underrepresented group is valuable in a way that you can only know if you DON'T have it. 

The show's writers also weigh in on good vs. evil and how it's too black and white; that we needed a show with nuance, and has a message of love and tolerance. Kat Morris acknowledges that there are more important things than making a feelsy and entertaining piece of media, but as she says, the point is to let people see themselves in something and be challenged. 

And the creators are able to see at conventions and online that people are responding emotionally, viscerally, to their work. It puts a lot of pressure on an artist to do it right, but in the words of Dogcopter, "Just be true to yourself and people will appreciate your honesty."

The book closes with some photos of the Crew and a few more pages of art. And it kinda leaves you with a squishy feeling. :D

Notable:

1. I was relieved to see Rebecca state it plainly in the foreword: the items you see from the development phases of this show are not to be taken as canon or as "real" insights into how you should interpret it now. She specifically mentioned that she does not consider the Gems "girls" or "goddesses," and that was particularly important to me. 

Throughout, you're supposed to see the contributed bits and in-development pieces in the context of what they were: early drafts, embryonic. We all become different from what we were even though we grew from it and may have roots in it still, but that doesn't mean you can point at the seed and say its flower is meant to be understood surrounded by dirt.

2. The original designs for the Gems fluctuated a lot, and in a couple cases even names flopped around. An early name for Garnet was "Onyx," and if you've seen the pilot, you know Pearl got her signature nose later and Garnet's hair took a while to become the splendid square afro. Amethyst seems to have changed the least. 

Themes were given to them initially (like Amethyst being "flora and fauna," which you can sort of see in her pilot intro with her lying on big cats). You can still see some of the original intentions in how the ideas manifested, but the first ideas do not gel particularly well with what the show became. 

This is particularly interesting because non-creatives commonly think creative people simply receive inspiration and birth their creations into the world wholesale. Inspiration exists, but it's much more common to take an inspired idea and REALLY WORK ON IT. This book's origins section does a great job showing how that works.

3. Some early sketched-out ideas for episodes seem very far from what would fit into the show now (such as an idea for an episode where Pearl is obsessed with the pizza guy??), but one seems to be the roots of "Bubble Buddies," which implies that Steven's original crush was "Priyanka" instead of Connie. (That's now Connie's mother's name.)

4. The pilot's title was "The Time Thing."

5. Initial notes for Garnet say she should have the coolest shoes of the three, that she's commanding and outer-spacey and also weird, and that she's inspired by Grace Jones, boy Michael Jackson, and Estelle in "I Can Be a Freak." 

Initial notes for Amethyst insist on the "fanny pack" pouch and suggest her clothes are cut, her hair is in chunks, and she should have an animal theme with a wild texture. 

Initial notes for Pearl indicate a desire to have her opposite Amethyst in her formal way of dressing and needing to have an outfit that would allow her to be hung upside down, possibly with a pearl stone theme for baubles in her hair. (Rebecca indicated she needed the most help with Pearl.)

6. Early versions of the show included the idea that the Gems might be trying to hide being Gems in public, and that they kept magic away from Steven for the most part instead of encouraging him to use it. 

A "lost" episode about Steven summoning his shield (later incorporated into the episode "Gem Glow") had him saving Greg with it and dreaming about his mother, and having Pearl drive a crappy old car (later incorporated into "Last One Out of Beach City"). Rebecca and Ian reveal that the dream Steven had in it was used a little in "Rose's Room," and that a song called "The Meatball Sub Song" was involved which could have contributed to the show getting picked up despite that we never got to hear it. (Imagine that, Steven singing about food!)

7. There's a note in the early character design section that says "the girls can all turn into Steven" with an accompanying illustration of Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl shapeshifted as him. 

Cute, because we actually got to see them do this in the episode "Keep Beach City Weird" with the exception of Pearl.

8. Rebecca Sugar shares an anecdote about thinking there was a "best" way to draw that was objectively correct (influenced by some art-school stuff), and through that she arrived at the idea that Pearl was a cone, Amethyst was a sphere, and Garnet was a cube, because all of those things say something about who they are (pointedness, fluidness, stability). 

She evolved from that idea to a more flexibile idea of how drawing works for different artists, but that was part of what helped her nail the characters down. Steven, eventually, was fixed to having a heart-shaped face.

9. The Tiger Millionaire and Purple Puma flyer shown in the episode "Tiger Millionaire," presented as something Steven drew, was actually drawn by Lily DeMayo (daughter of Nick DeMayo, animation director) when she was seven.

10. Guides are made for the Crew to use featuring reminders on drawing the characters. It's kind of adorable to see common drawing errors or misconceptions or inconsistent details discussed in a how-to format for the people who actually work there.

11. A timeline exists for the show and it encompasses TWENTY THOUSAND YEARS of Gem and human history. It was too spoilery to be in the book, but there is a LOT of lore that is laid down, and this tool mentioned in Part 4 established that this document is referenced often to make events make sense in the timeline.

12. It's been established before, but Amethyst's origin in Earth's Prime Kindergarten was not initially known as part of her character when she was invented, and that was discussed in Part 4 of this book--how the writing retreats the Crew takes to discuss the story sometimes result in huge revelations like this. "Oh, that makes sense, that's why we wrote her like that" is one of those things I recognize as a writer--you know a character has a certain vibe, but you don't know what explains it. You just trust that something does. And eventually, sometimes you find out what it is and it all makes sense. Interesting to know they did this with Amethyst.

13. "Lars and Sadie make out even though they're not together" was the basic idea for making "Island Adventure." And the original idea for "Onion Friend" had a "Grandma Shallot" character. 

The writers sometimes play writing games to brainstorm, and those were shared. Some ideas for a story which was later used in "Future Boy Zoltron," covering Mr. Smiley's romance/comedy partnership with an old flame, were shared with more emphasis on the characters being lovers. 

Garnet's part in the story was more explicit too, with her giving people future predictions that are not at all nice or gently delivered, and they have to shut down the business in the wake of Garnet's badassery. Weird. 

Other ideas were used but not as they're presented, like one where Greg learns about fusion from the Gems (but witnessed the fusion of Pearl and Amethyst, not Pearl and Rose), and a complicated one where cross-Gem fusion is a new idea in a flashback and Rose wants Garnet to fuse with her to teach her about it but she's too unsure of her own fusion relationship as such to risk it. The idea was that Pearl would be jealous and Pearl, Rose, and Garnet would actually fuse in the episode. This has not been done in the show.

14. Rebecca Sugar apparently just pops up with concepts she wants the writers to work in. Like "I want Steven to be in a mushroom forest" (which hasn't happened yet) or "I want Steven to have cats on his fingers" (which, obviously, happened early on). Rebecca gets little concepts that are sort of dreamlike, and they figure out which episode they can put them in. Working those things in sometimes seems like as much of a priority as getting plot elements in!

15. I like that they dish a bit about the fan reaction to Garnet's Fusion status. They thought they were being a little too obvious to not get caught, but Ian said the fans figured it out and then got bored of the idea and decided it must be even more complicated than that. People were apparently worried that Garnet would be replaced by her component Gems in the story if she were to unfuse, but obviously since Ruby and Sapphire want to be together, that doesn't happen.

16. Kat Morris's "rules" as discussed in Part 4 are "Garnet never asks questions" and "the story has to stay in Steven's perspective." I love how strict they are about Garnet not asking questions (except in the episode "The Answer," though there have been a couple ~technical~ questions from her; she usually just finds a way to ask a question with a statement, like "tell me what you saw").

17. A great quote from Zuke on the incidentally queer content of the Gems' relationships and gender: "Personally, I'm happy to not have to think, 'I'm writing a character based on my queer experiences.' That would be so hard! I'm just writing from my perspective, and I happen to be queer. I think that's what makes the show feel natural when it comes to that. It's a fine line between defining something so that people are aware it exists, which is so important, but also letting it breathe, so it's not forever contained in a box labeled 'queer media.'"

18. In Part 5, Michaela Dietz relates her experiences as an adoptee to relate to what Amethyst deals with as an "adoptee" into the Crystal Gem family without knowing where she really came from or what it means to be a part of that. She's said this before in some other interviews and panels, so it's not new in general, but it's probably new in print. Deedee Magno Hall, who plays Pearl, obviously relates to Pearl's maternal nature.

19. Tom Scharpling and Charlyne Yi were voice actors that Rebecca specifically had in mind for her characters (Greg and Ruby respectively). Rebecca's illustrated letter to Charlyne explaining Ruby and Sapphire's relationship and Ruby's role on the show is really adorable.

20. Music nerds like me will very much appreciate the photographed notes on music motifs--the Diamonds each have a solfège syllable and a chord (White is F#M7/Sol, Yellow is BM7/Fa, Blue is EM7/Fa, and Pink is AM7/Mi), and Steven's powers and modes are coded with instruments and styles.

21. Some world maps provide new possible insights. Greenland in our world is Blueland in theirs. South America is called Pangea. Aqua Mexico is labeled about where Mexico is in our world. India is the Indian Islands. There's an Australia and a New Australia. A big sea in the middle of Asia is called the Tunguska Sea. Rose's Fountain is in Spain or Portugal; the Sky Spire and Strawberry Battlefield are in Norway; the Shooting Star Shrine is in the middle of the drastically different Asian continent; the Galaxy Warp is in the Tunguska Sea; the Lunar Sea Spire is off the coast of Canada; Mask Island is in the Atlantic near Beach City; the Comm Relay is in the Western United States.

22. It was known from interviews that Shelby Rabara (voice of Peridot) is a dancer and provided the foot sounds and coaching to create the short tap number in the episode "Mr. Greg." But what's great is here, there's a visual reference included! Photos of Shelby doing the dance are lined up next to the drawings of Pearl and Steven in the "Mr. Greg" number doing the steps! She poses in dance moves with her husband for the Greg/Pearl dance for "Both of You" too.

23. There's a really cute story in the last section about Amber Cragg ascending from fan to Crewniverse member through posting Pearl art in response to the pilot and eventually getting contacted to take a board test. That is the kind of thing so many online artists dream of!

[SU Book and Comic Reviews]

#steven universe #steven universe reviews #steven universe art and origins #steven universe books #rebecca sugar #myblog

[as-warm-as-choco]

“Stev-Bombie” by storyboard artist and supervising director Joe Johnston !  From Crewniverse Zine #3 for SDCC 2017. Now that’s a move I’d love to see!Χαχαχα... Nefeli, check this out! 

#stevonnie #steven universe #connie maheswaran #joe johnston #steven universe zine #su zine #steven universe sdcc