The Tumblr Files - Official Thread (Case I: Steven Universe) - An exposé on the media and people that destroyed the Internet

[Mike Matei's Penis]

Was the actual show ever as retarded and corporate as these PSA's?

 

[I_Am_Not_Bruce_Willis]

Was the actual show ever as retarded and corporate as these PSA's?

In my opinion? No. Though to be completely fair, once the show became the poster-child for progressiveism in western media (not just western animation, western media), stuff like this was inevitable. These also dropped after George Floyd got chocked by a cop, so CN probably made these in response and probably to also increase their ESG score.

 

[Kari Kamiya]

Is Rebecca Sugar's wealth going to get brought up here? It's kinda suspicious that Steven Universe, a series not known for having actual merch during its run, apparently made her a millionaire, at least enough to buy a mansion a couple years back.

 

[Space Police]

Is Rebecca Sugar's wealth going to get brought up here? It's kinda suspicious that Steven Universe, a series not known for having actual merch during its run, apparently made her a millionaire, at least enough to buy a mansion a couple years back.

I've seen Steven Universe merch, albeit aimed at teens/adults.

 

[I_Am_Not_Bruce_Willis]

Is Rebecca Sugar's wealth going to get brought up here? It's kinda suspicious that Steven Universe, a series not known for having actual merch during its run, apparently made her a millionaire, at least enough to buy a mansion a couple years back.

Friccin Californians love to indulge on stuff. For example, journos cry to no end about capitalism while they live in their expensive high-rise apartments with 10 cats.

 

[Channel Catfish]

Really good writeup and reminder about those times. I still remember laughing at E;R's videos about SU before they got banned for having Hitler's speeches at the end of them. Perhaps a bit too on the  nose gem there.

On a broader note, it's stunning how so many concurrent events were happening in the time period Steven Universe was growing in popularity. Gamergate and all its fallout happened when the show was running and getting popularity on Tumblr; Trump's campaign for the Presidency began a mere few months after the first Stevenbomb. The 2016 election and everything from 2020 to now will be written in history textbooks if we even make it through, but I have a feeling that the internet and the world at large during 2014-2017 will be but a mere blip despite it arguably setting up the eternal Current Year which we live in today.

Thanks for at least helping to make everyone remember what led us to today. It's valuable work.

(Edited because I can't proofread for shit, my bad)

 

[InJailOutSoon]

Ah, Steven Universe...the show that started my path to being a critical asshole on media that I consume (and made most people not want to watch shows/movies with me because they knew I going to say some shit about it. I have a love/hate relationship with this show and I can't deny the influence that it had on me on how to write and how not to write stories.

Steven Universe didn't invent nepotism in the Animation Industry; it always existed with people recommending each other and hiring colleagues they worked with. Granted, it was based more on talent and work ethics back then. Nowadays, it's more on who one likes and if they share similar views with you. And the internet didn't help with that either. From my own experience, they constantly will push you to make connections while in art school, and teach you what you should say and do to get the higher-ups to want you. I'd say that to get a job in this industry, it relies 50% on talent and skill, and the other 50% on who you know. I've even been told by some professors that you could be at best mediocre with your work, but as long as you know someone relatively high in the studio you're applying for, you have a good chance on being hired anyway.

 

[BerserkKing99]

Just be glad I didn't include any Fusion GIFs in the write-up.
View attachment 6544881

its actually embarrassing how much they try to impersonate anime and its tropes like having someone pressed against the wall in your gif. its like if localizers couldn't obtain any anime so they had to start from scratch and made some contorted abomination like this.

 

[Space Police]

its like if localizers couldn't obtain any anime so they had to start from scratch and made some contorted abomination like this.

Many 80s cartoons such as MASK are very anime-like, so Western cartoons copying anime is nothing new. It's just autistic and cringeworthy in modern cartoons because anime is autistic and cringeworthy nowadays.

 

[BerserkKing99]

Was the actual show ever as retarded and corporate as these PSA's?

yep. if you could say or claim "what killed western animation and its industry" you can easily point to steven universe. in other words a jewish marxist fujoshi yaoi fangirl that drew ed edd and eddy gay porn killed the industry forever (((rebecca sugar, steven universe's creator))). now every western show looks like steven universe bean mouth cal arts trash. its honestly the reason why normgroids watch anime in the first place because western animation is fucking kill.

 

[Space Police]

now every western show looks like steven universe bean mouth cal arts trash. its honestly the reason why normgroids watch anime in the first place because western animation is fucking kill.

That at least has some SOVL compared to most modern anime.

 

[LinkinParkxNaruto[AMV]]

Nowadays, it's more on who one likes and if they share similar views with you

In the case of cartoon network before Adventure Time they had a bunch of shows that honestly sucked or were not that popular, anime was also rising hard at the same time so Adventure Time was everything for the network while it lasted. They were probably expecting all these weirdo hipsters that made AT and their zealot friends would do a repeat success instead of driving them off a cliff.

 

[Gender: Xenomorph]

Steven universe had a brilliant plot, they had such a unique concept. They ruined it because of the gay representation, in the show the gems are said to be genderless, why are they women and gay coded. The diamond authority were a good villain plot at the beginning. They sprikled lore through the first season which was very interesting it was set up good. the Diamond authority are introduced in the plot as being genocidal dictators who colonize and destroy other planets. The dictator plot it thrown out when it’s revealed Steven/rose was pink diamond. When I watched Steven universe I wanted to see the homeworld, the other types of gems and their jobs.. And no one will remember Steven universe for its plot, or story but for its shit representation.

I remember early season when SU felt somewhat eldritch?
Like you had these intergalactic empire that threatened earth's existence and was made so big and mighty, a galaxy wide galactic empire, then you had the corruption, which nobody knew what it was about and why it happened, and there was even a bit of mystery whether the good guys were truly the good guys, or intergalactic terrorists.

But of course all of this had to be scrapped to make room for DEI.

 

[Space Police]

n the case of cartoon network before Adventure Time they had a bunch of shows that honestly sucked or were not that popular, anime was also rising hard at the same time so Adventure Time was everything for the network while it lasted. They were probably expecting all these weirdo hipsters that made AT and their zealot friends would do a repeat success instead of driving them off a cliff.

Funny enough, that's why there's very little mecha anime nowadays. Code Geass happened, and it was very popular, so soon almost every mecha anime tried to repeat Code Geass. They made a trilogy of mecha shows in the early 2010s (Valvrave, Cross Ange, and Buddy Complex), and all of them were allowed to be massive trainwrecks in hopes of making something dumb and stupid yet popular like Code Geass. They stopped making brand new mecha anime, for the most part, because these shows were so bad, yet still to this day they try to recapture Code Geass's popularity by hiring Okouchi, who should be blacklisted from anime at this point. I swear, Code Geass is the anime equivalent of Poopson made personally by Admin 6.

 

[LinkinParkxNaruto[AMV]]

Funny enough, that's why there's very little mecha anime nowadays. Code Geass happened, and it was very popular, so soon almost every mecha anime tried to repeat Code Geass. They made a trilogy of mecha shows in the early 2010s (Valvrave, Cross Ange, and Buddy Complex), and all of them were allowed to be massive trainwrecks in hopes of making something dumb and stupid yet popular like Code Geass. They stopped making brand new mecha anime, for the most part, because these shows were so bad, yet still to this day they try to recapture Code Geass's popularity by hiring Okouchi, who should be blacklisted from anime at this point.

Or the trillion manga about teenage exorcists all trying to be the next jujutsu kaisen.

 

[1000 bugs]

I think Steven Universe exhibits a problem a lot more present in Western animation these days than there used to be, which is the outright pandering to fandom and fujos. It makes sense Sugar's fujo love could be seen in the show, and I think she understood why that stuff makes a show popular. Imo, any kind of heavy shipping tends to overshadow the mystery or plot of a show, just from fandom engagement alone. Steven Universe was happy to provide that for viewers however, which I think is part of what held it back from being great. I def agree it had potential and some interesting concepts.

 

[xertruglia]

I experienced this shows rise/peak/fall as a 20 something. Interested to see what more you have to say. The original post has some good stuff, some stuff I disagree with but I think it will all be well received here. Some stuff I'd like to see:

-Sugar met John K
-Sugar met Danny Antonucci through her dad I think? I dont see that brought up a lot or the details on that.
-Sugar did similar consultation type things for kids interested in animation with rich parents. Probably happens a lot and it's the same as any other money sink related to art school crap. If you don't have drive or talent meeting RS isn't gonna add up to much.
-The various colorful people who worked on it. I remember a lesbian couple who have a comic called neokosmos. I see stuff like that and I'm like God... anyone could work on these shows. You just have to know someone

All that being said I do think Rebecca Sugar is talented. I think the show itself (su) is very ugly. Some common complaints at the time were that the show kept going off model. The people they had working on their show were literally just their friends. One quit or got fired because they wouldn't ship amethyst and peridot. You can see that show up for one episode and never again.

Plot wise I think she does better with the touchy Feely teenager stuff. The Lars and Sadie stuff pre space crap was good. Not really for cartoon network I'd say though. Kids don't care about that and if they do it doesn't teach them anything to save them from the same crap. They won't truly get it until they're also 20 somethings. Thats something you have to live and I think i disagree with RS on her objective there...

The science fiction world building part of the show sucks balls. Nothing good to say about it. And every episode being 11 minutes makes it way worse. The whole show would've been better as some indie comic in the mid 2010s. But I'm sure people have some good memories of it.

Also I disagree that fusion is outright sex. It definitely can be and it is at some points in the show... but I think it's a stand in for any relationship people have. The kind of person you become with your best friend vs how you are with your dad or your girlfriend... everyone brings out different parts of you and you hold different conversations with them. I think it was meant to be an expression of that, but with the way the show is set up, it represents a possibly sexual relationship with most characters. This is mostly because amethyst is a whore. Ok that's all I have to say, will be checking back in here to see what you add.

 

[REGENDarySumanai]

I remember early season when SU felt somewhat eldritch?
Like you had these intergalactic empire that threatened earth's existence and was made so big and mighty, a galaxy wide galactic empire, then you had the corruption, which nobody knew what it was about and why it happened, and there was even a bit of mystery whether the good guys were truly the good guys, or intergalactic terrorists.

But of course all of this had to be scrapped to make room for DEI.

Because heaven forbid something interesting happens in western media.

 

[Gender: Xenomorph]

Funny enough, that's why there's very little mecha anime nowadays. Code Geass happened, and it was very popular, so soon almost every mecha anime tried to repeat Code Geass. They made a trilogy of mecha shows in the early 2010s (Valvrave, Cross Ange, and Buddy Complex), and all of them were allowed to be massive trainwrecks in hopes of making something dumb and stupid yet popular like Code Geass. They stopped making brand new mecha anime, for the most part, because these shows were so bad, yet still to this day they try to recapture Code Geass's popularity by hiring Okouchi, who should be blacklisted from anime at this point. I swear, Code Geass is the anime equivalent of Poopson made personally by Admin 6.

AoT was kinda cool

 

[I_Am_Not_Bruce_Willis]

Some stuff I'd like to see:

-Sugar met John K
-Sugar met Danny Antonucci through her dad I think? I dont see that brought up a lot or the details on that.
-Sugar did similar consultation type things for kids interested in animation with rich parents. Probably happens a lot and it's the same as any other money sink related to art school crap. If you don't have drive or talent meeting RS isn't gonna add up to much.
-The various colorful people who worked on it. I remember a lesbian couple who have a comic called neokosmos. I see stuff like that and I'm like God... anyone could work on these shows. You just have to know someone

Part of the reason I made this a standalone thread instead of posting it in the Steven Universe or Cartoon Industry threads is so that other people could contribute/discuss anything I might have missed. I'm down for going back and adding said things, it's just that'll have to wait till cases I~IV are all done.

As for most fandom-related incidents, those are better off in their dedicated community watch threads. I'm mainly focusing on the creators of the media, and examples of how they affected Internet culture.