Steven Universe is a show about a little boy and his three moms. Except they are actually four moms. And he’s kind of his own mom, so really, it’s five moms. Steven Universe is a show about a little boy and his five moms, living and learning and loving in a charmingly faded beachside town somewhere on the east coast of the United States.

Steven Universe is also a show about repentant conquerors who have spent the last few thousand years trying to make up for attempted genocide. When their past catches up with them, however, Steven must confront this complicated history head-on to create a brighter and more empathetic future.

Steven Universe is also a show about how strange it is to bridge the gap between child and adult; to exist in that odd, liminal time of draining innocence and sudden, boundless possibility. Steven’s world is changing from one of boardwalk games and crayon drawings to familial strife and first love. He’s seeing the adults around him struggle visibly, lost and frightened in the face of forces he hadn’t known existed. He’s realizing that his strange position as a half-gem, half-human can be as wonderful as it is alienating. He’s coming to understand that his mother was more complex than anyone’s warm recollections might suggest.

And Steven Universe is also about sharing donuts with friends and learning to dance and falling in love with someone you were never supposed to fall in love with. It’s warm and wonderful and it is a joy to watch unfold. To celebrate the show, we've compiled this gallery — a small, but significant sample of the fan community’s passion for the silly little hero who, with the help of his friends and a cheeseburger backpack, might just save the universe.

 

Bonus: Estelle, the voice of Garnet, at Comic-Con 2014

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