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Have you ever looked at two shows and thought that they would work great together? Whether its the premise or the characters they have, you just think these two shows would go together like peanut butter and jelly. However, that dream PB&J crossover sandwich can never happen for one reason or another. Fortunately, the power of fandom’s and the Internet can change that. For my next fan fiction pick, this is one such case where we get the sandwich. Only the peanut butter and jelly’s made from two bright stars.

Oh, and if the timing doesn’t make it obvious, this is to commemorate the finale to Steven Universe! In addition, minor spoilers regarding this story.

Believe in the Weird and the Wild

Author: 616MCU

Type of Fan Work: Crossover

First Published: June 17, 2017

Status: Ongoing

Synopsis

Growing up as the princess of the Kingdom of Mewni, Star Butterfly was no stranger to amazing things in life. But nothing could have been more amazing then when she found a baby boy with a gem in his stomach in the woods. She knew right away that he was special, and when she saw he could use magic like her family, her eyes filled with her namesake. All she could ask her parents was one thing:

“Can I keep him?”

Everyone happily welcomed the newest member of the Butterfly family, little Quartz Universe Butterfly, but none more so than Star. These two bright stars would spend their days together as brother and sister. That is, until a whirlwind of events lead to Star being sent to Earth. What no one knows is how strong the bond between these two is, or Quartz’s connection to Earth. Together, the two stars of Mewni will change their world in ways they can’t even begin to imagine.

Basic Exposition

As a crossover story, Believe in the Weird and the Wild combines the worlds of Star vs. and Steven Universe into one. In this story, Rose Quartz was not only the protector of Earth. She found a way to travel to other dimensions and became friends with the Magic High Commission and the Butterfly family. Known as the Rose Guard, she was one of Mewni’s greatest heroes. Thus, when Star finds baby Steven/Quartz in the woods, Moon takes him in as her son.

How Steven wound up on Mewni, I don’t know. However, I think it will be explained in time.

Perfect Blend of Two Shows

Steven Universe and Star vs. have several basic premises in common. Firstly, they draw influence from shonen and magical girl anime. Secondly, they take place in vast worlds with detailed backstories and filled with magical beings. Finally, at their heart, they share a lot of the same morals about choosing love over hatred and to not judge people for being different.

Thus far, 616MCU does a good job of blending both shows together to create that PB&J crossover sandwich I mentioned. Instead of Beach City, though, Echo Creek is the main Earth setting and now home to the human characters of both shows. Save for Connie (yes, she’s in this) and cameos, they have yet to make any meaningful appearances. To be fair, though, that’s because the story’s still in the first season of both shows. I think it will grow as time goes on.

Star and Steven, the Two Bright Stars

Even with all the crazy events in the story, the main focus remains on the relationship between Star and Steven. The two bright stars of the story, the two are inseparable and mean the world to each other. Rather than keep them the same as they are in show, the author goes the extra mile to show how being in each other’s lives affects their growth.

Star has the most notable personality changes of the two. As a result of having a little brother who looks up to her, she’s slightly more mature early on. She takes being a sister very seriously and tries to balance her desire to impress her brother with her desire to keep him safe. Steven/Quartz is the catalyst for her to become better earlier on, like how Marco was in the show.

Steven, or Quartz as he’s first known, starts the story largely the same as what we first see in his show. He’s got a big heart and wants to help everyone he meets, loves his adoptive family and idolizes his sister and the Rose Guard. At the same time, he’s getting to the age where he wants to find his own identity outside of his sister and make his own friends. He loves Star and her antics, but even he needs a break sometime!

Right now, though, their relationship is as strong as they come. Given what they go through in their shows, this could end up helping them a lot with any emotional scars. If it gets as far as Future, then I hope it helps them out. Heaven knows Steven needs help with what he may go through.

Two Worlds, One Family, One Steven

Steven is, for lack of a better term, the glue that binds the two worlds of the show together. In the show, he becomes what connects the Diamonds and Crystal Gems together. I hope he does in this story, but he’s already becoming this for the Butterflies and Crystal Gems.

I could tell that Steven/Quartz has a positive impact on Star’s immediate family. Firstly, having him around helps Star to mature faster than she initially does (not by much, but it’s a start). River gets someone to spend time with him on his “lectures”. Best of all, his calming presence seems to help Moon relax more and not be as uptight. As a result, she’s a lot more tolerant of Star’s antics. In other words, he’s helped Star’s family grow closer as a whole.

Then we eventually get the Crystal Gems. The story’s only just started to feature them, but it seems like they have more problems than they had in Steven Universe. Not knowing where Steven was all this time has led to some strain between them. When they meet Star’s family, they’re very angry and aggressive. Star even considers Pearl to be like her mom, only way more uptight. How their relationship will develop, I do not know, but am eager to find out!

A Great Story of Two Great Shows

As a fan of both shows, I love Believe in the Weird and the Wild. It takes two shows that mesh so well together and gives us something new and unique. At the same time, it retains enough to keep each property recognizable for the fans. It’s both new and exciting while also familiar enough to follow along! That’s a tough balancing act for a crossover!

The best part to all of this is that I have no idea how this will end up impacting the ending to both shows. Which one will end first? Will they wind up mirroring the show’s endings or create a new, cooler one? It’s the uncertaintity that makes me want to know more!

With Steven Universe: Future ending tonight, I think now’s the time when fans will start looking for good fan works to fill the void left behind. When that happens, I cannot recommend Believe in the Weird and the Wild enough. Two bright stars that will change their world forever.

Special thanks to Gogola for getting me this fan art done in time for the finale. If you haven’t already, go check them out on Instagram. They’re big fans of Star vs. and Steven Universe and they accept payment for commissions!

Click here to see more of Gogola’s work

Click here to see my other reviews of fan fiction

Click here to see my other animation stuff.

Hello, everyone, Roderick J Fritz here with another round of Fan A&A Spotlight. Today, we’ll be taking a look at a fanfic writer that I should have covered months ago. He’s one of my personal favorites on fanfic.com, I talk to him frequently in PM’s, and I consider him to be a good friend. Meet the Wandering Hippie!

If you’re reading this, Hippie, I’m only saying what you’ve told us on Fanfic.com. No personal info.

The Life of the Hippie

Hippie’s been very open about the details on his life, enough that I can get a clear picture of him. He grew up in Pittsburgh and is currently in his early-mid twenties and an aspiring writer. From what I can gather, he was a huge geek growing up, being a fan of many popular cartoons, anime, and comics. In addition, he’s also an avid play of Dungeons & Dragons and a proficient Dungeon Master.

However, it seems his early years of adulthood were rough on him. According to his author’s notes, he made some poor decisions in his last years of college that made him feel like he wasted his time. On top of that, his friends started to drift apart, and he lost a ton of money to an online scam. As a result, he wasn’t in a good place for a while. All that changed, though, in June, 2017, when the Wandering Hippie published the first chapter of a fanfic story called “A Tale of Moon and Monsters.”

As it turned out, working on his fan writings was just what the doctor ordered. It gave him a sense of purpose in life, and within months, he turned things around. He got a full time job as a caretaker and bird handler at a pet store, joined a volunteer fire department, and found a new group to play D & D with. Most importantly, though, he found recognition from the fans he gained from his stories.

As A Writer

Thanks to his time as a Dungeon Master, the Wandering Hippie became proficient in the delicate art of world-building. That skill would translate well into his recreation of the universe of Star vs. The Forces of Evil, letting him build up a complex and storied world that not only builds upon the show, but even improves it in some aspects. At the time of this writing, it’s basically at Game of Thrones levels of complexity. Some may think that’s a bit much, but I see it as pushing the concept of Star vs. beyond what Disney allowed. If you read my character analysis for his stories, you’ll know he gets bonus points for fixing characters with less than desirable personalities (*cough* Rhombulus *cough*)

The best way I can describe the Wandering Hippie’s writing style is taking the comedy and drama of Star vs., mixing in PG-13 elements. Then he stirs in some tastefully chosen soundtracks and songs from shows and movies, the complex history of a Game of Thrones world, add fourth wall breaking Author’s notes and numerous pop culture references. The result is a story that, somehow, manages to work really well.

Messing with the Fourth Wall

One of Hippie’s trademarks is that he likes to use his Author’s Notes to mess with the fourth wall of the story. By the time he starts Star the Monster Princess, he uses them to speak to the readers directly. More often than not, he uses it to tell jokes or act out some cool scene he wants to do. I.E. pretending to be a thief, facing down the embodiment of reality, fighting an evil squid version of himself. However, he also uses them to discuss serious elements, letting us know when something’s of personal importance to him. Heck, he even admits that he cried during some of the more serious moments of Monster Princess, which he says is a sign of a good writer. I’d have to agree with him.

He’s also not alone in the author’s notes, either. He’s joined by three other people who help him. The first one is Omnitraxus Prime who, thanks to being aware of the multiverse, can somehow hang out with Hippie. There’s also the Narrator Guy from Spongebob Squarepants, who gets into arguments with Hippie every now and then. Lastly, we have Janna, who’s trolling abilities in his story have risen to fourth-wall breaking levels. Hippie tried getting rid of her at first, but since she’s Janna, he gave up on that; now she just hangs out with them.

Pop Culture Aficionado

I dub the Wandering Hippie as a pop culture aficionado because his stories are filled with references to various cartoons, books, and other mediums of story-telling. In fact, this goes beyond simple references and using other brands soundtracks. Many chapters of his stories include characters from the many cartoons and movies he watched growing up. Since this is a fan work, he can get away with it without those pesky ownership rules.

I personally enjoy the entire concept, because almost every reference or character he uses are from things I’m already familiar with. The latest chapter alone included cameos from Hellboy, Jackie Chan Adventures, Ed Edd n’ Eddy, and The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy.

Say Hello to the Hippie

Now, there’s another reason why I wanted to make this post. A while back, I had suggested to Hippie that he get a new logo for himself. So to surprise him, I hired a fan artist by the name of Gogola on Instagram to make a drawing of him. Thus, I figured that this post would be the best way to share it with him. Hippie, this is for you, man!

Hope you enjoyed this, guys!

Click here to read Hippie’s awesome stories.

Click here to see more of Gogola’s work