#the state of delmarva is made up of delaware. maryland. and virginia

[yourfavisfromnewjersey]

Greg Universe from Steven Universe is canonically from New Jersey (kinda)! explanation below the cut:

At one point in the show (I can't remember the episode, it might be "Gem Harvest") it is confirmed that Greg and the rest of the Demayo family (excluding Steven, who was born in Beach City) are from Jersey, which is the name for the state of New Jersey in the Delmarva verse, which is the fictional universe that Steven Universe (the show) takes place in! If you know of an earlier example where it is stated that Greg is from Jersey, feel free to let me know!

[shinyhappygoth]

I don’t know whether this is quite the sort of thing you’re talking about, since it’s an AU mashup of real states, rather than supposedly existing in addition to the real ones, but Steven Universe takes place in the state of Delmarva (postal code DV)! IRL, this is the name of the peninsula which contains most of Delaware and parts of Maryland and Virginia. The other states that crop up in the show are AU versions of singular states, being Keystone (Pennsylvania), Empire State (New York), and… Jersey. Just Jersey.

And of course there’s the first thing this post made me think of: “My real name is Earl… Earl BigMac… I’m from Pennsatucky…” —Jonny Sims, The Magnus Archives Season 1 Q&A

we should set more tv shows in fake US states the way we make up fake european countries for disney channel originals and hallmark movies

[leah-ocarina]

Keep seeing people freak out about them saying there are ‘39 states,’ so here’s a refresher on some other Steven Universe geography:

In Keystone Motel, they go to Keystone. Keystone? Yeah! The state called Keystone! Irl Pennsylvania is called ‘The Keystone State.�� I also heard them mention West Keystone, so apparently there’s a West Pennsylvania.

New York (the Empire State) is Empire and New York City is Empire City. Also New Jersey is just ‘Jersey.’

Beach City is located on the state of Delmarva. Irl Delmarva is a not a state, but rather a nickname for the peninsula to the right of Virginia. It’s given that nickname because it’s made up of 3 different states; DELaware, MARyland, and VirginiA. In SU it’s its own state. Good for you Delmarva.

My Mom is a science teacher and noticed the map of the globe in It Could’ve Been Great looks— while obviously not an exact match— somewhat similar to projected Earth after the icecaps melt

If you take a look at Steven’s Earth, it also appears the western part of Africa decided to bounce and chill out with South America instead.

Worth noting that these are just geographical things— and probably not all of them. There are a bunch of cultural differences too. You should look into it! It’s super fascinating how much care they put into this stuff!

This has always been an alternate Earth— probably because of homeworld/colonization tomfoolery (for example that missing part of Northern Asia is where the Galaxy warp is if I’m not mistaken). But yeah, I thought I’d give a basic rundown for people who haven’t really thought about it until now.

[flyingsassysaddles]

Top Secret: Delaware’s Clubs

(Inspired by @askaphmaine and their drawings because I love Maryland and the world always needs more Delaware in general) 

Classification: Top Secret clearance needed

Subject: State of Delaware

(Warning: the following names and descriptions of memberships and close clubs of the United States of America Representative State Congress may have been altered because D.C read this just as I was about to finish and now I have to make it sound like a goddamn legal document, because god forbid a state write anything that doesn't sound like Terms and Conditions contract. But I changed them anyway because screw D.C and I can do what I want.)

Alright, so you think Delaware is some backwater state who can’t tell right from left and is a weirdo who can’t tie his shoes? You can’t find Delaware on a map because he doesn’t sound important? Do you find it odd that sometimes Delaware refers to himself in the third person? Well, I’m here to clear up some of those stupid Yankee or redneck misconceptions and make you understand how great I truly am! And to do that, I’m going to give you a list of all the clubs and caucuses and whatnot that I’m a part of! Then you’ll see how awesome and genius I truly am and NO I’m not part of freaking Pennsylvania. That’s how you spell it right? I always forget.

Okay, let’s start!

The Chicken Duo:

Members: Me and Rhode Island

Purpose: I kinda forgot, but I think it’s mostly so Button (that’s my adorable blue hen that’s an absolute sweetheart) can have a friend. Rhode has a chicken too, but it doesn’t like to fight or anything, so we can’t have cockfights like in the good old days when it was legal. I think it was to counteract the Northern Cardinal Club that just grows more and more by the day (pick something original for god’s sake). And the Turkey Club, but all they do it make turkey puns.

The I-Don’t-Have-A-Single-Mountain Club:

Members: Me, Louisiana, Florida, D.C sometimes, Rhode Island, and Mississippi   

Purpose: No idea, but hey I’m in it! I’m number one cause I’m the most um, flat I guess? I ain’t got any mountains at all, and California keeps telling me that I’m going to be the first one to die in global warming. Yeah, I’ll make sure to say hi to Florida when that happens, Ms. Fake Nose.

The I-Was-Named-After-An-Old-White-Guy Troop:

Members: Georgia (the poor bastard), Me, Louisiana, North Carolina, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Washington, and Jefferson when we’re feeling generous. Though we’ve been thinking about expanding it to old white ladies too because Maryland keeps nagging us and Maine is super scary when she wants to be, but then we have to change the name from old white guy to old white person, which I think makes it sound less funny.

Purpose: To talk smack about all the other states who got to be named after Native American words and just hang out I guess.

The I-Was-Technically-Named-After-A-River Club:

Members: Colorado (his name literally means red, how sucky is that?), Mississippi (duh),  and Me. They keep trying to throw me out because I’m part of the White Guy Naming club, but I was named after a river which in turn was named after an old white guy. So I fit in both, technically.

Purpose: We go fishing a lot, and basically talk about rivers and stuff. Though they keep throwing me overboard and bet how long I can swim before having to be pulled out. And they say conservatives and liberals don’t get along. God, I hate being short. Oh, and we smoke a ton of weed.

The Mason-Dixon Line States:

Members: Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Me. No, West Virginia and New Jersey don’t count. Though I’m not sure Pennsylvania does either, but we can’t throw him out cause then it would be just me and Maryland, and we both have like SUPER bad impulse control, so we’d probably end up dead or something. I’m pretty sure none of us want a repeat of the skateboarding goat incident (even though that was super funny and I got stupid rich from all the bets placed against the fact I could throw a goat into a lake and it could still ride a skateboard better than Alaska when he’s hungover).

Purpose: Argue about the Mason-Dixon line agreement, fight, talk smack about everyone, and wonder what side of the Civil War we should've been on (sorry, that’s just me and Maryland, PENNSYLVANIA has it all figured out). That’s about it. We also go to parties and stuff, but I try to avoid Pennsylvania like the plague because he never lets anything go and I practically see Maryland every day.

The Democratic State Caucus:

Members: I’m too lazy to list them all, but basically all the democrat states plus me.

Purpose: To vote against the Republican State Caucus and talk about how great it was when Obama was around. (I miss Joe Biden though, my one true awesome vice-president. Obama too I guess. But JOE was awesome. He was my senator for forever you know. I have him on speed dial cause he’s so awesome. Joe, Joe, Joe of the Jungle, watch out for that Republican filibuster, PLOP. I’m getting off track, aren’t I?)  

The I’ve-Been-A-Democrat-For-Forty-Years-And-I’m-Never-Going-To-Change Club:

Members: Me, Hawaii, California, Minnesota, Oregon, Washington, Rhode Island, Maine, wait, how many of us are there? Holy pajamas that’s a lot.Yeah, I’m not writing them all down. They have too much of an ego anyway.

Purpose: Just talk about how stupid Republicans are and where the country’s going. Basically, a group where you can talk about your opinions and stuff without being yelled at by Texas or the I’ve-Been-A-Republican-For-Forty-Years-And-I’m-Never-Going-To-Change club.

The Smaller-Side-Of-The-Spectrum States:

Members: Rhode Island, Connecticut, and Hawaii, and Me.

Purpose: “I am NOT short!” - All of us at once. That pretty much sums it up.

The I-Was-Once-Part-Of-Pennsylvania-Club:

Members: Delaware

Purpose: To talk about great Pennsylvania is and-  wait, how did this get here? This isn’t my handwriting. What even is this? The I-Was-Once-Part-Of- GODDAMNIT PENNSYLVANIA!

The No-Counties-Club:

Members: Me, Rhode Island, and Hawaii

Purpose: To complain about our counties and ignore the fact that they only have 5 and I only have 3. Yes, THREE! And they’re all annoying (please don’t let them know I said that).

The Tax Evasion Buddies:

Members: Nevada, Alaska, and me.

Purpose: “To find a legal team to make our laws better,” is what Nevada says, but not for me, no sir. Tax evasion makes me stupid rich, and where else are all the big companies going to go? DuPont and no-sales-tax for the win!

The Am-I-South-Or-North Trio

Members: West Virginia, Maryland, and me. W. Virginia keeps saying that he’s “Appalachian” or  Southern or whatever, but we’re not letting him leave cause then it’ll just be me and Maryland and again we both have like the WORST impulse control, and W. Virginia is the strictest guy I know so he has to balance us out or else bye bye humanity.

Purpose: To find comfort in the fact there are other states that feel like they don’t belong in the North/South dynamic in the Original Thirteen. Me and Maryland had it rough in the beginning, so we formed a club as a sort of “Middle” between the North and South, and once Western Virginia escaped from Virginia in the Civil War, we had three! So there’s that, I guess. Also it gets pretty lonely in the O13 if you aren’t a New Englander or a Southerner, so banding together helps. God, now I’m depressed.

The First-States:

Members: Just me and my awesomeness.

Purpose: To fulfill a dare that Maryland made that I wouldn’t make a club just for the First State (which I am) because I talked about it so much. Well in your face Mary Mary Quite Contrary, I actually did it! A club just for the First State, because I was the first person to sign the Constitution and I am NEVER letting that go. Ever. So screw the State Congress’s club rules, Delaware, the First State, gets what he wants baby. It also helps that I got all of the major lobbies on speed dial. Why? None of your damn business. *cough* tax evasion *cough*

Del-Mar-Va Trio:

Members: Virginia, Maryland, and Me.

Purpose: I don’t even know anymore. Maryland and Virginia fight like rabid dogs and they just never get along and I’m stuck in the middle of it and it’s just a huge soap opera. Last time I checked Maryland sent one of her crabs to tear up one of Virginia’s dresses and Virginia retaliated by making her foxhound follow Maryland around until she apologized, and as far as I know, that dog is still following her because Maryland’s as stubborn as a mule sometimes. I think we originally were trying to see if we could make a new state or something, unifying the whole Delmarva peninsula under one banner, but honestly, that scares me a bit. I mean, Virginia and Maryland have other territories than just the peninsula, but me? That peninsula is all I got. If we formed a new state, Delaware would cease to exist. And I’ve been through way too much crap to die in a sucky way like that. I’m going to go out in a blaze of glory with my state anthem screaming in the background with Maryland chucking crabs out of her crab-launcher and Pennsylvania screaming in terror behind me during the apocalypse or something. Now THAT is an awesome way to die.

(Executive Edit: This has been an informal draft sent to the Executive State Oversight Committee of the United States of America Representative State Congress in an attempt to “educate” the states on the committee, and to provide evidence that the state of Delaware was not, in fact, a main conspirator in the disastrous scandal now know as Skateboarding Goat-gate, and that this article proved his innocence. The trial overseen by the United States of America Representative State Congress has since found Delaware to be guilty. In turn, all of his previous writings have been confiscated and placed under high classification.  - Democratic leader of the United States of America Representative State Congress, the State of California. And I do not have a fake nose, you little shit.)

[shwoo]

This map has a lot of issues, so I spent an unnecessary amount of time fact-checking all the shows and where they're located. Places in "italicised quotes" aren't real places. Using the "town, state" format even for big cities to make things clearer. I know probably too much about American geography for someone who's never been there, and I still get confused.

CORRECT

Molly of Denali: "Qyah", Alaska Clarence: "Aberdale", Arizona South Park: "South Park", Colorado The Amazing World of Gumball: "Elmore", California Sit Down, Shut Up: "Knob Haven", Florida Squidbillies: "Dougal County", Georgia Lilo & Stitch: The Series: Unnamed locality in Kauai, Hawaii Napoleon Dynamite: Preston, Idaho Twelve Forever: "Bethune", Iowa Courage the Cowardly Dog: "Nowhere", Kansas Hoops: "Lenwood", Kentucky Bunnicula: New Orleans, Louisiana The Spooktacular New Adventures of Casper: Friendship, Maine Craig of the Creek: "Herkleton", Maryland The Loud House: "Royal Woods", Michigan The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends: "Frostbite Falls", Minnesota Ellen's Acres: A hotel outside Tonopah, Nevada Assy McGee: Exeter, New Hamspshire Kid Cosmic: Unnamed town, New Mexico Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: New York, New York Big Mouth: Westchester County, New York The Epic Tales of Captain Underpants: Piqua, Ohio Gravity Falls: Gravity Falls, Oregon Arthur: "Elwood City", Pennsylvania (confirmed by the show's official Twitter) Little Bill: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Family Guy: "Quahog", Rhode Island The Legend of Calamity Jane: Deadwood, South Dakota King of the Hill: "Arlen", Texas (Didn't even look this one up until I needed the city name) Beavis and Butt-Head: "Highland", Texas (The state wasn't made explicit until the 2022 movie Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe) American Dad!: "Langley Falls", Virginia Rick and Morty: Somewhere outside Seattle, Washington

CORRECT, BUT

The Owl House: "Gravesfield", Connecticut (Much more heavily set in Bonesborough in the Boiling Isles, which is not a real place, though a few episodes do return to Gravesfield) Steven Universe: "Beach City", "Delmarva" (The landmasses are a little different in the universe of Steven... Universe, and the state of Delaware doesn't exist, but an official map labels the body of water north of Beach City as Rehoboth Bay, which is a real bay in Delaware, and would put Beach City in the same location as the real-world Long Neck, Delaware) (RIP to everything south of Indian River Bay, though) Fetch! with Ruff Ruffman: Boston, Massachusetts (This is a live action kid's game show with an animated host, so I'm not sure it qualifies as an animated series) Infinity Train: North Branch, Minnesota (The show is set on a magical train that travels through an otherworldly desert. The main human character of the first season is from Minnesota, but she spends almost the entire season trapped on the train, and the other seasons follow different characters, and generally spend even less time on Earth) Futurama: "New New York", "New New York" (New New York City is explicitly built over the ruins of its real-world counterpart, and is basically New York But Futuristic)

IMPLIED

Rugrats: Unnamed city (All indications point to California) Garfield and Friends: Unnamed City (Garfield is very occasionally stated to take place in Muncie, Indiana, where its creator Jim Davis lives, but I don't know if the Garfield and Friends show ever brings this up. I don't think US Acres was ever given a location) Bob's Burgers: "Seymour's Bay" (Evidence points to New Jersey, but it's never made explicit) (I'm finding conflicting things on whether Seymour's Bay is the canon name or an out-of-universe nickname) Jimmy Neutron: "Retroville" (A Texas number plate is visible in the movie, and a line on a map showing a trip the characters take in one episode clearly starts in Texas. Otherwise, the state is never specified)

UNCLEAR

Recess: Unnamed city (One episode has the kids take the Arkansas Elementary School Achievement Test, which is the basis for it being put in Arkansas in this map. Coordinates given in another episode would put the school in Pennsylvania) Regular Show: "City" (A few things indicate California, including the state flag being visible in one episode, but other things contradict this and place it further east) Curious George: "City" (The location was never given in the books, but the show has a line that says that the airport the characters are currently at is in Chicago, Illinois) The Boondocks: "Woodcrest" (The comic strip is definitely set in Maryland, but the show has some indications early on that it's set in Chicago, Illinois, with the exception of an episode where the main characters fly back to Chicago to attend a funeral. Later episodes imply that the show is set in Maryland) The Chicken Squad: Unnamed locality (An episode about a lost phone implies that the show is set in North Dakota. I can't find much more than that) Harvey Girls Forever!: "Harvey Street" (One episode includes a view from space of a bright light on the street, but the location is vague, and looks more like Missouri than Oklahoma to me. A showrunner confirmed on Twitter that this shot did not mean the show was set in Kansas, and that the street is actually "located in the great state of… oops, out of characters!") Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood: "The Neighborhood of Make-Believe" (Disclaimer: I never saw Mr Rogers' Neighborhood because it's an extremely North American thing. But I think the title neighbourhood was literally supposed to be Fred Rogers' neighbourhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, while the Neighborhood of Make-Believe was always an imaginary place with no real-world counterpart.) Peanuts: Unnamed City (I'm not sure which Peanuts animated series this is on the map, but the comics never make the location explicit. The closest is a strip from 1957, in which Lucy shows off a trophy that names her "Outstanding Fussbudget of Hennepin County". That would place the setting in Minnesota, in or near Minneapolis. But a later strip from 1963 introduces a character named 555 95472, whose surname has been changed to his ZIP code. ZIP code 95472 is in Sebastopol, California, where Charles Shultz's studio was.) Hey Arnold!: "Hillwood" (There are a lot of indications that the series takes place in the US part of the Pacific Northwest, so Oregon, Washington or Idaho. And at the end of one episode, Helga and her mother are seen driving past a "Welcome To Washington State" sign when returning from out of state. But there are also some implications that it takes place in New York City, particularly with the architecture, and the way the school is numbered)

DEFINITELY INCORRECT

Sniz & Fondue: Unnamed locality (Only source on being located in Missouri seems to be an addition to the Wikipedia page in November 2006 with no edit reason given) Big City Greens: "Big City" (The show is based in part on the creators' childhood in rural Michigan, but the show itself never mentions a state.) (If Michigan gets Big City Greens, might as well give Alabama Phineas and Ferb for similar reasons. Give the south something.) Sheep in the Big City: "The Big City" (Only source on being located in Missouri seems to be an addition to the Wikipedia page in January 2010) with no edit reason given) Daria: "Lawndale" (The setting of the show is unclear, but it doesn't appear to be set in Texas. The setting is extremely urban northeast, in my opinion. In an interview, one of the show creators said that he thought of the setting as being a mid-Atlantic suburb, and gave Maryland and Pennsylvania as possible locations. The idea that the show is in Texas seems to be based on the show being a spin-off of Beavis and Butt-Head, but Daria's family explicitly moved to Lawndale from Highland at the beginning of the first episode.) Chalkzone: "Plainville" (Only source on being located in Wisconsin seems to be an addition to the Wikipedia page in November 2006 with no edit reason given)

OTHER POSSIBILITIES (not on the map)

-The Ace Ventura: Pet Detective cartoon is set in Miami, Florida, and has a lot more episodes than Sit Down, Shut up -The Beetlejuice cartoon is set in "Peaceful Pines", Connecticut, and has more episodes than the Owl House, as well as seeming to spend more time in the real world. -I don't know much about China, IL, but it is unambiguously set in Illinois, unlike Curious George, or the Boondocks. Has less episodes than either of those, though. -Soul Eater is set in "Death City", Nevada, and only has one less episode than Ellen's Acres, with double the running time. -If Big Mouth is a runner-up for New York, Archer should be too. Even discounting the seasons that moved the setting to Los Angeles, or Los Angeles but in the 40s, or a fictional Pacific Island, or space, it's got more episodes than Big Mouth. -The animated show set in the District of Columbia with the most episodes is either Our Cartoon President, or Freakazoid!, depending on how you define an episode. Couldn't find anything for any of the US's overseas territories.

Longest Running Cartoon Set in Each State (based off of number of episodes)

[yarnwovenwings]

Actually, according to the SU wiki, Beach City is set in the state of Delmarva. In real life, Delmarva is a peninsula made up of Delaware, eastern shore Maryland, and a tiny bit of Virginia at the southernmost point. Interestingly, even some of the roads are from Delaware. As seen in Full Disclosure, US Rt 13 and State Rt 1 are referenced:

Beach City itself is based on the Delaware Beaches, specifically Rehoboth Beach, Dewey Beach, and Bethany Beach. If I remember correctly, this is also stated on the wiki. But personally, I find that most of Beach Is referenced from Rehoboth.

As OP mentioned, of course there’s Funland. But being familiar with the area, I also noticed that the little wave pattern on the show’s arcade sign comes from the real life Playland arcade:

Another thing that caught my attention was the “Smile” sign next to Funland. This iconic sign comes from Dolle’s Saltwater Taffy shop in Rehoboth:

In general, the architecture in the show strongly resembles Rehoboth, but I did some searching and I was able to find what strongly resembles Connie’s house. Funny enough, they’re located on Keystone Drive:

So basically, if you want to visit some real life SU places, come to Rehoboth Beach!

Source: SU wiki & my own knowledge as a native Delawarean

I’ve figured out where Steven Universe takes place!

As we know, the show takes place in Beach City. So I was determied to figure out where exactally that is! My first clue was from the episode “Keystone Motel” Where they go to the Keystone state whic looks like this

What state does that look like?

So, I took a look at the states around there, since they say that its the “next state over”

That takes our possible states down to Ohio, New York, New Jersey, Delaware,  Maryland, and West Virginia. If we take out States with no boarder on the ocean, I can eliminate Ohio, and West Virginia (im not counting great lakes).  It was now i thought to myself wondering how i could possbly figure out which of these he could live in, when suddenly i zoomed in a little more and saw this

Right there in maryland! Surly that must be the inspiration for Beach city!!!  But wait. Theres more. when zooming in to look at my discovery, I chose to look for the other places Steven mentions ito Lapis, when i saw this a bit to the north.

I didnt believe it until i zoomed in more to see this!

Its Funland. A real place. Just north of Dewey Beach. Which may i add, has some simmilarities with Beach City’s Funland!

So there we have it! Steven lives in Delaware in Dewey Beach, North of Ocean City, Which may be the Ocean Town Steven mentions! I hope you enjoyed this! I sure did!!