An odd thing to be back for, but this is just a random idea that I’m crossposting from another forum at the kind suggestion of the people there - since they thought people over here might get a kick out of it. Someone in this other thread dubbed it Steven SatAM (after shows like Sonic SatAM), which seemed pretty cool.



A little while ago I had a really weird idea for a semi-real-life AU, which basically started from “I wonder what Steven Universe would’ve been like as a Saturday Morning Cartoon” and then just kind of snowballed from there.



In this alternate universe, the Steven Universe we know and love is actually the modern reboot of a totally radical Saturday Morning Cartoon from 80’s, kind of like the Thundercats or MLP reboots. Check it: In the “original” show of this AU, Steven and the Crystal Gems were a rock band composed of three aliens stranded on Earth and the kid who tagged along with them who somehow turns out to have magical alien powers. The Gems had the power to fuse into a super-fighting alien warrior, which they sometimes did to defeat giant kaiju or robots and such. Greg was their stage manager/Comic Relief. Connie was Steven’s best friend who also tagged along with them in places.



Their archenemy is the evil Peridot (or Dr. Peridot for maximum supervillainy), a Robotnik-esque evil genius (either SatAM or AOSTH, though I see her as being a bit more like the latter) from the Gem Homeworld who invented new deathtraps every week but was always thwarted by her own overconfidence, the incompetence of her brutish but slow-witted minion Jasper, the kindness of her less-than-evil other minion Lapis Lazuli, or The Power of Rock.



In this bizarre alternate world Sugar and the gang would be Running the Asylum, and our Steven Universe is highly reimagined but actually full of mythology gags to the “original” show: like Jasper first showing up working with Peridot (in what would be a role reversal in this universe, with Jasper being the one who’s more in charge), the mecha Peridot uses against Pearl in Back To The Barn, or Peridot’s hammy supervillain-esque behavior after getting stranded on Earth in general. Connie generally being an amazing character would’ve been a response to her original character mostly being a tagalong. Gem fusion would be as major an aspect as it is because it was a favorite concept of original fans, etc.



Right before the end, the “original” would have tried to do something dramatic and start an arc where Steven was revealed to be the long lost son of the Queen of the Gem world: Rose Quartz. Since shows always got cancelled in the middle of arcs back int he day, the show… got cancelled, but the “new” show takes cues from that.

Just random thoughts, mostly, but it does seem like the show loves its fun SatAM concepts, huh?

