User blog:Devan4590/Steven Universe for Beginners: Basic World Info

Part one: General world info.
Wanna be part of our community but don't know much about Steven Universe? Well we cannot judge if you came to the wrong place, but fortunately, you have users who know the series inside out! So sit back as we school you on this biz!

What are gems?
Why, a very good question! Gems normally themselves are just gemstones. However, for some reason gems have consciousness and can generate bodies made of what is called "Hard light." Think of it like holograms, but with mass. Gems don't require eating, sleeping, breathing, and anything else that requires sustenance. They also don't age, which allows them to live for eons.

Gems are genderless, but they often take on the form of females. Their color palette depends on whatever gem they are, and vary in shapes and sizes! Gems normally can’t reproduce, but the only known instance of this was Rose Quartz when she had Steven. Steven is a hybrid between a human and a gem, and Rose Quartz gave her life to allow Steven to live.

A gem’s magic comes from their gem itself, and what some of us say is that their magic comes from a ‘light core’ inside the gem.

If a gem's body takes too much damage, they will release their physical bodies in a cloud of smoke, leaving behind their gem. After a period of time ranging from a few seconds to months, the gem will reconstruct their physical form in a process known as “Regeneration” and they’ll be good as new!



However, there are ways that a gem won’t be able to regenerate, and that is if they are bubbled, encased in an object, or cracked.

When I said gems can live for eons, I didn’t mean they are immortal. Gems can die. First comes Cracking, which if a gem’s gem is cracked, they will start to have problems, as seen how Amethyst’s speech was reversed, her form started getting messed up, and other problems. This was also seen through Lapis Lazuli as how she couldn’t summon her wings. Death occurs when a gem is shattered, and the light core breaks, with its peices spreading across the shards. We saw that gem shards have their own sentience and must either be bubbled or destroyed as soon as possible.

As for how are gems made, they’re made from these Bacteriophage-shaped machines known as Injectors. What they do is drain the life and energy out of the area around them and then ‘Plant’ a gem in the ground to incubate. Once the incubation process is complete, a gem will pop out. However, one of the major downsides of this is that it destroys the land around it, and there is no rejuvenating it. The Prime Kindergarten on Earth is a bleak, lifeless wasteland that all in all looks extremely depressing!

Gems are part of a space empire spanning the galaxy.

What are the main forces in Steven Universe?
Well if you don’t count the corrupted gems and if you put the Off Colors with the Crystal Gems, there are two main factions in Steven Universe

1: The Crystal Gems! They’re the ones who stayed on Earth after the Great Gem war.

2: The Homeworld Gems! These gems are part of the Homeworld Empire, seeking to conquer worlds for their empire like all empires do.

Both of these factions are at battle with each other, but not at all times.

The Crystal Gems were once lead by Rose Quartz, until she passed to give birth to Steven. Garnet since then has taken the role as leader.

The Homeworld Gems are ruled by their queens known as the Diamonds. The three current ones are Blue Diamond, Yellow Diamond, and White Diamond. Formerly there was a Pink Diamond, but she’s dead now.

I heard some people talk about ‘Corrupted’ gems, what are they and what makes them different?
Well thing is, Corrupted gems were created after the Great Gem war when the gem queens known as the Diamonds blasted the earth with some weird energy, and any gems who weren’t protected from it in one way or another were turned into monsters.



Well, Monsters are what Corrupted gems actually are. They have lost their previous consciousness and have just been turned into monsters. They have lost some of their abilities as well.

Though, corruption can be cured by the combined power of Steven and the Diamonds, and it gives hope.

You said that gem shards have consciousness, but why is that important?
Yes I did and-. Oh. Oh dear. We’re getting into some Dark stuff. If you want to get past the darkness, skip ahead to the next section!

Gem shards often gain the forms of limbs, and often act rather mindless in their attempts to find other pieces. They have to be bubbled or destroyed because of the threat they pose.

Though, Homeworld was once experimenting with gem shards to see what their power truly was…and it resulted in the Cluster gems. They are gem shards that have been forcibly joined together, and…oh man…they are much more dangerous and quite honestly, SCARY. They are still trying to find pieces of themselves by seeking out other gems, but this is extremely dangerous.

Homeworld’s endgame was creating “The Cluster” which is made up of millions of Gem Shards in a large, confused mass.

How do gems get around?
Two ways. One of which is by using advanced ships to traverse the galaxy, or by building warp pads. Warp pads are teleportation devices used to teleport to other warp pads across planets or entire galaxies. If you’re using a warp, you’ll be surrounded by light and it’ll shoot up, teleporting anyone on the Warp Pad with you.

We’re not sure how it works, but what we do know it uses the power of “Warp space”. However, in the warp stream, you have to remain inside because if you don’t you’ll fall into warp space, which similarly to normal space has no air and it’s extremely cold. There is also lightning in Warp space, and that will kill you if you aren’t already dead.

Smaller warps can only teleport you across a planet, but larger warps such as the Homeworld Warp have the power to traverse galaxies! However, the Homeworld warp is currently in many pieces right now because of the threat homeworld poses.

That's all for now!
If you want me to go deeper into something next week, vote in the comments! Be Sure to tune in next week!