Steven Universe Fandom -

[Gensdupays]

[MOD EDIT 4/3/15: For comments/general discussion about the show, go here: https://kiwifarms.net/threads/steven-universe.8747/
Try to keep further discussion in this thread limited to nutters within the fandom]

Alright, a bit of an introduction. Steven Universe is a Cartoon Network show that began airing in 2013. Its creator, Rebecca Sugar, previously worked on Adventure Time and is a relatively big name in the animation industry. Like many cartoons it has attracted an adult following. Unlike MLP, its fandom is mostly centered on Tumblr.

Prior to last month, the young Steven Universe fandom had a few notable issues within itself. For context: the "Gems" in Steven Universe are genderless beings from outer space. Garnet is red and Amethyst is purple, while Pearl is white (as in, ghost white). This doesn't stop Tumblr from harassing any white person from cosplaying as any of these three characters, even as Pearl, who is commonly interpreted to be Asian.

Other notable events in the SU fandom:

• Ran someone who worked on the show off of their Tumblr because of an opinion
• Sent death threats to someone who worked on the show's house because of an error in the show
• Repeatedly harass show staff on Twitter in spite of them not giving a fuck
• Try to get show staff to agree to headcanons that are popular on Tumblr

However, none of this truly compares to the events of last month when their interaction with the MLP fandom came to a head. Something that you must understand for context is that because Tumblr is insanely mad that MLP isn't their thing, their cartoon fandom groups are incredibly overprotective of children's cartoons. Last month, the head of the largest MLP fan site decided that he wanted to open up a new site to share his enjoyment of the show. Needless to say, Tumblr absolutely exploded. Here are some links summing up the initial rage:
One
Two
Three

In response, and based upon a YouTube comment, people began to joke about "Gemtlemen," which was never anything but bait to make Tumblr upset about "their" show being taken away from them. They of course bugged the Supervising Director of the show, a man with an infinite amount of patience, about this:

Also of concern to them was all of the porn that they feared would be created of their show, to which, again, Ian Jones-Quartey responded to by linking a post mocking this view for its hypocrisy:


So yeah, that about sums it all up. I'll end this by saying that Rebecca Sugar? The creator of the absolutely pure and chaste show Steven Universe loved and fiercely defended by Tumblr users with zeal? She drew Ed Edd 'n Eddy porn. Hopefully I didn't overload everyone, there's more I could have put but I think I will save it for later or let others contribute.

 

[Dr. Meme]

bronies 2: electric boogaloo

shame, because this show is actually really good.

 

[Gensdupays]

Oh, and apparently the thing they're pissed about now is that the show is having a crossover with a much more successful and popular show, probably because SU doesn't get many viewers that are actually kids. It's called Uncle Grandpa and it makes SU fans go insane to the point where they harass people who like it and, again, harass the fuck out of SU's staff to say how bad they are.

 

[Red_Rager]

Is there ANYTHING that tumblr DOESN'T over-react to?

To justify this war over the belief that bronies will make new porn out of it. News flash, Rule 34. It is a thing and came out waaaay before the FIM and the bronies.

 

[Ron Paul 2024]

bronies 2: electric boogaloo

More like Nega-Bronies.

 

[chimpburgers]

Fuck me. Now this show's fanbase has been infected by that kind of bullshit?

What a shame. I quite like the show from what I've seen of it and these jerkoffs have to ruin the experience for me. I also feel really bad for the artists that have to put up with dumbass rabid fantards who won't leave them alone.

 

[Gensdupays]

Fuck me. Now this show's fanbase has been infected by that kind of bullshit?

What a shame. I quite liked the show and these jerkoffs have to ruin the experience for me.

The thing is that I think Tumblr has done this several times to several different shows. Everything from Littlest Pet Shop to Sailor Moon. It mainly is because they think cartoons are a finite resource and one group has to "own" a cartoon, in spite of them complaining constantly at fandoms they don't like "stealing" the content from the target audiences. It's okay when they do it though.

 

[Red_Rager]

Fuck me. Now this show's fanbase has been infected by that kind of bullshit?

What a shame. I quite like the show from what I've seen of it and these jerkoffs have to ruin the experience for me.

Don't participate in the "fandom." That is how I am able to enjoy MLP, I just watch the show and maybe read a fanfic on occasion. I just do my own thing resulting in a drama-free experience.

On another note once finals are over I'm totally going to need to check out SU to see what all the hubbub is about.

 

[chimpburgers]

Don't participate in the "fandom." That is how I am able to enjoy MLP, I just watch the show and maybe read a fanfic on occasion. I just do my own thing resulting in a drama-free experience.

On another note once finals are over I'm totally going to need to check out SU to see what all the hubbub is about.

Good advice. I try to do that with a lot of the shows I like and not get too into them like that.

 

[Wilhelm]

I would like to make a small correction here! As usual, I'm gonna sperg a bit. Been doing that a lot lately.

Spoiler

Technically, the gems are actually sexless. Their gender is defined very heavily as female, but as far as I know, they have no genitals, and thus no sex. As I tend to say, sex doesn't equal gender, but both are predetermined at birth.

Thanks for making the thread, @Gensdupays. I didn't know when I was going to be on my computer next, so I wouldn't have been able to.

 

[Gensdupays]

I only mentioned it because of the curious thing that some SU fans like to do where they talk about how they're lesbians but say that they have no gender/sex in the same sentence.

The crossover episode airs Thursday, might get something for here from the reaction to it.

 

[Meowthkip]

The thing is that I think Tumblr has done this several times to several different shows. Everything from Littlest Pet Shop to Sailor Moon. It mainly is because they think cartoons are a finite resource and one group has to "own" a cartoon, in spite of them complaining constantly at fandoms they don't like "stealing" the content from the target audiences. It's okay when they do it though.

I haven't seen them get quite this rabid over any other show. It's insane. And I've been using Tumblr since 2010. I have seen some shit.

Don't participate in the "fandom." That is how I am able to enjoy MLP, I just watch the show and maybe read a fanfic on occasion. I just do my own thing resulting in a drama-free experience.

On another note once finals are over I'm totally going to need to check out SU to see what all the hubbub is about.

Fandoms can be fun, but since my pet one moved to Tumblr, it kind of went downhill. You'd probably be better off using gen threads on 4chan.

Kind of sucks, really.

 

[c-no]

Oh, and apparently the thing they're pissed about now is that the show is having a crossover with a much more successful and popular show, probably because SU doesn't get many viewers that are actually kids. It's called Uncle Grandpa and it makes SU fans go insane to the point where they harass people who like it and, again, harass the fuck out of SU's staff to say how bad they are.

Considering how Uncle Grandpa is, I'm sure the the Tumblr fans of SU could complain hard about it.

 

[Gensdupays]

I haven't seen them get quite this rabid over any other show. It's insane. And I've been using Tumblr since 2010. I have seen some shit.



Fandoms can be fun, but since my pet one moved to Tumblr, it kind of went downhill. You'd probably be better off using gen threads on 4chan.

Kind of sucks, really.

It's the overprotective nature that Tumblr has, really. They never want something like MLP to slip by them again, so they jump on absolutely every single new piece of content that comes out in order to make sure it is in the "right" hands. I'm going to go a step further and say that I think Tumblr cares more about this than they did Ferguson. So many separate 15k+ note posts...

Considering how Uncle Grandpa is, I'm sure the the Tumblr fans of SU could complain hard about it.

More than just complain, they've threatened and complained to the staff of SU non stop since the crossover was announced and are already finding ways to pick it apart (ex. incest jokes that they don't like)

Here's Ian, the man of endless patience, responding to that:

Yes, they were very insulted by this.

 

[chimpburgers]

I can see why. These idiots are seeing shit that's not there.

 

[Coster]

Spoiler: Caution: autism

As a huge fan of Steven Universe, this fucking sucks. I'm completely disconnected from the fandom and I more or less expected something like this to crop up, but not to this degree.

I only mentioned it because of the curious thing that some SU fans like to do where they talk about how they're lesbians but say that they have no gender/sex in the same sentence.

I'll defend this the best I can without sounding too tumblr-y, but the Gems are physically genderless, but all of them thus far other than Steven have feminine forms and identify themselves with feminine pronouns. Really it can go either way, but for the sake of painting the show in a better light (because at this point there's one confirmed lesbian relationship and one strongly hinted at in a kind-of flashback) a lot of people I've seen are willing to go with what sounds better, whether it be one or both.

I'll end this by saying that Rebecca Sugar? The creator of the absolutely pure and chaste show Steven Universe loved and fiercely defended by Tumblr users with zeal? She drew Ed Edd 'n Eddy porn.

Now this I didn't know, and that comes as a surprise to me because I subscribed to that very same school of thought about Rebecca Sugar. That's a real shame, because I think she's a great writer and I honestly find Steven Universe to be one of the best things on Cartoon Network in years, but that's just gross.

 

[Meowthkip]

Now this I didn't know, and that comes as a surprise to me because I subscribed to that very same school of thought about Rebecca Sugar. That's a real shame, because I think she's a great writer and I honestly find Steven Universe to be one of the best things on Cartoon Network in years, but that's just gross.

I've seen it. It's wonderfully drawn Ed, Edd 'n Eddy porn, but it is what it is.

Then again she drew that shit how many years ago? I know I've drawn a lot of embarrassing shit I'm not proud of. I don't hold it against her too much, but I'm pretty forgiving of that sort of thing. Compared to a lot of other cartoon porn I've seen, it was incredibly tame... even if it featuring 13 year old boys.

Yeah, this isn't sounding very good with me downplaying this, is it?

 

[Hat]

Sent death threats to someone who worked on the show's house because of an error in the show

Do tell.

 

[Gensdupays]

I've seen it. It's wonderfully drawn Ed, Edd 'n Eddy porn, but it is what it is.

Then again she drew that shit how many years ago? I know I've drawn a lot of embarrassing shit I'm not proud of. I don't hold it against her too much, but I'm pretty forgiving of that sort of thing. Compared to a lot of other cartoon porn I've seen, it was incredibly tame... even if it featuring 13 year old boys.

Yeah, this isn't sounding very good with me downplaying this, is it?

It was a while ago, yeah. But it happened and she has to live with it. She's lucky that execs and others can overlook it, and in reality it's probably insanely normalized in the industry because that's the stuff artists draw to let off steam of a long day animating. I unfortunately have stumbled upon other stuff by the official EEnE crew...it must have been a rough day.

Sugar probably doesn't care about explicit art of her characters, and Ian James-Quartery even called it "fun." The fandom is just acting like babies.

Do tell.

I think it was over a continuity error, too. Of all things. Someone else had the full info on it, I just know it happened.

 

[Meowthkip]

It was a while ago, yeah. But it happened and she has to live with it. She's lucky that execs and others can overlook it, and in reality it's probably insanely normalized in the industry because that's the stuff artists draw to let off steam of a long day animating. I unfortunately have stumbled upon other stuff by the official EEnE crew...it must have been a rough day.

Sugar probably doesn't care about explicit art of her characters, and Ian James-Quartery even called it "fun." The fandom is just acting like babies.

Execs in the animation industry generally don't really care that much what the artists draw in their free time. There was a brief Tumblr campaign trying to get pixel artist Pat Robertson fired from his job on Gravity Falls because he drew chibi guro years ago. The response from the crew was pretty much non-existent. They don't care.

There's not an animator alive who hasn't drawn porn at some point. I don't think Sugar's losing any sleep over it.