#steven universe kids

[adamsuniverse1144]

Glow Week Day 4: Nature/Nurture

Conniverse kids 🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹

When Connie heard the sharp gasp, she immediately turned to see Steven staring at his phone in horror. "What's the matter?"

He heaved a heavy, sad sigh and shook his head. "I accidentally deleted it."

Connie crossed over to pull his head into her stomach as he began to sniffle. "Oh, I know how special it was to you, Steven."

*

Lucky knew it would be her dad texting her at 3:45 to tell her he loved her, even though they were headed to the roller rink after the rest of the De Mayo- Maheswaren kids got off from school. She was still at the school with them even with being almost 18 and graduated early after she'd fallen in love with teaching. "Don't crash the car, Azalea."

"Actually, it's a van," Celeste mumbled as she turned to the next page in her book. "A van." She drew out the syllables like Lucky must be stupid and Azalea cackled.

"Fine then," Lucky replied cooly. "Don't crash Grandpas van."

"Careful, every time you say that it makes me wanna do it just to see if I have healing powers too," Azalea said, glaring at her a dangerous amount of time.

Lucky rolled her eyes and sighed. Azalea was definitely turning up the alternative teen vibes. At 13, she became they and they shaved their hair down to a pixie cut and dyed half of it lilac and half of it jet black.

Needless to say, Azalea got two suspicious parents trying to not freak them out while they drowned them in questions and their dad pretended to not be terrified out of his mind. Now they were 16, just barely.

Seraphine and Celine were still in their football gear, and once again Lucky wondered where the hell they'd gotten sports from among the musically and theatrically talented family. Comet was by far the least talkative of them all, but that kid could sing his heart out.

A notification on another app drew her attention back to the phone to see her dads text:

'Lucky,

I have kept a voicemail from you for over two years. All you did was to call me to tell me you loved me. I usually listen to it about 20 times a week. This morning while listening to it I received a phone call and accidentally deleted your voicemail. I am heartbroken and want it back on my phone. Please call me and leave me another "I just wanted to say I love you" message.'

Despite being a recently retired daredevil, Lucky was cursed with her father's proneness to tears. They healed too, but nothing felt quite as good as having a dad who loved them so much. She cleared her throat and held up the phone. "You know what we should do? We should leave dad one of those voicemails where we just tell him we love him."

"You'll both cry," Azalea laughed. "I suppose this one time I can let the L word slip."

Comet scoffed. "You're killing me, Azalea."

They grew an identical sneer to his. "Doesn't seem to be working."

"If you guys start arguing I'm going to record it for blackmail," Celeste warned them.

"I vote Comet. He's got super strength and music powers," Celine laughed. "I've been waiting for this fight forever."

"Not while they're driving!" Lucky pleaded but Seraphines voice carried above hers.

"Azalea could grow him a flower!" She belly laughed as Azalea glowered at her in the mirror.

"You guys realize you guys don't have your powers yet, right? At least I'm not a–," They licked their fingers and raised their hand to the flower bouquet sitting in the passenger side window for their father to give to their mother. At a single stroke they grew full of life again and they smirked at the twins. "At least I'm not a late bloomer. Or a crybaby."

"Hey!" Lucky snapped. "Pay attention, all of you. And I will have you know I will not cry today, and haven't in a while."

Comet raised a silent eyebrow but said nothing.

"Right. Okay..." She fumbled with her phone as she called her dad. What if this one wasn't as good? Lucky was a Daddy's Girl for sure, she'd feel so terrible if he hated it.

It rang a total of seventeen nerve wracking times for Lucky before the automatic voicemail began. 'Hey, you've reached the voicemail box of Steven Universe. If you're a Crystal Gem or Homeworld gem, please press one, and you'll be redirected to my business line. Thanks for calling!'

Their dad was such a happy-go-lucky dork. He was the greatest.

"Hey, Dad! I, ow!" She grunted at Azalea smacked her. "We were just calling to tell you how much we love you!" Lucky giggled.

Comet leaned forward. "Hey, Dad. I love you.”

"I love you too dad! It's Azalea, your favorite!" They waved at the phone even though he'd never be able to know.

"Twins reporting in to say you're the best dad in the world!" Celine cried from the very back.

"–And we love you! Dude, we had one job," Seraphine scolded as she retouched her makeup.

"Hi, Daddy!" A seven year old Celeste was suddenly torn away from her book with his same goofy grin. "I love you!"

Comet crossed his arms and mumbled under his breath, "She sure knows how to turn it on after threatening blackmail."

"Alright, Dad. Bye. I love you." Lucky clicked off the phone and half smiled, half grimaced. It probably could've gone cleaner if they'd done some more planning.

Comet rolled his eyes at her as Azalea crooned, "Daddy's Girl! Lame! Basic! Come to the dark side, be a Mommy's Girl."

"Yeah Seraphine, we all know Dads your favorite," Celine teased.

Her sister frowned into the mirror. "I love mom! We're getting distracted from Lucky."

Lucky scoffed. "I love mom too, Sera! Dad and I just vibe on the same level!"

Comet chuckled. "You're picking up his outdated slang that was outdated when he started using it." He kicked up his feet on the center console and ignored them swatting at his boots. "How strange it must be to not be loved by both parents equally."

"We should send mom a voicemail too," Celine suggested. "I'm all sweaty and gross, but we can't just send Dad one and not Mom."

"Only if Comet will sing~!" Azalea swerved the car back and forth until their siblings were all screaming.

*

When his phone started ringing, he broke out into the biggest grin ever out of nowhere. Lucky was sending him his voicemail, and as much as he wanted to talk to her, he kept his self control at bay until it stopped ringing entirely. He left it alone another couple of minutes longer, feeding the anticipation so she could for sure get everything in.

At the sound of her voice he teared up. The background noises of her van rattled a bit and he loved it. His daughter told him she loved him and that's it. He almost pulled the phone away from his ear before he heard Comet, projecting for once, telling him he loved him too. Steven pressed a hand to his heart and leaned forward as if that could help him hear it better when Azalea all but shouted how much they loved him and claiming once again they were his favorite. Which was not true. He'd explained it many times that he didn't have favorites, but if he were to take someone out for ice cream, he'd take Azalea. When called out he pointed out that Lucky was lactose intolerant and Comet didn't like ice cream, Celeste’s preference lied with crème brûlée and the twins were on a weird keto diet. Speaking of which, his puzzle piece twins were finishing each others sentences to tell him they loved him too. Celine was the forgetful but loyal twin and quarterback for the schools girls football team (which he was now learning just to be the loudest and most with it parent in the stands), and Seraphine was the organized jock cheerleader twin that he had no idea how to be more impressed with. Celeste, the little genius she was, squealed when she said she loved him and it made his heart ache to hold her.

"Alright, Dad. Bye. I love you!"

"Hey–!"

Connie poked her head around the corner, smiling at how he was shaking his head in disbelief. "Mind if I join you?"

He nodded tearfully. "We make such good children."

"Steven, we are out. of. time. I spent so much of my 20's and 30's pregnant or with babies." Still, she grinned. "Don't tell me we're adopting already."

He took a huge sniff of her perfume and sighed dreamily. "Maybe. I love kids."

Connie scratched at the scruff on his chin. "I wish you could carry them instead of me. It's so not fair you're the favorite." She squeaked as he pulled her onto his lap.

"Don't be ridiculous! Our kids love you. You're easily the hottest mom, you're organized and poised and you're smart, ugh." He pushed into her neck so he could press longing kisses there. "So incredible."

She playfully shoved him away. "Don't lie to spare my feelings. I'm perfectly fine with being a badass who doesn't take shit. If I'm not the favorite, so be it."

Just then her phone rang and she pulled it out to see Lucky calling. She almost answered but Steven snatched it away. "Biscuit, you give that back," Connie told him sternly.

Despite the momentary dip of his arm he let it go to voicemail and handed it back. "Just a bet. I bet they send you one too. Especially if Comet and Celine were in there."

Sure enough her phone lit up with a voicemail notification and she smirked victoriously up at him. "I'll bet mines better."

Honestly, it was a perfect tie.

As soon as she hit play, the kids started singing in a beautiful harmony, "Momma, I killed a man!" and then giggling as they shouted they loved her to Homeworld and back and then a hundred times over. Then it dissolved into arguing with Comet that he was her favorite so he should go first, him being so much like Azalea it was a little ridiculous the universe hadn't just made them twins. Comet must have grabbed the phone just at the end as he shouted, "Bye Mom! We love you!" and it cut out.

*

When they all were gathered up from their various activities again, they pulled up to see the living room, porch and their parents' bedroom light on.

There they were up in their bedroom with the window wide open, slow dancing and completely absorbed with each other. Their dad must have said something super lame because their mom threw her head back in laughter and he chuckled at himself before noticing the van.

He turned Connie and waved at them cheerfully.

Comet snorted. "I can hear mom now. 'Steven, you don't need to wave at them. They'll be inside in a minute.'"

Sera did her best impression of their father. "'Oh, Connie! I'm so in love with you! I love our kids! I love our life!" They fake swooned as they fell out of the van and into Luckys arms.

"Very funny. Hit the showers, you guys smell like little boys."

[meticulousmaker]

another random thing that stands out to me rewatching Steven Universe as an adult:

throughout the show there's this clear Vibe that Steven has inherited some big magical destiny, right? and it makes sense narratively: he's the son of Rose Quartz, leader of the rebellion, now being raised by her friends who were the last remaining survivors of an interstellar war. he's like a human child in most ways, except he has magical powers that start to become more obvious as he's getting older. no one like him has ever existed before. it's a big deal. raising him and figuring out how he's going to grow is its own unique challenge, because nobody knows what to expect. so of course there's this magical destiny vibe, given all that.

What's interesting to me, though, is that this magical destiny is in no way literally, physically present in the story, it's just something everyone kinda feels. Like, there's not some ancient prophecy about a half-gem, half-human savior. He's not the Chosen One in any literal sense, he just happens to give off Chosen One vibes. And I say that's interesting because it means that the fact he was kinda raised with this Chosen One vibe is completely a decision everyone around him made, for better or for worse. And the show is aware of this, because the weight of Rose's legacy and everyone's expectations of him is a constant theme, and as Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl all grow and develop, they also realize the downsides of them putting those expectations on a child. Like, Steven spends his whole childhood being told about how great Rose was, and how because he's inherited her gem he will probably inherit her powers - and that's not necessarily a bad thing. Imagine how awful things could have been if Steven had no exposure to the Gems and no knowledge of what they were or how they worked, and then his powers started coming in? It was hard enough even when he was surrounded by the most qualified Gem Experts on Earth. But being primed for all of this "you're going to have your mother's magical powers" stuff put a heavy weight on his shoulders, and then the fact that nobody else quite knew how his abilities worked meant he was constantly faced with the adults in his life looking to him with concern because they didn't know what was happening with him. That's gotta leave an impression on a kid - and, well, throughout the show and especially in SU Future we definitely see that it does.

I like the way the show handles the pressure that's put on him, and the fact that everyone is just... trying their best in a completely unprecedented situation. Nobody knows what to do or how to raise this kid, and that inevitably causes problems but everyone is trying. And Steven can feel that everyone is trying without knowing what to do and he just wants to help and not be a burden and none of his caretakers have said that he's a burden but he can feel everyone's confusion and concern and the expectations he's not living up to and he cares so much, about everyone, about everything. He's in an extremely unique position that grants him opportunities to help that nobody else has, and he feels like he's failing everyone if he can't fulfill that, and in the end it never should have been his job to fix things but somebody had to try. Somebody had to try, and he was one of the only people with the ability to stop the Diamonds, stop the war, stop the lies, stop his world and everyone on it from being destroyed... and he was just a kid.

[bixels]

Learning that fans hated Applejack and called her "boring" is crazyyy to me because I genuinely, unironically believe AJ's the most complex character in the main six.

Backstory-wise, she was born into a family of famers/blue collar workers who helped found the town she lives in. She grew up a habitual liar until she had the bad habit traumatized outta her. She lost both her parents and was orphaned at a young age, having to step up as her baby sister's mother figure. She's the only person in the main gang who's experienced this level of loss and grief (A Royal Problem reveals that AJ dreams about memories of being held by her parents as a baby). She moved to Manhattan to live with her wealthy family members, only to realize she'll never fit in or be accepted, even amongst her own family. The earlier seasons imply she and her family had money problems too (In The Ticket Master, AJ wants to go to the gala to earn money to buy new farm equipment and afford hip surgery for her grandma).

Personality-wise, she's a total people-pleaser/steamroller (with an occasional savior complex) who places her self worth on her independence and usefulness for other people, causing her to become a complete workaholic. In Applebuck Season, AJ stops taking care of herself because of her obsessive responsibilities for others and becomes completely dysfunctional. In Apple Family Reunion, AJ has a tearful breakdown because in she thinks she dishonored her family and tarnished her reputation as a potential leader –– an expectation and anxiety that's directly tied to her deceased parents, as shown in the episode's ending scene. In The Last Roundup, AJ abandons her family and friends out of shame because believes she failed them by not earning 1st place in a rodeo competition. She completely spirals emotionally when she isn't able to fulfill her duties toward others. Her need to be the best manifests in intense pride and competitiveness when others challenge her. And when her pride's broken, she cowers and physically hides herself.

Moreover, it's strongly implied that AJ has a deep-seated anger. The comics explore her ranting outbursts more. EQG also obviously has AJ yelling at and insulting Rarity in a jealous fit just to hurt her feelings (with a line that I could write a whole dissection on). And I'm certain I read in a post somewhere that in a Gameloft event, AJ's negative traits are listed as anger.

Subtextually, a lot of these flaws and anxieties can be (retroactively) linked to her parents' death, forcing her to grow up too quickly to become the adult/caregiver of the family (especially after her big brother becomes semiverbal). Notice how throughout the series, she's constantly acting as the "mom friend" of the group (despite everything, she manages to be the most emotionally mature of the bunch). Notice how AJ'll switch to a quieter, calmer tone when her friends are panicking and use soothing prompts and questions to talk them through their emotions/problems; something she'd definitely pick up while raising a child. Same with her stoicism and reluctance at crying or releasing emotions (something Pinkie explicitly points out). She also had a childhood relationship with Rara (which, if you were to give a queer reading, could easy be interpreted as her first 'aha' crush), who eventually left her life. (Interestingly enough, AJ also has an angry outburst with Rara for the same exact reasons as with EQG Rarity; jealous, upset that someone else is using and changing her). It's not hard to imagine an AJ with separation anxiety stemming from her mother and childhood friend/crush leaving. I'm also not above reading into AJ's relationship with her little sister (Y'all ever think about how AB never got to know her parents, even though she shares her father's colors and her mother's curly hair?).

AJ's stubbornness is a symptom of growing up too quickly as well. Who else to play with your baby sister when your brother goes nonverbal (not to discount Big Mac's role in raising AB)? Who else to wake up in the middle of the night to care for your crying baby sister when your grandma needs her rest? When you need to be 100% all the time for your family, you tend to become hard-stuck with a sense of moral superiority. You know what's best because you have to be your best because if you're aren't your best, then everything'll inevitably fall apart and it'll be your fault. And if you don't know what's best –– if you've been wrong the whole time –– that means you haven't been your best, which means you've failed the people who rely on you, which means you can't fulfill your role in the family/society, which makes you worthless . We've seen time and time again how this compulsive need to be right for the sake of others becomes self-destructive (Apple Family Reunion, Sound of Silence, all competitions against RD). We've seen in The Last Roundup how, when no longer at her best, AJ would rather remove herself from her community than confront them because she no longer feels of use to them.

But I guess it is kinda weird that AJ has "masculine" traits and isn't interested in men at all. It's totally justified that an aggressively straight, misogynistic male fandom would characterize her as a "boring background character." /s

At the time of writing this, it's 4:46AM.

[yardsards]

say what you will about steven universe but it's objectively hilarious that arguably one of the most toxic ships in the series is just. two coworkers at the same shitty minimum wage food service job

[summerdoddles]

They tried to escape therapy but got stuck in traffic

-

based on this on twitter

[reblog-trash-can]

The: "I didn't ask to become savior of the universe but I kinda don't have any other choice now" gotta be my favorite character trope

[enbymuppet]

Hello Tumblr community I am here to bring you this meme which is totally not based on myself

[owlygem]

Can I make a change?

[chipper-smol]

HEY WHO WANTS ANOTHER CHARACTER VENN DIAGRAM

NO ONE?

TOO BAD

I MADE ANOTHER ONE AND ITS

SO SANE

[ceephorsshitshow]

For anyone unsure of what is going on in the @pink-onyx-au right now here is a summary of the last episode

[screwpinecaprice]

fleh

[moonie-moth]

My favorite chaos-based characters in my favorite animated shows!! AUGHHHH

close ups ⬇️

[10bendog]

Finally, here's part 3 of the CN City art!

As I promised last time, I'm posting this last piece today to commemorate a very special occasion - my 25th Birthday THE 1 YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF CN AKUMAS' COMPLETION!

These drawings were really fun to make. I'm totally planning on doing some more in the future. Gotta rep more CN shows, after all. :D Maybe I'll make ones for the seasonal events or sth. I'll think about it.

"This is Cartoon Network."

Last, but not least, here's, again, the full renders of the characters in the piece. :D

[craftyselfindulgent-grapegem]

[animationfanboy2k4]

"That's what friends are for, right? "

[summerdoddles]

Sometimes self awareness is a curse