We'll get to this when the show does. Right now we can make assumptions, but without a definitive backstory, we can only speculate and infer. We just learned of PD's existence a few weeks ago, we're far from getting the whole picture.
We've got a frighteningly large verse still lefto explore.
Poor Steven, this kid's world view's going to be shattered and rebuilt like three times before he's ultimately ready.
Honestly, I kind of hope PD doesn't turn out to be the worst of the diamonds. A friend and I have been discussing a human AU where she's Jasper's foster mom, and I don't want to accidentally pull a Draco in Leather Pants (though admittedly, I'm already doing a bit of that with Yellow Diamond).
Well, someone posted on Ask Reddit what they think has the cringiest fanbase, and it wasn't that high up, but a comment about Steven Universe was definitely up there.
Now, while someone did say there was nothing special about the show having gay characters and relationships (which several people rightfully disputed), a couple of people brought up some good points.
A key point I saw brought up is that some fans are very defensive of their idea of the show, rather than the show itself. Fans will cling to one aspect that they like, and either start digging too deep into the "meaning" of it, and/or start going after anyone who disputes it. This had led to things like that one artist getting harassed for drawing Rose skinny, 4chan deliberately whitewashing characters to get the fans angry, and Zuke deleting her twitter. Reading way too much into a show can cause some obsessive behavior, as seen many times before. What kind of fiction attracts this behavior is left up to debate.
Also, someone brought up that Steven himself seems to be an inconsistent character, with his personality and reactions to things Depending on the Writer.
"The cruelest thing you can do to an artist is tell them their work is flawless when it isn't." -Ben "Yahtzee" CroshawPolitics makes everything messy. That's why they say it's best to avoid politics / religion / sex as conversation starters.
edited 11th Sep '16 10:03:03 AM by xanderiskander
Well that's true, but any show by its own nature with more than one writer will have differing interpretations based on what suits the plot of an episode. Characterization as we see it is crunching down all these differences and consistencies into a solid framework.
I wouldn't call the SU fandom anything all that special when it comes to behavior. As said, the themes the show tackles are bound to attract less savory viewpoints.
And the bigger the fandom, the greater potential for something noticeable to go wrong. The shouting gets the most attention, and the elements that have inspired people positively aren't going to be talked about as much.
Or if they do, some might see it as overbearing and a superficially progressive.
And the bigger the fandom, the greater potential for something noticeable to go wrong. The shouting gets the most attention, and the elements that have inspired people positively aren't going to be talked about as much. I dunno, I can think of more examples of bronies being awesome then terrible.
Uh, I think that counts as importing drama.
Beyond that, I still don't see how this is possibly the worst fandom. Like, I've seen more backlash towards a certain incident from the SU fandom than I've seen people actually doing that crap. I'd say it's solely from the SU Reddit that I frequent, but even then there's people on Tumblr who don't like that vocal minority.
edited 11th Sep '16 10:31:56 AM by AdricDePsycho
Have you any dreams you'd like to sell?I'm not saying that, I'm saying that all these claims of the SU fandom being somehow "Worst Fandom" just boggles my mind. A few years ago it was the MLP fandom, then before that it was the Homestuck fandom, and before that it was the Sonic the Hedgehog fandom. Like, I'm on the SU reddit regularly, and even the people on there are puzzled by how we've gotten this reputation when none of them even see these nutcases harassing people. There's arguably more people who are against these idiots than actual idiots, just going by sheer numbers.
Have you any dreams you'd like to sell?Breaking News: Fan Dumb Exists
Next at 4: Rain is Wet
moved to Oceanstuck because this handle was starting to bother me my tumblrWell, I tried to find what good things SU fandom has done. All I found were links explaining why fandom is toxic.
On the other hand Pony fandom definitely did also good things. I'm also shoulders deep into Sonic fandom and I can confirm that it's annoying with people having wild arguments about small things, but I have never heard anything about stuff life SU fandom did. And I know literally nothing about Homesuck.
And now, philosophical question: can any group be judged by it's vocal minority if that minority if responsible for most of it's "achievements". You know it's makes me think of times when people say stuff like "I'm proud to be American" even though their only achievement is living on the same huge land as people who actually did something, only in bad way. You know what I mean?

My personal pet theory is that there was a first Diamond created by a meteorite strike, mirroring the process of the creation of Carbandos. That Diamond created the Diamonds we see today. The Carbando might be dead, exiled or in hiding as a result of the Diamonds' Start of Darkness. It's an outside chance of actually happening in the show, but I like geology a lot.