Trivia / Universe Falls

• Attention Deficit Creator Disorder: Due to Minijen also starting another fanfic based on Kingdom Hearts, UF didn't have as consistent a schedule as it once did, with her usually switching back and forth between both of them on a regular basis. Eventually, Jen confirmed that Universe Falls would go on permanent hiatus, due to factors including a loss of passion and mental health issues.
• Creator Breakdown: This is ultimately brought the fic to a screeching halt. Minijen was going through some tough personal times, especially the death of their father. That death lead to an association between the fic and the death, creating a big ball of anxiety that was added on top of feeling like updating the story was now a chore rather than a joy. So, they threw up their hands and declared it dead.
• Doorstopper: The fic managed to surpass 1,000,000 words near the end of Arc 5. In a story planned to have eleven story arcs total. Later chapters, especially the more plot-heavy ones, are longer as well; the adaptation of "Sock Opera" wound up being split into a two-parter for thematic/pacing reasons.
• Old Shame: Minijenn admits she's not proud of the way she awkwardly combined the plots of "Lars and the Cool Kids" and "The Inconveniencing" to make "The Cool Kids", which is her least-favorite chapter in Universe Falls so far.
• Out of Order: Zig-zagged: Several of the chapters based on episodes take place out of the correct canon order. For instance, Magic and Mystery, which is partially based on the events of Laser Light Cannon, the second episode of Steven Universe, is the two part tenth chapter of the story, taking place after chapters that include much later episodes such as Coach Steven and Giant Woman. The Gravity Falls sequence of episodes, however, has so far been more or less in order.
• Post-Release Retitle: The chapter, "Northwest Mansion Nightmare", was originally titled "Northwest Mansion Mystery", but was changed after the author fused said episode with the Steven Universe episode, "Nightmare Hospital".
• Rewatch Bonus: Each chapter has a cipher code preceding it, which can be translated by whatever code is mentioned in the preceding author's notes. Furthermore, the journal entries on the Gems in Magic and Mystery part 2 contain random cryptographs that the reader can go back and translate via Cesar cipher.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Universe Falls was originally going to be a comic, until the author realized she didn't have the time or patience to draw it.
  • Peridot and Bill Cipher were originally planned to be a Crack Ship Played for Laughs. MiniJen later changed her mind, and after the events of "Pyrite" it looks like their relationship will be strictly antagonistic.
  • MiniJen was originally going to do a chapter based on "Carpet Diem", but swapped it out for one based on "Boss Mabel" instead.
  • The author also dropped a UF version of "Maximum Capacity", for fear of retreading the themes explored in "Revenge Trip", in favor of an adaptation of "Fusion Cuisine" (which was originally planned to be a one-off "bonus" chapter).
  • An early idea Jen had for "Forever Alone", when it was still set before the events of "Into the Bunker", was to have Dipper try to use his "Stepper" form to get closer to Wendy. Jen, who's not a fan of the Wendip ship, quickly scrapped that idea and eventually came up with the concept of using Stepper to reconcile some tension between Steven and Dipper.
  • "Evergreen Inn" was originally going to keep the "Dipper learns to flirt" subplot of "Roadside Attraction", but it was almost completely excised in favor of focusing on the tension between Ruby and Sapphire.
  • A straight adaptation of "Steven's Birthday" was planned, but Jenn instead decided to use Steven's birthday party as the framing device for an adaptation of "The Answer", with Steven's side-plot focusing on his concerns that being an apparently-ageless half-Gem will alienate him from his friends (something Bill Cipher brought up in "Chille Tid, Part 1").
  • "Peridot And Pacifica" was going to introduce Peridot's metal-manipulating powers and a fusion of Steven/Connie/Mabel called "Mabonnven", but both these subplots were cut for time, with plans to introduce them in later chapters.
  • "The New Stan" was originally planned to follow "Mr. Greg", but for pacing reasons it was swapped around with "Gravity Falls Drift".
  • There were plans to include an AU chapter with teenage versions of the Mystery Kids, based on the "Antigravity Falls" AU, but Jenn realized that with Steven Universe: Future providing actual teenage versions of the Mystery Kids it would be redundant. Instead, she replaced it with a chapter based on another of her own AUs, Crystal Falls, which had originally been planned for UF 2.
  • Arc 9 was originally going to feature "Revenge Trap", a Sequel Episode to "Revenge Trip" featuring Stan and Amethyst. But Jenn was unable to come up with concrete plot ideas, and instead opted to adapt "Steven vs. Amethyst" as part of a Vignette Episode titled "A Rock and a Hard Place".
• Word of Gay: Jenn claims that Dipper is bi-curious in the story.
• Word of God:
  • Jenn has a personal fantasy casting list for the fusions of Steven, Connie, and the Mystery Twins:
    • Eden Sher (Star Butterfly from Star vs. the Forces of Evil) or Sarah Stiles (Spinel from Steven Universe: The Movie) as Maven (Mabel+Steven)
    • Jeremy Shada (Finn from Adventure Time, Lance from Voltron: Legendary Defender) as Stepper (Dipper+Steven)
    • Allyn Rachel (Bee from Bee and Puppycat) as Dipevebel (Steven+Dipper+Mabel).
    • Mae Whitman (Katara from Avatar: The Last Airbender, April O'Neil from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012)) as Mabonnven (Steven+Mabel+Connie).
    • Bex Taylor-Klaus (Pidge from Voltron: Legendary Defender) as Convenper (Connie+Steven+Dipper)
    • Olivia Olsen (Marceline from Adventure Time) as Stonipbel (Steven+Connie+Dipper+Mabel)
• Working Title:
  • Based by the list of chapter titles she posted, the adaptation of "Northwest Mansion Mystery" were going to be titled... ''Northwest Mansion Mystery''. But, when she released it, it goes by the title "Northwest Mansion Nightmare", mainly because it's also an adaptation of "Nightmare Hospital".
  • "Split Up" was originally called "Camping Adventure" (as a parallel to "Island Adventure"), but as the B-plot of "Garnet and the Twins tracking down an escaped Peridot" wound up becoming more prominent, Jenn decided to switch to a Double-Meaning Title that was less focused on what had originally been the A-plot.

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